Asturias de Santillana is a historical ''

comarca A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, ...

'' whose territory in large part corresponded to the central and western part of today's autonomous community of

Cantabria Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east ...

, as well as the extreme east of

Asturias Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensiv ...

. Most of the province of Asturias belonged to the ''comarca'' of Asturias de Oviedo. Also known also as a ''

merindad ''Merindad'' () is a Mediaeval Spanish administrative term for a country subdivision smaller than a province but larger than a municipality. The officer in charge of a merindad was called a merino, roughly equivalent to the English ''count'' or ...

'' and documented since the 13th century, Asturias de Santillana comprised the western part of Cantabria (except

Liébana Liébana is a ''Comarcas of Cantabria, comarca'' of Cantabria (Spain). It covers 575 square kilometres and is located in the far southwest of Cantabria, bordering Asturias, León (province), León and Palencia (province), Palencia. It is made up o ...

which belongs to another ''comarca'') including the Saja River valley and the Nansa River. Its borders used to go along the coast from the council of Ribadedeva to the municipality of El Astillero (old Camargo Valley), to the shores of the Bay of Santander), which leads to the administrative division of Trasmiera. From the south it went up to the Cantabrian cordillera. All of the valleys of this ''comarca'' are perpendicular to the coast. The ''merinos'' were representatives of the king and they lived in this administrative division of

Santillana del Mar Santillana del Mar () is a historic town situated in Cantabria, Spain. Its many historic buildings attract thousands of holidaymakers every year. There is an old saying that Santillana del Mar is ''The Town of Three Lies'', since it is neither a ...

(Cantabria), which is the capital of that territory since 1209. For their living quarters they built a Gothic tower which was secluded from the original urban center, thus creating a new town center, of civil character, around the Torre del Merino (Marine Tower). In 1581, soon after the Nine Valleys Lawsuit, the governor stopped being a marine major and became known as a "corrigador," a local administrative and judicial official. Along the marine coast one finds the localities of Santillana del Mar,

Comillas Comillas is a small township and municipality in the northern reaches of Spain, in the autonomous community of Cantabria. The Marquessate of Comillas, a fiefdom of Spanish nobility, holds ceremonial office in the seat of power at a small castle ...

and San Vicente de la Barquera. To the west one finds the Saja and Nansa valleys. During the Early Middle Ages and the

Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for "ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for ...

, Asturias de Santillana was dominated by the large nobility lines: that of the houses of Mendoza- de la Vega, Dukes of the Infantado, the Marquises of Santillana, and those of Manrique de Lara, the and the . Between 1785 and 1833 it became part of the Quartermaster of Burgos.

References

{{Authority control Former subdivisions of Spain