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45-657: It is situated roughly 8 kilometres from the Cantabrian Coast and 27.5 kilometres from the capital of the Autonomous Community, Santander , halfway between the Principality of Asturias and the Basque Country . The rivers Saja and Besaya  [ es ] flow through the city. It is the capital of the comarca (county, but with no administrative role) of Valle del Besaya which includes also composed of

90-451: A mine. All hands were lost. On 12 April 1970, Soviet submarine  K-8 sank in the Bay of Biscay due to a fire that crippled the submarine's nuclear reactors. An attempt to save the sub failed, resulting in the death of forty sailors and the loss of four nuclear torpedoes. Due to the great depth (15,000 ft or 4,600 m), no salvage operation was attempted. The Plaiaundi Ecology Park

135-575: A settlement. The Queen departed for France on 9 March 1325, and in September was joined by her son, the heir to the throne, Prince Edward (later Edward III of England). Isabella's negotiations were successful, and it was agreed that the young Prince Edward would perform homage in the king's place, which he did on 24 September and so the duchy was returned to the English crown. When France's Charles IV died in 1328 leaving only daughters, his nearest male relative

180-693: A whaling company and another one seen off the Iberian Peninsula. The best areas to see the larger cetaceans are in the deep waters beyond the continental shelf , particularly over the Santander Canyon and Torrelavega Canyon in the south of the Bay. The alga Colpomenia peregrina was introduced and first noticed in 1906 by oyster fishermen in the Bay of Biscay. Grammatostomias flagellibarba (scaleless dragonfish) are native to these waters. Gascony Gascony ( / ˈ ɡ æ s k ə n i / ; French : Gascogne [ɡaskɔɲ] )

225-614: Is a 24 -hectare coastal wetland lying where the Bidasoa River meets the sea in the Bay of Biscay.The nature of Plaiaundi consists of a wide variety of flora (visitors view them mainly in the spring) and fauna (visitors with binoculars arrive all during the year, because of the birds' migratory habits). This nature park contains a variety of birds , reptiles , mammals and insects . The car ferries from Gijón to Nantes / Saint-Nazaire , Portsmouth to Bilbao and from Plymouth , Portsmouth and Poole to Santander provide one of

270-455: Is currently divided between the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine (departments of Landes , Pyrénées-Atlantiques , southwestern Gironde , and southern Lot-et-Garonne ) and the region of Occitanie (departments of Gers , Hautes-Pyrénées , southwestern Tarn-et-Garonne , and western Haute-Garonne ). Gascony was historically inhabited by Basque -related people who appear to have spoken a language similar to Basque . The name Gascony comes from

315-508: Is not proved and is not necessary to understand the historical evolution of this region". This Basque-related culture and race is, whatever the origin, attested in (mainly Carolingian) Medieval documents, while their exact boundaries remain unclear ("Wascones, qui trans Garonnam et circa Pirineum montem habitant" -- "Wascones, who live across the Garonne and around the Pyrenees mountains", as stated in

360-476: Is the Cantabrian Sea . The main rivers that empty into the Bay of Biscay are Loire , Charente , Garonne , Dordogne , Adour , Nivelle , Bidasoa , Oiartzun , Urumea , Oria , Urola , Deba , Artibai , Lea , Oka , Nervión , Agüera , Asón , Miera , Pas , Saja , Nansa , Deva , Sella , Nalón , Navia , Esva , Eo , Landro and Sor . In late spring and early summer a large fog triangle fills

405-748: The Cantabri ) and also, Mare Gallaecum (the Sea of the Galicians ). On some medieval maps, the Bay of Biscay is marked as El Mar del los Vascos (the Basque Sea). The Bay of Biscay has been the site of many famous naval engagements over the centuries. In 1592 the Spanish defeated an English fleet during the Battle of the Bay of Biscay . The Biscay campaign of June 1795 consisted of a series of manoeuvres and two battles fought between

450-625: The Confederación Nacional del Trabajo . Torrelavega is twinned with: Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay ( / ˈ b ɪ s k eɪ , - k i / BISS -kay, -⁠kee ) is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea . It lies along the western coast of France from Point Penmarc'h to the Spanish border, and along the northern coast of Spain, extending westward to Cape Ortegal . The southern area of

495-721: The Franks in 507, and fled into Spain and Septimania . Novempopulania then became part of the Frankish Kingdom like the rest of southern France. However, Novempopulania was far away from the home base of the Franks in northern France, and was only very loosely controlled by the Franks. During all the troubled and historically obscure period, starting from early 5th-century accounts, the bagaudae are often cited, social uprisings against tax exaction and feudalization, largely associated to Vasconic unrest. Old historical literature sometimes claims

