The History of the Port

The history of the Port of Santander spans more than two thousand years. We could compare the port to a living being and we wouldn’t be far off the mark. Its characteristics (development, growth, reproduction and adaptability) are very similar to those of a living being, because the port has also developed, aiming to adapt to the needs and demands of its social environment over the years.

A period of twenty centuries has passed from the first recorded historical references of the port to the present day, in which three moments particularly stand out:

Portus Vitoriae, the Roman Port

Portus Vitoriae

The Roman Port

When the Romans finally conquered Cantabria at the end of the 1st century BC and up until the third century of our Era, the Bay of Santander was occupied and used by the Romans, where they founded a port called "Portus Victoriae" or Port of Victory. Separately from the existence of other docking locations inland from the bay area, archaeological research has located this port on the now disappeared Ria Becedo, which today is the area between the Town Hall Square and the Calle Calvo Sotelo and the acropolis* on the Somorrostro hill, where the cathedral now stands.

This small port enclave, the beginning of what is today Santander, depended on the inland city of Julióbriga, which is the area surrounding what is now Reinosa, and was linked to this city and the Castilian massif by a road that ran parallel to the River Besaya. During this period, the Port of Victory established itself as an active centre for exporting minerals from the Cabárceno, Obregón and Navajeda sites and a fairly sizeable centre for navigation and trade carried out in this period between the ports on the Cantabrian coast.

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Portus Sancti Emeterii, the Medieval Port

Portus Sancti Emeterii

The Medieval Port

San Emeterio Church was built on the ruins of the old Roman settlement in Somorrostro in the Middle Ages. A small, sea town was built around this monastic centre. In 1187, King Alfonso VIII granted this town a number of privileges that favoured its sea status and allowed it to become one of the most important gateways from Castile to the sea: a fishing port operating along the whole of the Cantabrian coast and on French and Irish coasts as well; a commercial centre where the fleets in charge of exporting Castilian wool to the north of Europe congregated; a naval base from where the royal navy was organised; and a shipyard for building and maintaining the fleets of ships.

The boom in these activities drove the town’s and the port’s demographic, economic and spatial growth. The town centre, which had developed under the protection of the Collegiate Church and the San Felipe Castle, and which scarcely boasted six streets at the end of the 12th century, expanded to the other side of the Ria Becedo. Thus, the town was organised into two areas: the oldest area, called Puebla Vieja, perched on the top of Somorrostro hill, and Puebla Nueva, which was built on the flat area on the other side of the port. In order to protect the inhabitants of both areas, a city wall was built.

However, the growth in population resulted in new buildings being built outside the fortified area, known as the poor quarter. The buildings were erected next to the main gates: the quarter known as "Fuera de la Puerta", located next to Puebla Vieja in what is now the Calle Alta and the quarter known as “la Mar”, built on a beach in the area that is today known as the Calle de la Arrabal.

Throughout the Middle Ages, the port remained on the Ria Becedo with two towers marking its entrance. With this natural dock as the base, significant modifications and works were carried out, such as the wooden quays on the banks of the ria, the bridge that linked the two urban areas, or the Reales Atarazanas, a large building used to store the arsenal for warships, which considerably reduced their size. In order to increase the port’s capacity during the second half of the 15th century, building started on a dock outside the city walls called the "Naos Quay”, which was at the foot of the castle. This external port was finished in the Renaissance when work started on the so-called “Muelle Largo” or “Long Quay” in the middle of the 16th century, which closed the dock to the east. From then on, and up until the middle of the 18th century, the town and port hardly underwent any changes at all.

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Santander, Colonial Metropolis

Santander

Colonial Metropolis

From the middle of the 18th century and throughout the 19th century, thanks to a series of measures fostered by the Bourbon Administration, Santander and its port became one of the main centres in the trade and transportation of flour from Castile to Spanish colonies in America, and also a centre to receive and distribute colonial products throughout the Iberian Peninsula and to countries in the north of Europe. As a result of this, the small town with barely 2,500 inhabitants, received an enormous boost which transformed its economy and urban appearance, turning it into an active city populated by 54,000 people by the end of the 19th century. 

The key player in this profound change was the Port, which having improved its links with Castile through the reopening of the Reinosa Road, underwent constant modernization and  expansion of its facilities, to receive and promote the incessant traffic of vessels and goods departing to or arriving from the colonies.

The construction of a new quay facing the mouth of the entrance to the Bay brought down the medieval wall, enabling a “new population” to be built up on the land taken from the sea behind the quays. This area, located between the edge of the former walls and Molnedo, and bordering the neighbourhood of Santa Lucía to the north, was organized into a system of parallel and perpendicular streets, in the form of an orthogonal reticle.

In the middle of the 19th century, in light of expectations of population and maritime traffic growth, a new expansion of the Port and the City was designed and commenced: the Ensanche de Maliaño, a large scale project which involved the filling of enormous marshes at the bottom of the Bay for the creation of new quays and a new city.

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