What's on in Santander, Spain through the year

Busy — Christmas holidays in Spain, school holidays in 6 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Autumn and winter swell (15 Sep – 31 Mar (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Autumn and winter swell (15 Sep – 31 Mar (usually))

Busy — Semana Santa (Easter) holidays in Spain, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Autumn and winter swell (15 Sep – 31 Mar (usually))

Busy — Semana Santa (Easter) holidays in Spain, school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in April.

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in May.

Busy — Summer holidays in Spain, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Galerna season

  1 Jun – 30 Sep · usuallyWind seasonRisk

  The Cantabrian coast's own squall: a hot, still afternoon flips inside an hour to a north-westerly gale and a ten-degree drop. Sailors here watch for it all summer.

Peak crowds — Semana Grande, Summer holidays in Spain

• Festival

  Banos de Ola

  1–15 Jul · usuallyMajor festival

  The city restages the nineteenth-century sea-bathing craze that made it: bathing machines and striped costumes back on the Sardinero sand for a fortnight in early July. Source ↗

• Season

  Beach season on the Sardinero

  1 Jul – 20 Sep · usuallySea warm enough

  The northern coast warms late and cools fast, so the swimming window is roughly July to mid-September. September is the better half of it and the beaches are half as full.

• Festival

  Semana Grande

  20–31 JulMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  The city's own week around Santiago on 25 July, with concerts in the Plaza Porticada and fireworks over the bay. Cantabria's own holidaymakers arrive with it. Source ↗

Still on: Galerna season (1 Jun – 30 Sep (usually))

Busy — Summer holidays in Spain, school holidays in 6 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Festival Internacional de Santander

  1–31 Aug · usuallyMajor festival

  A month of classical music built round the Palacio de Festivales, with concerts pushed out into churches and monasteries across Cantabria. Spain's oldest festival of its kind. Source ↗

Still on: Galerna season (1 Jun – 30 Sep (usually)), Beach season on the Sardinero (1 Jul – 20 Sep (usually))

Busy — Summer holidays in Spain, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Autumn and winter swell

  15 Sep – 31 Mar · usuallySurf season

  The Atlantic starts sending proper groundswell in September. Somo across the bay picks it up first, and by January the storms are big enough to close the Sardinero promenade.

Still on: Galerna season (1 Jun – 30 Sep (usually)), Beach season on the Sardinero (1 Jul – 20 Sep (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Autumn and winter swell (15 Sep – 31 Mar (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Autumn and winter swell (15 Sep – 31 Mar (usually))

Busy — Christmas holidays in Spain, school holidays in 6 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Autumn and winter swell (15 Sep – 31 Mar (usually))