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540-693: The Pyrenees . In December 1259, Louis IX of France ceded to Henry land north and east of Gascony. In return, Henry renounced his claim to many of the territories that had been lost by King John . In May 1286, King Edward I paid homage before the new king, Philip IV of France , for the lands in Gascony. However, in May 1294, Philip confiscated the lands, initiating the Gascon War . Between 1294 and 1298, Edward sent three expeditionary forces to recover Gascony, but Philip

585-524: The Roman Empire . Later, in 27 BC, during the reign of Emperor Augustus , the province of Gallia Aquitania was created. Gallia Aquitania was far larger than the original Aquitania, as it extended north of the Garonne, in fact all the way north to the river Loire , thus including the Celtic Gauls that inhabited the regions between the rivers Garonne and Loire. In 297, as Emperor Diocletian reformed

630-597: The Royal Frankish Annals , for one). The word Vasconia evolved into Wasconia , and then into Gasconia ( w often evolved into g under the influence of Romance languages ; cf. warranty and guarantee , warden and guardian , wile and guile , William and Guillaume ). The gradual abandonment of the Basque-related Aquitanian language in favor of a local Vulgar Latin was not reversed. The replacing local Vulgar Latin evolved into Gascon. It

675-453: The most powerful vassal in France . In 1248, Simon de Montfort was appointed Governor in the unsettled Duchy of Gascony. Bitter complaints were excited by de Montfort's rigour in suppressing the excesses of both the seigneurs of the nobility and the contending factions in the great communes . Henry III yielded to the outcry and instituted a formal inquiry into Simon's administration. Simon

720-588: The 1850s. The eastern population of this species are considered to be almost extinct, and there has been no record of right whales in the Bay of Biscay except for a pair in 1977 (possibly a mother and calf) at 43°00′N 10°30′W  /  43.000°N 10.500°W  / 43.000; -10.500 , and another pair in June 1980. Other records in the late 20th century include one off Galicia at 43°00′N 10°30′W  /  43.000°N 10.500°W  / 43.000; -10.500 in September 1977 reported by

765-645: The Basques took control of the whole of Novempopulania in the Early Middle Ages , founding its claims on the testimony of Gregory of Tours , on the etymological link between the words "Basque" and "Gascon" – both derived from "Vascones" or "Wasconia", the latter being used to name the whole of Novempopulania. Modern historians reject this hypothesis, which is sustained by no archeological evidence. For Juan José Larrea, and Pierre Bonnassie, "a Vascon expansionism in Aquitany

810-486: The Bay of Biscay are Bordeaux , Bayonne , Biarritz , Nantes , La Rochelle , Donostia-San Sebastián , Bilbao , Santander , Gijón and Avilés . The southern end of the gulf is also called "Mar Cantábrico" in Spanish ( Cantabrian Sea ), from the Estaca de Bares , as far as the mouth of Adour river, but this name is not generally used in English. It was named by Romans in the 1st century BC as Sinus Cantabrorum (Bay of

855-673: The Bay of Biscay that washes over the northern coast of Spain is known locally as the Cantabrian Sea . The average depth is 1,744 m (5,722 ft) and the greatest depth is 4,735 m (15,535 ft). The Bay of Biscay is known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( Spanish : Golfo de Vizcaya ; Basque : Bizkaiko Golkoa ), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony ( French : Golfe de Gascogne [ɡɔl.f(ə) də ɡas.kɔɲ] ; Occitan : Golf de Gasconha ; Breton : Pleg-mor Gwaskogn ). Its English name comes from Biscay on

900-658: The British Channel Fleet and the French Atlantic Fleet off the southern coast of Brittany during the second year of the French Revolutionary Wars . The USS  Californian sank here after striking a naval mine on 22 June 1918. In 1920 the SS ; Afrique sank after losing power and drifting into a reef in a storm with the loss of 575 lives. On 28 December 1943, the Battle of the Bay of Biscay

945-583: The Vega's was built by Leonor Lasso de la Vega , daughter of Garci Lasso de la Vega II , the younger, and mother of the Íñigo López de Mendoza, marqués de Santillana in order to administer the tax and privilege due in the family's territory. The name of the comarca , Valle del Besaya is derived from the Astur-Leonese Bisalia , which in turn derives from the Celtic, Bis-salia (the second Salia or Saja ) from

