Comillas tourist information
This is a noble and aristocratic town built on rolling hills that shelter a lovely beach and secluded harbour.
The first settlers in Comillas were recorded in prehistory, as shown by the 14,000-year-old Palaeolithic cave paintings in La Meaza caves, discovered in 1907. Also discovered in the area were the archaeological remains of a medieval castle at Peñacastillo.
From a later period and perfectly integrated into the surroundings is the cemetery (sited over the ruins of a fifteenth century church), one of the most peculiar symbols, presided over by an outstanding modernist sculpture by Llimona, "El Angel".
The old square, the parish church and some of the houses in the town centre are excellent specimens of traditional eighteenth-century architecture. The other remarkable buildings correspond to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a period when Comillas enjoyed its maximum economic and social splendour, enhanced by an initiative of Antonio López y López, an emigrant to Cuba and founder of the great shipping company La Trasatlántica. His financial power and friendship with the Crown won him the title of first Marquis of Comillas, bestowed by King Alfonso XII in 1882.
The impetus that the Marquis of Comillas gave to his hometown reached its peak in the summers of 1881 and 1882, with the presence of the King and Queen, the Court and the Government. On 6th September 1981, a cabinet meeting was held in the town.
On one of the royal holidays, the Marquis had the first public street lighting in Spain installed in the town. He later had his neo-Gothic style palace built in the area of Sobrellano. It was designed by Martorell and Domenech i Muntaner. Alongside stands the chapel and family vault in the same style, and nearby is the modernist palace, known as "El Capricho", by the brilliant Catalonian architect Antonio Gaudí. Opposite these architectural monuments, on the top of La Cardosa, rises the Universidad Pontificia, built in the neo-Gothic style, with clear Mudejar influence. The cost of construction was also paid for by Antonio López y López, and it is distinguished by its enormous size and characteristic reddish tones. It also boasts excellent coffered ceilings.
The birthplace of numerous bishops and archbishops, Comillas is known as "The town of the Archbishops". It was also the hometown of other illustrious men, such as Jesús Cancio, the sea poet.
The town has a fine sandy beach adjacent to the fishing port and it has been incorporated into the Parque Natural de Oyambre due to the ecological value of its coastline.
The most traditional and multitudinous fiestas in Comillas are held between 15th and 18th July to mark the festival of Christ of Protection.
