Boaty McBoatface*

* explanation here.

Today was a genuinely sunny day, so it had to be another walk. We headed for some salt marshes on the other side of Laredo, but once again they turned out to be a bit of an anti-climax. The information boards at the side of the marked path were heavily illustrated with many different birds; in real life, we saw a distant moorhen, an even more distant cormorant, and a couple of egret. And I don't think this was entirely due to our visit coinciding with that of a noisy party of schoolchildren; it was just the wrong time to see birds.

From here we decided to visit nearby Santoña. We knew nothing about it and were completely unaware that it's the centre of the Cantabrian anchovy-curing industry until we stumbled across the port while looking for a parking space. The water was crammed with glossy boats whose crews were just clearing up after landing their catch -- they had to take turns unloading because there wasn't enough room for them all at the quayside. 

The port has lots of smart new infrastructure, including a fancy glass wholesale fish market which reflects the completely derelict anchovy canning factories opposite. Strangely, when we explored inland the other day we kept coming across anchovy processing plants miles from the sea. Perhaps some kind of deal was done: you can have your new fish market if you provide canning jobs elsewhere.

Anyway, one end of the fish market was a bar and restaurant. We couldn't resist eating grilled fish while looking out at the boat it came in on, so after a stroll around town and along the seafront we returned for lunch of an anchovy appetiser followed by a grilled sea bass between us. The place looked very smart, with fine tableware and white damask cloths, but the three staff who cut up our fish could have done with a few lessons in correct fish service; I ended up with a plateful of shapeless pieces as it fell apart when they transferred it from the serving platter. It was very nice, if a bit heavy on the olive oil. And a bit expensive -- the bill came to about the same as yesterday's superb feast.

Anyway, back at the flat and it's such a lovely evening that we are planning a walk along the beach with a bit of tapas research as a reward.