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990-642: The administrative structures of the Roman Empire, Aquitania was split into three provinces. The territory south of the Garonne River, corresponding to the original Aquitania, was made a province called Novempopulania (that is, "land of the nine tribes"), while the part of Gallia Aquitania north of the Garonne became the province of Aquitanica I and the province of Aquitanica II . The territory of Novempopulania corresponded mostly to that of modern Gascony. The Aquitania Novempopulana or Novempopulania suffered like

1035-723: The end of the Ancien Régime in 1792. Gascony is limited by the Atlantic Ocean (western limit) and the Pyrenees mountains (southern limit); as the area of Gascon language , it extends to the Garonne (North), and close to the Ariège (river) (East) from the Pyrenees to the confluence of the Garonne with the Ariège . The other most important river is Adour, along with its tributaries Gave de Pau and Gave d'Oloron . The most important towns are: Bayonne , Dax and Tarbes are crossed by

1080-456: The end of the Hundred Years' War, after Gascony had changed hands several times, the English were finally defeated at the Battle of Castillon on 17 July 1453; Gascony remained French from then on. From the 17th century onwards, the government of Gascony was united with Guyenne . The government of Guyenne and Gascony ( Guienne et Gascogne ), with its capital at Bordeaux, lasted until

1125-465: The most convenient ways to see cetaceans in European waters. Often specialist groups take the ferries to collect more information. Volunteers and employees of ORCA regularly observe and monitor cetacean activity from the bridge of the ships on Brittany Ferries ' Portsmouth to Santander route. Many species of whales and dolphins can be seen in this area. Most importantly, it is one of the few places in

1170-437: The municipalities of Suances , Polanco , Cartes , Los Corrales de Buelna , Cieza , Arenas de Iguña , Bárcena de Pie de Concha , Molledo , Anievas and San Felices de Buelna . Its highest point is 606 metres and its lowest point is 12 metres. Torrelavega is a regional centre for industry and transport, and its weekly livestock fair is famous in Spain. Its stadium is known as El Malecon. The Cave of Altamira , famed for

1215-545: The nearest heir through male ancestry was Charles IV's first cousin, Philip, Count of Valois, and it was decided that he should be crowned Philip VI of France . Philip believed that Edward III was in breach of his obligations as vassal, so in May 1337 he met with his Great Council in Paris. It was agreed that Gascony should be taken back into Philip's hands, thus precipitating the Hundred Years War between England and France. At

1260-494: The northern Spanish coast, probably standing for the western Basque districts ( Biscay up to the early 19th century). Parts of the continental shelf extend far into the bay, resulting in fairly shallow waters in many areas and thus the rough seas for which the region is known. Heavy storms occur in the bay, especially during the winter months. The Bay of Biscay is home to some of the Atlantic Ocean 's fiercest weather ; abnormally high waves occur there. Up until recent years it

1305-484: The play by Edmond Rostand . It is also home to Henry III of Navarre , who later became king of France as Henry IV . In pre-Roman times , the inhabitants of Gascony were the Aquitanians ( Latin : Aquitani ), who spoke a non-Indo-European language related to modern Basque. The Aquitanians inhabited a territory limited to the north and east by the river Garonne , to the south by the Pyrenees mountain range, and to

1350-505: The political disintegration of the duchy until their defeat by William II Sánchez of Gascony in 982. In turn, the weakened ethnic polity known as Duchy of Wasconia/Wascones, unable to get around the general spread of feudalization, gave way to a myriad of counties founded by Gascon lords. The 1152 marriage of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine allowed the former to gain control of his new wife's possessions of Aquitaine and Gascony. This addition to his already plentiful holdings made Henry

1395-448: The prehistoric paintings found inside, is about 10 kilometres northwest of the city. Torrelavega was founded at the end of the thirteenth century by Garci Lasso de la Vega I (the elder), Adelantado Mayor of the Kingdom of Castile in the name of King Alfonso XI of Castile . Its current name is due to the contraction of the original eponym of "Torre de la Vega". The Castle or Tower of

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1440-566: The pressure falls rapidly ( galerna ), traveling along the Gulf Stream at great speed, resembling a hurricane and finally crashing in this bay with their maximum power, such as the Klaus storm . The Gulf Stream enters the bay following the continental shelf's border anti-clockwise (the Rennell Current ), keeping temperatures moderate all year long. The main cities on the shores (or close to) of

1485-621: The rest of the Western Roman Empire from the invasions of Germanic tribes, most notably the Vandals in 407–409. In 416–418, Novempopulania was delivered to the Visigoths as their federate settlement lands and became part of the Visigoth kingdom of Toulouse , while other than the region of the Garonne river their actual grip on the area may have been rather loose. The Visigoths were defeated by

