IMPORTANT CENTRE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22818, 27 August 1937, Page 11

IMPORTANT CENTRE

NORTHERN SEAPORT IMPOSING HARBOUR SUBSTANTIAL COMMERCE Santander is one of tKe chief seaports of Spain, being on the inside of a rocky peninsula which shelters a hai-bour from two to three miles wide and four miles long. By taking the city, which lies 316 miles north by rail from Madrid and 47 miles west of Bilbao, the rebels have considerably shortened the length of northern coastline held by the Government forces. By far the greater part of the coast from the French boundary round to the frontier of Portugal in the west is now in rebel hands. Development of Port The harbour of Santander was greatly improved during the second half of the 19th century, during .which the population nearly trebled. Although it is still less than 100,000, there has been a substantial development of commerce and manufactures. Flour, wine and foodstuffs are large items of export, while tobacco and cigars figure largely in the manufactures of the district. In the immediate post-war years the annual value of exports was about £1,500,000 and of imports £2,500,000. Nearly one half of the aggregate trade was done with the Spanish colonies and South America. England had about one-sixth of the trade with the port and France about the same.

The city of Santander is divided into two parts, the upper and the lower town. The latter is the more modern and contains the principal streets and port. A new quay has been constructed in deep water so that vessels of any tonnage can load and unload and a dry dock has been built. A morass beside the estuary has been drained and laid out with harbour works and warehouse sites. Railways and Roads Santander Province, of which the city is the capital, is traversed from east to west by the Cantabrian Mountains, which reach to a height of over 8600 ft., and from north to south by the railway and high road from Sa.ntander City to Madrid. The highest point on the railway is 3229 ft. above the sea. Other railways connect the city with Bilbao on the east and Cabezona de la Sal on the west. There a*e also several narrowgauge mining railways and many good roads. The climate of Santander has been described as a sort of perpetual spring. The mean d^ily' temperature over 15 years was 57.2 degrees. The mean August temperature in the same period was 67.4 degrees. One mile away from Santander, on the coast, is Sardinero, a resort • visited in the summer, in less troublous days, by the people of Madrid.

BRITISH NATIONALS RESCUE BY DESTROYER PRESIDENT FLIES TO FRANCE (Received August 26, 9.5 pjn.) Times Cable LONDON, August 26 The St. Jean de Luz correspondent of the Times states that the British destroyer feith, which went to Santander for refugees and the remainder of the British nationals, did not pick up Senor Aguirre, the Basque President, who with the Ministers of Finance and Jus-

tice had travelled to France by air shortly before the insurgents reached the outskirts of the city. The Keith found only eight hostages, the other nine having escaped in a motor-boat. They are reported to. have reached Bayonne. The Keith also picked up 28 Basques, most of whom had been guarding the hostages. Shots were fired at the Keith as she left, but she was not hit.