San Vicente de la Barquera

San Vicente de la Barquera grew beside a sheltered estuary on the Cantabrian coast, where bridges and harbour facilities connected maritime activity with routes through northern Castile. Fishing supplied local households and supported trade, while the surrounding mountain country contributed timber, livestock and other goods. The town's castle and church expressed its medieval importance, and coastal pilgrims passed through on their way towards Santiago de Compostela.

In 1210 Alfonso VIII granted San Vicente a town charter, and maritime trade and fishing supported its growth. The earliest regulations of its sailors' confraternity date from 1330. Fires and epidemics contributed to decline in the mid-fifteenth century, but the town remained part of the network of Cantabrian coastal ports.