At Faro de Ajo, a specific coastal location meets a striking work of art: the lighthouse stands on Cabo de Ajo, the northernmost geographical point of the autonomous community of Cantabria. In 2020, Okuda San Miguel created a painting there celebrating Cantabria’s faunal diversity, featuring more than a hundred colours. This makes the landscape and art a clear focus for planning a trip, without reducing Ajo to a beach holiday. If you’re looking for a hotel in Ajo, you can first decide whether the coastal landscape, historic buildings or both will shape your stay.

Coast between beach and protected area

Playa de Cuberris faces north and lies at the mouth of the small Arroyo de la Bandera. Activities at this beach include windsurfing, fishing, racket sports and volleyball. Cuberris can therefore be understood both in terms of its location and the range of sports played there. Playa de Antuerta offers a different point of reference: it can be reached on foot via the climb to Punta Cárcabo. At Cuberris, the orientation and river mouth are the main features; at Antuerta, it is the described footpath via Punta Cárcabo.

Another point of interest in the landscape, the Ría de Ajo is part of the ES0000143 “Marismas de Santoña, Victoria, Joyel y Ría de Ajo” Special Protection Area for Birds. This protected-area status adds a nature-conservation dimension to the coastal perspective.

Churches, monastery and the Way of St James

The Convento de San Ildefonso, built in 1587, is located in Barrio de Camino. The church is the only part of the complex that has survived; it has a stone altarpiece by Rodrigo de los Corrales Isla. The convent also includes a 16th-century Classical cloister with two floors and a cistern in the courtyard. The church, altarpiece and cloister each illustrate different aspects of the history of the building and its furnishings.

The parish church of San Martín de Tours in Ajo grew out of a lay monastery founded around 850 by the ancestors of the House of Camino. Its three naves are of equal height; the main altarpiece was commissioned from Rodrigo de los Corrales Isla in 1626. The approximate date of the foundation and the later commission mark different stages in the church’s history, while the naves of equal height offer a specific architectural point of reference.

Historic pilgrimage routes are also linked to Ajo. A branch of the Way of St James led some pilgrims to the church of San Martín de Tours. On the Camino Costero de Santiago, pilgrims reached Barrio de Camino and could rest at an albergue in the Dominican monastery there. The Santuario de Santiago de Azaga stands at the entrance to the estuary beside a Roman and medieval landing place. Only a few remains and the devotional image survive there.

Archaeological discovery

Another archaeological feature is Cueva de Nando, which is estimated to be around 30,000 years old. The municipality of Ajo once opened the cave to the public. If you’re planning a visit, check the latest access information beforehand.

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