San Vicente de la Barquera

Human settlement here goes back to prehistory. Bronze Age remains survive at the megalithic site of El Barcenal, and the territory is believed to have been home to the Orgenomescan Cantabrians. Romans knew it as Portus Vereasueca.

In the early Middle Ages, King Alfonso I repopulated the area and a castle was built, around which the town grew. The real period of growth began in 1210, when Alfonso VIII of Castile granted San Vicente the status of a royal town with the same legal charter as San Sebastián, making it the last of the four Cantabrian coastal towns to receive such a charter, after Castro Urdiales (1163), Santander (1187), and Laredo (1200). Maritime trade and fishing rights drove this prosperity.

The town's sailors' guild dates its earliest regulations to 1330. By the mid-century, however, a run of fires and epidemics brought decline. In the 16th century, the future Charles I of Spain passed through on his way to be crowned, fell ill during the visit, and spent the night in the convent of San Luis.

A bullfight had been arranged in his honour. Administratively, San Vicente formed part of the Corregimiento of the Four Coastal Towns and participated in the regional assemblies that shaped the 1779 ordinances of Cantabria. It became a constitutional municipality in 1822 and gained its own judicial district from 1835.

In 1973, the electricity company Electra de Viesgo announced plans for a four-unit nuclear power station at Santillán, partly on San Vicente's coastal land, projected to begin generating in 1982. Political and public opposition from both Cantabria and Asturias eventually caused the company to abandon the project.

San Vicente has five protected monuments: the Gothic church of Santa María de los Ángeles (listed 1931), the former convent of San Luis (1992), the castle (1985), and the Torre del Preboste, all within the historic old quarter known as Puebla Vieja, itself listed as a historic ensemble in 1987. The old town also retains stretches of the town walls and their gateways, ruins of the Casa de los Corro, and the hospital de la Concepción. The municipality is part of the Ruta Lebaniega, a Camino de Santiago route connecting the coastal Camino with the Camino Francés, declared a heritage asset in 2007.

San Vicente sits just off the A-8 coastal motorway. From Madrid, take the A-6 north to Valladolid, then the A-67 towards Santander to join the A-8 at Torrelavega. ALSA buses run from Santander four times daily via Torrelavega (65 min), continuing to Llanes, Oviedo, and Gijón; Cantabria buses also run four times daily from Santander via Torrelavega, Santillana del Mar, and Comillas.

The bus station is central in town. The former railway station at La Acebosa, 2 km south, is disused; the nearest active Cercanías service from Santander reaches only as far west as Cabezón de la Sal. The town is small and walkable; the closest beaches are 2 km east.

Several taxi firms operate locally. The main supermarket is Lupa, on Calle Padre Ángel in the Old Town, open Monday–Saturday 09:00–21:30 and Sunday 09:00–15:00. As of June 2026, the town and its approach roads have 4G coverage from Digi and Movistar, and 5G from MasOrange and Vodafone.

The main street through the Old Town is lined with over a dozen cafes and restaurants serving traditional food; bars offer tapas. The local drink is cider rather than wine.