Looking out upon Bahía de Santander from Magdalena Palace – an early 20th-century gift from from Santander to Spain's royal family – it’s easy to see how the port city gained the nickname “bride of the sea.” Framed by green, mountainous landscapes and white beaches, the picturesque bay echoes the city’s seafaring past and heralds its future. Centro Botín, which reinvigorated the seafront upon its opening in 2017, has been described as ‘Santander’s Guggenheim’ — a nod to the Frank Gehry-designed museum in nearby Bilbao. In the city’s ‘fishing district’, dine on traditional local cuisine such as rabas (fried squid), maganos (squid with onion) or fisherman-style clams.