Castro-Urdiales

This is a boating and a fishing town. The children and dogs jump from the old Roman ruins to the cove off the bay. I enjoyed watching these boys throw themselves off the oldstone steps, and as you will see in the video, a dog leaps off, too! I imagine there are no liability concerns here. The families sunbathe on the no longer used ship ramp where there are iron chains and heavy metal bases everywhere. They step around all the obsticles and lay their beach blankets and towels. I'm amazed because in our country, we would have barred it up and prevented people from jumping off ramps or old historical walls because of liabilities. It's a playground, a wonderful, active, joyful place. And they're thriving and having fun. A variety of boats fill the bay. Leisure fishermen lean their poles against the Roman walls and wait for their catch. The church of Santa Maria ( which the building of this began in the 1300s, though completed in the 1500s). It's still standing, though now being renovated. Scaffolds and green cloth cover half of the walls inside of the church. There are remnants standing of the old Roman church of San Pedro (1200). Every town I enter has such history! Layers and layers of stories.Read more