Santander

Santander is without a doubt one of the most elegant and beautiful cities on the northern coast of Spain, and the ideal place to plan a trip. Both the sea and the mountains are continually present in this city, which captivates visitors with its aristocratic atmosphere, its 19th-century buildings, its charming outdoor terraces and its spectacular bay, considered to be one of the most beautiful in the world.
Santander is the capital of the autonomous region of Cantabria. With nearly 175,000 inhabitants trade and services provide employment for more than 70 percent of its active population. Santander has an Oceanic climate and its humidity is quite high throughout the year, with average temperatures ranging from 25 °C in summer to 10° C in winter.
Santander is a city that stretches along the sea. Its marine spirit and harbour nature have conditioned its urban appearance, lengthened in search of water. Built on hills, its steep slopes also had much to do in the configuration of the different neighbourhoods. Its fondness for the bay, the only one of the North that is oriented to the South, has shaped a unique personality full of contrasts, sometimes engrossed in itself but with a taste for the world.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century Santander underwent a period of change as important as the one it faces today. The city became the summer headquarters of the Spanish bourgeoisie and royalty. It was a time of growth, of expansion, of taking the opportunity to seek and fulfil dreams. A golden age that brought with it new urban development, new channels of communication, the creation of new neighbourhoods and new services for residents and visitors. The five kilometres of sandy beach, a sea breeze that envelops the entire city, the smell of salt and the clean atmosphere provided by the 3.5 million square metres of green space in the city are sure signs of the quality of life that is enjoyed in Santander. In permanent contact with nature, from Sardinero, with the many parks dotted around the city, incredible views are all around.

In addition, to being a city that is perfect for exploring on foot, due to its strategic location it is also ideal for activities such as golf at the Mataleñas Municipal Course, urban sports at Parque de las Llamas and water sports like surfing and sailing, which has been such an important part of life in the city, a breeding ground for elite competitors and host of the 2014 World Sailings Championships. Santander is now, one again, entering a time of change and evolution, creating new physical and virtual spaces in order to drive the growth of a city where innovation and culture are the centre of its medium and long term development.

Santander reinvents itself to enhance the quality of life of its citizens and visitors with facilities and new services in keeping with the new times. Looking to the future, the city has become an urban laboratory with thousands of sensors deployed all around the urban space, facilitating research in the scientific community to create and open up new possibilities and services geared towards the public, the authorities and business.

The traditional, elegant city is also now a ground-breaking city which takes risks and innovates, which embraces technology to make life a little easier with more and better service in tourism, culture, business, transport and municipal administration in various areas. Currently Santander has more than 6000 IoT devices (using sensors, RFiD & NFC tags) to improve the urban waste management spread over the city to know in real time the locations and the status of rubbish bins and containers and also the measurement of rubbish fill level. This new system includes GPS/GPRS tracking in order to optimize the route for Fleet management of urban waste. Also there are environmental sensors on board of municipal vehicles gathering information about air quality, temperature, humidity and son. All the information is integrated in “Cuida Santander” App, which is an App for citizens/visitors to report events and incidences in the city by uploading pictures and comments. Each report is classified and forwarded to the corresponding municipality service which is in charge of managing the issue. Citizens can check information about waste and bulk waste pickup, recycling services, schedules. “Cuida Santander” App is a Communication channel from citizens to Santander City council.

The number of tourists per year visiting Santander city is 400,000. During the months of July, August and September Santander receives 36.2% percent of the total tourists a year. Santander is a tourist destination mainly in summer season.  In Santander city waste is collected separately on the streets every day in specific bins (Paper/ cardboard, Glass, Plastics and Residual Waste). During the summer time, there is a reinforcement of the waste collection by strengthening the workforce. The number of work shift is increased, focussing in some specials routes of collection as the Sardinero area.