Regions of Spain
Cantabria: the Autonomous Community
By m.p. - Nov 10, 2007 - 8:50 AM
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Lying in the North of Spain, the autonomous community of Cantabria covers an area of 5,321 kilometres, and makes up 1.05% of total Spanish territory. Its total population is 568,091, with a density of 108.15 inhabitants per square kilometre. It is one of seven autonomous communities with just one province, in this case, Cantabria. The city of Santander is both the regional and the provincial capital.
The region is bordered to the East by the Basque Country, to the South by Castilla y León, on the West by Asturias, and to the North by the Cantabrian Sea – the Bay of Biscay.
It is a mainly mountainous region, with just a narrow strip of coastal land measuring no more than 10 kilometres at its widest point. No point along this strip reaches more than 200 metres above sea level: known as ‘La Marina,’ it is where the majority of Cantabria’s population is concentrated. Its two main cities, Santander and Torrelavega, have a population of 182,926 and 56,143 respectively. Santander is the only population centre with more than 100,000 inhabitants.
Known previously as the province of Santander, it became an autonomous community after approval of the regional statute in 1981, and was officially renamed as Cantabria the following year.
The first regional parliament, known then as the Asamblea Regional and today as Parlamento, was provisionally constituted on 20th February 1982, with the first regional elections held in May the following year giving victory to a coalition formed by the Alianza Popular (the precursor to the Partido Popular), the Partido Democrático Popular and Unión Liberal. The Socialist Party, PSOE, were close behind, followed by the Partido Regionalista de Cantabria – PRC.
Miguel Ángel Revilla Roiz, of PRC, became President of the regional government - the Diputación Regional de Cantabria – after the 2003 election, thanks to a pact with the PSOE party.
The two parties renewed their coalition agreement following the 2007 election, which for the second time running, blocked the Partido Popular from the regional government as the most-voted party, and Revilla was returned as President of the Autonomous Community for a second mandate.
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