CENTRO BOTIN IN SANTANDER
On the rugged Cantabrian coast of Spain, Santander blends aspects of a gracious old-money seaside resort with the hurly-burly of a bustling port. It is soon to become a major art centre as well. Twenty years after the Guggenheim Bilbao rewrote the global guidebook of cultural and architectural tourism, the Centro Botin, an art centre designed by architect Renzo Piano, is opening.
Perched over the water’s edge near the city’s old commercial wharf, Centro Botin is the first building in Spain designed by Piano. Commissioned by the Botin Foundation, which is run by the family that controls Spain’s biggest bank, Banco Santander, the building features two elevated structures clad in 270,000 shimmery ceramic discs meant to reflect the changing light and colours of the bay and sky.
Centro Botin is not the only reason to visit Santander, which stretches along one side of an expansive bay in which sailboats, cruise ships, ferries and freighters navigate. The mouth of the bay is guarded on one side by the Magdalena Palace, which once served as a summer residence for Spanish kings. On the other side is El Puntal, a huge sandbar that, when it is sunny out, draws residents in pleasure boats and water taxis.
What Spain’s northern coast may lack in sunshine, it makes up for in outstanding seafood. Opposite the Pereda Gardens are streets lined with tapas bars and taverns where you can join the locals at Cos, La Candela, El Italiano or the old-school Bar del Puerto. And if you want to dress like a local, just pop into Godofredo for slickers, boots and waterproof everything.