Tags
Cantabria, festival, Northern Spain, outdoors, photos, picayos, Picos de Europa, pito, red deer, romeria, Santander, Summer, sunset, surf, tambor, tradition
It´s officially fall, and while I want to welcome it, I hate to see summer go. Some parting shots and a bit of a recap is in order as it was a wonderful summer in Northern Spain.
Summer in Northern Spain is about warm weather, beach time, family time, lots of unique local celebrations, barbecues, river swimming holes, and happy animals.
June started out great, Lynne and I returned from the Camino de Santiago in mid June just in time for summer. The Camino is a pilgrimage route walking across Spain, she wrote a great post about it here if you want more info. That time of year beautiful is here with Spring having left everything green as ever and it´s just us locals around here.
Last of spring holding out in the mountains
The lush coastal pastures of mid June
The end of June brings the longest days of the year and plenty of daylight to enjoy the outdoors to the fullest.
Coming down the mountainside at nearly 10PM
You also get lots of beaches virtually to yourself.
Miles of coastline for the taking
July brings more heat, but it never really gets that bad around here since our climate is Atlantic unlike much of the rest of Spain. The animals and plants are happy and show it.
Blue dragon on summer fern
Alpine frog out of its pond and looking for at mate
Ripening berries in the forest will be plump and sweet in no time
Purple thistles majestyAugust brings more folks to the area and lots of celebrations as most towns get into full swing of their particular fiestas, something that is never missing in Spain.
Traditional dancing celebrating summer
Picayos – tradiinonal dancers at local mountain feasts and celebrations
Pito y Tambor – traditional music leading the revelers through town and up the mountain to the romeria (festival)
We humans get ourselves worked up and out to enjoy the fun. The weather keeps heating up and its hard to say no to a idylic swimming hole or the fun glassy surf of summer.
Great swimming hole in the forest of Cantabria
Summer fun in the surf
As summer winds down the animals have had just about enough of the heat they can take by the end of August, although the wilder ones don´t seem as lazy.
Lazy summer – free range Tudanca cattle in the mountains
Springing iberian chamois, lightning speed even in the heat
Horsing around? More like lazing around….
European Red Deer Stag Party – summer velvety antlers and everyone seems happy to be eating and beefing up together… for what´s to come.. the viscous rut where no one has any friends anymore
As summer tails off and the days get shorter, things start to change around Northern Spain. Everyone scrambles to get one last bay crossing, bike ride, sail, hike, surf or stag party before summer ends and they have to go back to work or worse back to Madrid or some other interior city (not knocking Madrid, love to visit it and it is one of the great cities of the world, but my head and heart are in Northern Spain).
One last trip across Santander Bay to the beaches of el Puntal
One last summer bike ride in shorts in the Saja National Forest Reserve
One last summer sail on Santander Bay, although we sail all year round here
One last summer hike in the Picos de Europa before the first snows arrive and make us get our real gear out
One last surf before the sun goes down along with the water temps
One last stag party before these guys stop being friends to become mortal enemies and begin fighting for the does
By mid September the changes are noticeable. Fall begins to rear its head leaving us morning mists and some of our best sunsets and moonrises which happen as summer finally peters out… see you next year in Northern Spain, thanks for the great goodbye, Summer…
Fall pushing summer out of the way in Cantabria
Late summer sunset over the Cantabrian Sea
Late summer moonrise (harvest moon) in Cantabria… goodbye summer! Here comes fall… welcome fall, welcome…
Northern Exposure Spain 
Really good – Excellent!
Thanks Andrew! Always like your posts (you are quite a traveler). Loved your posts about Cantabria and Northern Spain, always great to hear about home…cheers!