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Tourist guide of Way Cudeyo (Cantabria, Spain)
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The tourist tradition in the district
of Medio Cudeyo is closely linked
to the Solares Spa, to such an ex-
tent that the town itself developed
around the use of these mineral-
medicinal waters.
The tourist resource par excellence,
the driving force of Medio Cudeyo,
is its Spa and its power of attraction
is such that it justifies the speciali-
sation in thermal tourism of the
entire district. Based on the deve-
lopment of the health tourism mar-
ket, the district must make the most
of its image as a thermal bath cen-
tre based on the quality of the en-
vironment, its resources and of the
services at the disposal of the citizens.
The waters from the Fuencaliente Spring are
used for a wide range of activities: bottling
factory, leisure and curing physical illnesses.
Water, in the mythological concept of the uni-
verse, is a productive, creative and fecund
element and it is precisely at Medio Cudeyo
where it has become the basis of one of the
first tourist initiatives.
The Solares spa tradition goes back to the
XVIII century, when the existence of thermal
baths used for the treatment of stomach pro-
blems and nervous ailments was mentioned in
the Ensenada Land Registry in 1753. The first
bath establishment opened in 1827 and soon
extended to eight bathing establishments and
a covered gallery with a fountain and a tree-
lined avenue.
WaterWE ARE
Ánaz Bridge
Solares Spa
Ríver Miera
A hotel also opened to cater for the accom-
modation of customers, together with a
number of inns, guesthouses and boarding
houses.
Towards the end of the XIX century, the
architect Carlos Velasco made improve-
ments to the Spa to adapt it to a new luxury
and elitist trend. With this in view, a bathing
area in the Neo-Mudejar and Eastern style
was built based on the model of other spas,
such as the French spa at Biarritz. The
Solares Spa Grand Hotel was built in 1902.
This is the work of the architect Lavín Casalís
that combines modernist and historical ele-
ments, especially the large “liberty” windows
on the ground floor, the stucco on the facade
and the bolsters and cresting on the outside.
A round kiosk was added to the spa and
hotel in the park, providing the whole with
Heras Reservoir
Cubón washhouse-Sobremazas
a garden area where guests could walk.
The end of the XIX and beginning of the XX
centuries marked the age of splendour of
the Solares Spa, when visitors did not ne-
cessarily come to treat any type of illness
but to use the spa as a summer and leisure
resort, the embryo of so-called "thermal
tourism". Solares then became the most
outstanding Spa in Cantabria and one of
the main establishments in the north of the
country until it closed in 1976.
After far-reaching improvements in 2006,
the Hotel Balneario de Solares opened and
is now part of the hotel offer in the thermal
sector, basing its business on elegance and
comfort.
WaterWE ARE
Solares Spa
Solares Spa
View of Hermosa
Heras landscape
EarthWE ARE
The natural resources of the district
include outstanding ecological and
landscape values. The landscape
is dominated by the mass of Peña
Cabarga, a limestone formation
with numerous karstic elements
and where Holm oak and eucalyp-
tus tree grow. Peña Cabarga forms
an excellent background for San-
tander Bay and is a viewpoint from
where the coastline of Cantabria
can be enjoyed.
The rest of the district features the
result of the interaction between
native vegetable species (mainly
oak forests) and man, who has
transformed the most productive
areas into pastures and grasslands
and who has established towns and industries
that have permanently deformed the natural
environment by introducing a clearly urban
aspect.
In general, the landscape is defined by the
limestone mass of Peña Cabarga, which pro-
vides the entire area with a peculiar outlook.
Apart from this massif, other natural resources
found in the Medio Cudeyo district include the
headwaters of the Cubón Spring, where part
of the former mining railway line is preserved;
the Solía and San Salvador marshes, which
are first-class areas for bird-watching; Mount
Castillo, which features the remains of a me-
dieval site on its peak and that was declared
an Asset of Cultural Interest in 2002; the Heras
Reservoir, originally used to wash minerals;
the banks of the Pámanes and Miera rivers,
Pastures Regata park-Ceceñas
EarthWE ARE
catalogued as Sites of Community Interest
(SCI); and the property of the Marquis of
Valdecilla, recently acquired by the Town
Council and that includes excellent speci-
mens of oak trees, American oak, magnolia
trees, Atlantic cedars, palm trees, lime trees,
Holm oak, sorb trees, laurels and eucalyptus
trees.
