Balneario Las Caldas De Besaya

Considered the oldest bathing establishment in Cantabria, Balneario Las Caldas de Besaya sits within a fifteen-hectare park, between two valleys and along the banks of the Besaya river. The site's modern operation dates back to 1826, though its seven springs have drawn visitors for far longer, a tradition said to stretch back through Celtic and Roman times before a complex of baths, a hotel and a casino was built in the mid-19th century. Queen Isabella II herself bathed here in 1867, an episode that has stayed part of the site's lore.

The site's history has also passed through darker chapters: turned into a barracks during the Spanish Civil War, it was bombed, and the hotel built in 1876 was lost as a result. Today, the water rising from the seven springs is chloride, bicarbonate and sodium-rich, feeding an establishment that has kept its historic character through successive rebuilds.