Limpias, Cantabria in Spain. What to see?

The peaceful town of Limpias was our first contact with Cantabria. As soon as we arrived, and we could feel that we were in one of those places where bicycles are still left without chains or the doors of houses are left open during the day. In this article, we will show you what we could see in Limpias, Spain.

Where is Limpias located in Spain?

Limpias is to the east of Cantabria, adjoins Laredo to the north in Spain. In Limpias there is a Parador, that’s where we stayed, and from there you can quickly go by car to various towns in eastern Cantabria.

The Asón river passes through Limpias, which is later called the Limpias estuary before it flows into the Cantabrian Sea.

Origin of the name of Limpias

Previously, the town was called Coabab, from the Celtic. The name changed to Limpias many centuries later, and apparently there are two versions why this happened:

• Being the gate to the sea of Castile, many goods passed through Cantabria, among which: wheat that came down through the port of Los Tornos, walnuts and chestnuts from the mountains of Cantabria. All this was deposited on the banks of Coabab, to be cleaned. Apparently, over time and due to the cleaning activity with which he associated the town, that name remained (Limpias means clean).

• The other version attributes the name of Limpias to the fact that the population of Coabab was well-known for its thermal waters, warm sulfuric waters, with excellent properties, which were used with great success in combating skin diseases. The “clean waters”, perhaps, could give way to the name of Limpias.

Honestly, the name of the town caught my attention a lot, from the first time I saw it. And yes, the town is very clean. It would really be the last straw if it wasn’t like that, with that name.

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What can be seen in Limpias?

The town is small and fairly easy to navigate, a pleasant walk. Walking in the direction of Paseo de Remigo from the Parador, we find the unmistakable Santander bank building, with orange color. If you need to withdraw money, you have to keep it in mind. On that same road, we will find the Colegio San Vicente de Paúl and the beautiful doors and windows of the town, where it seems that time has stopped.

Limpias estuary

When we arrive at the Limpias estuary, we can see the small, but beautiful, Town Hall building, and we can also see the boats that the locals use to come and go.

Carlos V route

We continue walking, bordering the estuary, and we see several signs that indicate that we are on the Carlos V Route. We came across the old Limpias pier, and saw a beautiful display of urban art, in which they recreated the estuary with boats painted on some stairs, we immortalized them in a photo.

Along the way, we could see how the locals are quite creative and some had statues displayed outside their house.

We kept moving forward, and we began to find military objects, one and another and another. It turns out that we arrived at the Museum Park of the Spanish Army in which various objects that had military use are exhibited, some look old, while others are more recent.

At the end of the walk, we came across Remigo’s Garden, which we no longer visited because it was getting dark, and we were hungry.

The way back, we did it from Calle el Fuente, parallel to Paseo Remigo, from there we could have a nice view of the estuary at sunset, we also found an aqueduct and a small church.

Holy Christ of the Agony

Since it was already late, we waited until the next day early to visit the Santo Cristo de Limpias in the Church of San Pedro. Visiting hours: 10 AM -1:30 PM and 4PM – 6PM, free admission. It is located in the Rucoba neighborhood. This is one of the most important places to see in Limpias.

One of the first things we noticed was the scallop shell that marks the Camino de Santiago. The church itself is small, but it is worth visiting, the altarpieces are gorgeous and what everyone comes to see is the Holy Christ of the Agony which has a very realistic expression. It is very well done. Numerous miracles are attributed to him, and it is said that he cries, sweats and bleeds. He was brought from Cádiz by a nobleman and his popularity grew in 1919, when the testimonies of those who saw him sweat, cry or bleed began to come out.

If you have more time

If you have more time in Limpias, you can take the Yelso de Hayas path, which lasts about 4 hours and a half. Traveling almost 13 kilometers you can have beautiful views of the natural park of the Santoña, Victoria and Joyel marshes.

Where to eat in Limpias?

Right in front of the church we found a place called Época where we had dinner and had a good time. The menu is simple, but it was fine as we had eaten a lot during the day. In this place, you can try the chocolate with croutons, traditional in the area. I didn’t try them, since I wanted something salty, but here’s the tip.

Where to sleep in Limpias?

We stayed at the Parador de Limpias, a mixture of an old building that was the ducal palace and a modern wing where there are several rooms.

Limpias Spain, a clean and quiet town

This town is a good entry point to Cantabria, in our case coming by car from France it seemed like an excellent option. Staying here, we found a very nice place to discover.

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