Balneario de Ontaneda

Balneario de Ontaneda is situated in Ontaneda, directly adjacent to Alceda in the Valle de Toranzo in Cantabria, the two spa towns sharing the same valley and the same tradition of mineral spring bathing while maintaining distinct bathing establishments that have served the tourism of northern Spain since the 19th century. The valley was historically served by the Astillero-Ontaneda railway, a scenic mountain line that operated from 1902 until 1973, carrying spa visitors from the Cantabrian coast into the valley's interior and whose closure marked the end of an era of elegant slow travel to these mountain spa towns. The sulphurous springs at Ontaneda, prized within a long thermal tradition, continue to draw visitors seeking the specifically Spanish tradition of balneario bathing within the beautiful green valley landscape of Cantabria's well-watered Pas River drainage, where the misty hillsides and lush pastures evoke a Spain far removed from the sunny Mediterranean stereotype.