The district presents three large areas that,
in turn, feature three types of vegetation:
the Peña Cabarga Massif; the northern area
between Peña Cabarga and the Solía and
San Salvador rivers; and the southern area
between Cabarga and the border of the
district.
The Peña Cabarga Massif is a limestone
outcrop that has been repeatedly reforested
with Eucalyptus trees. The areas that feature
higher levels of humidity and greater soil
quality present vestiges of the ancient do-
minance of oak trees, with a court of other
species such as hazels, hawthorn, ash trees,
birch trees, chestnut trees, maples; all for-
ming small concentrations or, frequently,
isolated. There are also privet trees, blac-
kthorn, elder, blackberry bushes, wild roses
and a number of liana and climbing plants,
such as bryony and honeysuckle.
Grasslands and pastures predominate in
the northern region. The mountainsides
present fertile lands with an excellent
provision of water and small luxurious woods
of great interest. Eucalyptus trees give way
to small clumps of oak forests, with a great
variety of trees and bushes; the remains of
ancient vegetation and abandoned crops.
The San Salvador tidal river, with its marshy
landscape washed by the tides and affected
by sea salt, is important for the biodiversity
i t harbours, especial ly birds and
invertebrates.
Solía marsh-San Salvador
Former railway line-San Vitores
We must also mention the riverbank vege-
tation along the Pámanes and Miera rivers,
which, in certain sections, can be considered
full-scale woods. These are species linked
to water courses, damp areas, riverbanks...
A locally significant mass of water is the
Heras-Sobremazas Reservoir. Located on
the course of the Cubón Spring, it features
a greater diversity of species than other
nearby areas. However, the area nearest
the water is incapable of maintaining stable
vegetable species given the slope of the
banks, which prevents the typical grass
plants and bushes of this type of habitat
from taking root, directly affecting the stable
residence of birds in this area.
All these natural and landscape resources
can be enjoyed by following a number of
routes through the district and that include
a number of cultural heritage elements along
the way. We can mention the routes along
the Miera River banks, Sierra Hermosa, the
Mining Railway line, Cubón Spring, Peña
Cabarga, the Route to Santiago and the
Marshes. There is even a 22.5 km. route
that links each one of the ten villages found
in the district. All these routes are easy to
follow, enabling visitors to embark on a
number of activities such as photography,
landscape painting, bird-watching, fishing,
potholing and even botany.
EarthWE ARE
Marquis of Valdecilla
WE ARE
HistoryHistoryThe history of Medio Cudeyo goes
back to the "Merinidad de Trasmie-
ra", of which the Council of Cudeyo
formed part. This term comes from
the Castrum Cultellum that the Ro-
mans seem to have built on Mount
Castillo and that is based on its
shape that resembles a knife. The
district that is known today as Me-
dio Cudeyo was once Crown land
surrounding medieval churches
and monasteries (San Miguel de
Heras, San Víctor,Santa María de
Cudeyo).
In the XII century, the so-called
“Alfoz de Cudio” existed as a type
of association of councils of an
organisational-administrative nature. The said
Alfoz became, towards the end of the XIV
century, the Junta de Cudeyo, which comprised
twenty-seven villages grouped into three districts
(La Marina, Enmedio and Allendelagua). The
District of Medio Cudeyo appeared in 1814
based on the segregation of a number of coun-
cils that formed part of the Junta de Cudeyo.
The chronological scope of Medio Cudeyo
covers from extremely early periods based on
archaeological sites, of which we can mention
the Castilnegro Fort (1st century B.C.) and
Castillo Mountain (VII-XI centuries), to the first
decades of the XX century, when the so-called
"Indiano" houses were built; a type of house
found in many villages in this district.
Among the churches of Medio Cudeyo, we can
mention Santa María de Cudeyo, the patron
saint of the district, which features a stone
sepulchre of a knight inside.Former school of Ánaz
Former Solares Spa
The religious architecture also includes
simply chapels and the building of the Co-
fradía de la Vera Cruz (Association of the
True Cross), built at the beginning of the
XVII century on one of the branch routes
on the Route to Santiago.
