Comillas
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Comillas

Comillas

Cantabrian coastal town whose small fishing-village scale hides Gaudí's El Capricho and grand modernista monuments.

Comillas is a small coastal town in Cantabria that has an architectural legacy completely out of proportion to its size. In the late nineteenth century, the Marquis of Comillas — who had made a fortune in Cuba — brought the leading architects of the day here to build grand monuments in what was essentially a fishing village. The result is one of the most surprising collections of buildings on the Spanish coast, set against a backdrop of green hills and the Cantabrian Sea.

The star attraction is El Capricho, an early work by Antoni Gaudí that is one of only a handful of his buildings outside Catalonia. It is a fantastical summer house covered in ceramic sunflower tiles, with a tower that looks like a minaret and interiors full of Gaudí's characteristic playfulness. Nearby, the Pontifical University — a massive neo-Gothic pile on the hilltop designed by Joan Martorell — dominates the skyline and now houses a conference centre. The Sobrellano Palace and its chapel, designed by Martorell with furniture by Gaudí, round out an extraordinary architectural triangle within walking distance of each other.

Beyond the architecture, Comillas is simply a lovely place to spend a day or two. The town beach is a beautiful curve of golden sand with the ruined medieval cemetery of the Ermita de Santa Juliana perched on the headland above it — one of the most photographed spots in Cantabria. The old town is compact and walkable, with stone houses, good seafood restaurants, and a calm pace of life that feels a world away from the busier resorts to the east.

Comillas works well as a stop on a road trip along the Cantabrian coast between Santander and the Picos de Europa. The drive in either direction is spectacular, hugging cliffs and dipping into green valleys. If you only have time for one small town in Cantabria, this is a strong contender — you will not find a place of this size anywhere else in Spain with architecture of this calibre.

Guide

Eating Out

Comillas has a solid selection of restaurants for a town its size, with the emphasis firmly on Cantabrian seafood. The old town's main square and the streets around it have most of the options. Portions tend to be generous and prices reasonable by Spanish standards.

El Capricho de Gaudí Restaurant — Not to be confused with the Gaudí building of the same name, this well-regarded restaurant in the old town serves straightforward Cantabrian cooking: grilled fish, seafood rice dishes, and local steak. Popular with Spanish weekend visitors, so booking ahead is advisable in summer.

La Aldea — A casual spot near the main square serving good-value menú del día at lunchtime and grilled fish and meats in the evening. The anchovy toast and the grilled sea bass are both worth ordering.

For pintxos and wine, the bars around the Plaza Joaquín del Piélago attract a lively local crowd in the early evening. The local sidra (cider) is also worth trying — served poured from height in the traditional Asturian style at several of the older bars.

Guide

Getting There

Comillas is on the N-634 coastal road, about 43 km west of Santander. By car from Santander, take the A-8 motorway west and then follow signs south to Comillas; the drive takes about 45 minutes. From the west, the town is 35 km east of San Vicente de la Barquera.

There is no train station. ALSA buses run between Santander and Comillas several times daily, with journey times of around 90 minutes; connections are also possible from Torrelavega. The bus stop is on the main road at the entrance to town. A car makes exploring the broader coastline much easier, but Comillas itself is compact enough to manage on foot.

Guide

Things to Do

Comillas punches well above its weight architecturally. Three major monuments — El Capricho, the Pontifical University, and the Sobrellano Palace — sit within easy walking distance and together form one of the most remarkable concentrations of late 19th-century architecture anywhere in Spain. Beyond the grand buildings, the town has a beautiful beach and a compact old centre worth wandering.