Carlio99

Hello, new here, so sorry if posting in wrong area.

I've been offered the opportunity to move to Santander, Cantabria for work.

I was wondering if anyone could tell me about it. Is it quite sleepy and boring for someome in their late 20s? I've spent most of my life in Manchester! I don't know geopolitics of Spain at all, so my concern is that it is like some of our seaside towns that have become wastelands, Grimsby, Blackpool, Hartlepool etc???

I've heard the climate is of course very different to southern Spain,, which is fine.

Many thanks in advance

Retired in Euskadi

Sorry not to be able to inform you from having lived there with direct experience, but in general I'd say it's pretty good. We live in the Basque country, with a similar climate; here we average about 1100-1200l rain/year (around 50"), which means it's green! Like the area of Santander and the northern coast. It's a port of around 190,000, with a regular ferry to Plymouth and with an airport that has links to UK (unfortunately Ryan Air!!). There's a good coach service going to all places in Spain, such as the biggest one here, ALSA. and pretty cheap.
Good seafood & eating places as well as popular resorts not far away such as Laredo, Santoña, and the Basque country to the east, to the west places like Santillana del Mar, the Picos de Europa of course and further still Asturias and Galicia. There's a good 'Autoroute' (dual carriageway) linking Santander to all points east & west & toll free (though the government are planning to make all½ dual carriageways 'peaje' (toll) by 2024. There are good road links further south to Valladolid & Madrid. Being by the coast, there's little snow, unlike places like Leon south-west.
You're also about 2-2½ hrs drive to the French border.
Lastly, and depending on your preferences of course, it's relatively free of the British lager tourist, though I'd guess there must be some British people living there.
If you don't speak Spanish then I'd suggest you make a start. Although most people have done English at school, it can be pretty variable to say the least.
Hope that helps.

philat98

I spent a couple of weeks in the Picos de Europa. If you like the outdoors it is a great place. The food was very good there too. The Tripadvisor forum might tell you about Santander.