Concerning civil architecture, we can hig-
hlight the Alvarado Tower in Heras. During
the second half of the XVII century, a number
of monumental baroque mansions were
built, such as those belonging to Ibáñez de
la Riva Herrera or to the Marquis of Valbue-
na and Rubalcaba. The mansions of the
Cuetos and Portilla were built in the XVIII
century in Sobremazas. From the end of
the XIX century we have the Mansion of the
Earl of Torreánaz.
A driving force in the architecture of Medio
Cudeyo were the families that made their
fortune in America and then used part of
their wealth to build large houses in which
to reside when they visited their native land.
We must mention the Plaza de la Marquesa
(Marquesa Square) in Nájera, with its cob-
bled streets, stone benches and street-lights
from London. The square is surrounded by
a number of houses in the regional style
with wooden balconies and gable ends,
including La Tudanca, the former residence
of the Marchioness.
The railway station was built in 1891 coin-
ciding with the greatest period of splendour
of the Solares Spa. This project influenced
the development of a railway and industrial
look that can be seen in some houses in
the La Estación neighbourhood in Heras,
Aerial view of Sobremazas-La Tudanca
HistoryWE ARE
Casa Vial in Valdecilla or the Casino in
Solares, which were built in the modernist
style. Towards the middle of the XIX century,
Ramón Pelayo de la Torriente (Marquis of
Valdecilla) was born in Valdecilla. When he
was only fourteen years old, he emigrated
to Cuba and, thanks to his business abilities
he soon became a significant industrial force
on the island. He travelled to the United
States, where he studied and acquired te-
chnical knowledge on large industrial cen-
tres. He married and acquired a small sugar
cane plantation in the district of Aguacate,
known as Batey Rosario. Meanwhile, he
also began to build on his property in Val-
decilla what would become his home when
he returned from Cuba in 1920. He then
sold Ingenio Rosario and settled in his home
town until his death in 1932.
The Marquis embarked on many charity
projects and sponsored the construction of
a number of schools in Cantabria, including
the one named after him in the town of
Valdecilla. He also paid part of the construc-
tion of the schools of San Salvador in the
district of Medio Cudeyo, which opened in
1909 as well as the Marquis de Valdecilla
University Hospital. But it is in the Property
of the Marquis of Valdecilla where Medio
Cudeyo enjoys the most relevant testimony
of the figure and work of this most outstan-
ding neighbour. Its cultural and natural fea-
tures, its location only 15 km. from Santan-
der, its nearness to the most popular
beaches or to attractions such as the Ca-
bárceno Nature Park.
This 147,910 m2 property includes six
buildings: La Casa Blanca, La Casuca, San
Rafael, El Garaje, La Cabaña and La
Solana. The main entrance is through a
stone portico featuring the coat of arms of
the ancient house of Los Quintana from
Penagos.
Bottling Solares Water
We are water because we live in
one of the most traditional thermal
towns in Spain. The splendour and
importance of Solares in the XIX
century has been restored today
to offer our guests the possibility
of enjoying a unique experience.We are earth because Medio Cudeyo features
beautiful landscapes and sites where one may
enjoy pleasant walks and the traditional
hospitality of the peoples of this land. And all
this seasoned with the prestigious gastronomy
of the land.
View of San Rafael-Estate of Marquis of Valdecilla
Mount Castillo
What youwant usto be
WE ARE
We are history because we treasure a rich
and diverse cultural heritage - from prehis-
toric sites to eighteenth and nineteenth
century mansions, vestiges of our recent
aristocratic and gentlemanly past. The bir-
thplace of illustrious people such as Ramón
Pelayo de la Torriente, Marquis of Valdecilla;
an outstanding benefactor and philanthropist.
Coat of Arms of Los Puebla-Santiago de Cudeyo
View of Peña Cabarga From Santander
What you want us to beWE ARE
Church in Hermosa
View from Sierra Hermosa
View of Mount Castillo
We are what you want us to be... Spa, Golf
Course, Property of the Marquis of Valdeci-
lla, Natural and Cultural Heritage, Country
Tourism and, all in all, a myriad of charming
views to be discovered at the Dark Chamber
found at the viewpoint located on Pico Ca-
barga and that projects a three dimensional
image into the monument of the magnificent
views that can be enjoyed.