1530-611: The same root as the word Basque (see Wasconia below). From the Middle Ages until today, the Gascon language has been spoken, although it is classified as a regional variant of the Occitan language . Gascony is the land of d'Artagnan , who inspired Alexandre Dumas 's character d'Artagnan in The Three Musketeers , as well as the land of Cyrano de Bergerac , the eponymous character of

1575-746: The southwestern half of the bay, covering just a few kilometres inland. As winter begins, weather becomes severe. Depressions enter from the west very frequently and they either bounce north to the British Isles or they enter the Ebro Valley , dry out, and are finally reborn in the form of powerful thunderstorms as they reach the Mediterranean Sea . These depressions cause severe weather at sea and bring light though very constant rain to its shores (known as orballo , sirimiri , morrina , orbayu , orpin or calabobos ). Sometimes powerful windstorms form if

1620-540: The two rivers that flow through the city. Torrelavega was an important agricultural hub in the Kingdom of Castile since medieval times. Continuous population growth and industrial development enabled Torrelavega to attain city status in 1895 from the Queen Regent Maria Christina of Bourbon, Princess of the Two Sicilies . The city is home to the main seat of the Spanish anarcho-syndicalist labour union

1665-619: The west by the Atlantic Ocean. The Romans called this territory Aquitania, either from the Latin word aqua (meaning "water"), in reference to the many rivers flowing from the Pyrenees through the area, or from the name of the Aquitanian Ausci tribe, in which case Aquitania would mean "land of the Ausci". In the 50s BC, Aquitania was conquered by lieutenants of Julius Caesar and became part of

1710-640: The world where the beaked whales , such as the Cuvier's beaked whale , have been observed relatively frequently. Biscay Dolphin Research monitored cetacean activity from the P&;O Ferries cruise ferry Pride of Bilbao , on voyages from Portsmouth to Bilbao. North Atlantic right whales , one of the most endangered species of whales, once came to the bay for feeding and probably for calving as well, but whaling activities by Basque people almost wiped them out sometime prior to

1755-534: Was Edward III of England, the son of Isabella, the sister of the dead king; but the question arose whether she could legally transmit the inheritance of the throne of France to her son even though she herself, as a woman, could not inherit the throne. The assemblies of the French barons and prelates and the University of Paris decided that males who derive their right to inheritance through their mother should be excluded. Thus

1800-578: Was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part of the combined Province of Guyenne and Gascony. The region is vaguely defined, and the distinction between Guyenne and Gascony is unclear; by some they are seen to overlap, while others consider Gascony a part of Guyenne. Most definitions put Gascony east and south of Bordeaux . It

1845-492: Was a regular occurrence for merchant vessels to founder in Biscay storms. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Bay of Biscay as "a line joining Cap Ortegal ( 43°46′N 7°52′W  /  43.767°N 7.867°W  / 43.767; -7.867 ) to Penmarch Point ( 47°48′N 4°22′W  /  47.800°N 4.367°W  / 47.800; -4.367 )". The southernmost portion

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1890-454: Was able to retain most of the territory until the Treaty of Paris in 1303 . In 1324 when Edward II of England , in his capacity as Duke of Aquitaine , failed to pay homage to the French king after a dispute , Charles IV declared the duchy forfeit at the end of June 1324, and military action by the French followed. Edward sent his wife Isabella , who was sister to the French king, to negotiate

1935-516: Was formally acquitted of the charges, but in August 1252 he was nevertheless dismissed. Henry then himself went to Gascony, pursuing a policy of conciliation; he arranged the marriage between Edward , his 14-year-old son, and Eleanor of Castile , daughter of Alfonso X . Alfonso renounced all claims to Gascony and assisted the Plantagenets against rebels such as Gaston de Bearn , who had taken control of

1980-491: Was fought between HMS  Glasgow and HMS  Enterprise , and a group of German destroyers as part of Operation Stonewall during World War II . The area became known as the "Valley of Death" by U-boat crews following a series of repeated losses from RAF attacks on U-boats from 1943 until the end of the war. The U-667 sank on 25 August 1944 in position 46°00′N 01°30′W  /  46.000°N 1.500°W  / 46.000; -1.500 , when she struck

2025-474: Was heavily influenced by the original Aquitanian language (for example, Latin f became h ; cf. Latin fortia , French force , Spanish fuerza , Occitan fòrça , but Gascon hòrça ). Interestingly, the Basques from the French side of the Basque Country traditionally call anyone who does not speak Basque a "Gascon". Meanwhile, Viking raiders conquered several Gascon towns, among them Bayonne in 842–844. Their attacks in Gascony may have helped

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