Pena Cabarga

Peña Cabarga is a limestone massif located in Cantabria (Spain). It has a maximum altitude of 569 meters at the level called pico Llen and an area of 377 hectares. In 1989 it was declared a natural park by decree, but said declaration was annulled in 2005 by the Superior Court of Justice of Cantabria, since the Macizo de Peña Cabarga Natural Park lacked the mandatory PORN and PRUG since its creation.

The formation is located parallel to the southern shore of Santander Bay. Its northern slope is occupied by crops and meadows in its lower part and by limestone rocks in the higher area (the karstic formations stand out). In the intermediate level repopulation eucalyptus grow.

Monument to India, on the top of Peña Cabarga.

The southern slope is covered by large low holm oak groves that shelter a wide range of fauna. However, the continuous succession of fires due to extensive livestock activity has led to the loss of significant wooded area. Fauna of interest include: gray heron, moorhen, little grebe, mallard, shoveler, common teal, Egyptian vulture, owl, little owl, and mammals such as mustelids.

The iron oxide deposits on the southwestern slope have been exploited since Roman times (it is not for nothing that the classical sources described this formation as "the iron mountain") until 1988. The dissolution of the limestone has caused a large lapiaz with an important surface area with a topography of large calcareous columns, decalcification clays and iron oxide and hydroxide nodules. This lapiaz has been declared a Point of Geological Interest since 1983.

In order to protect mining operations, in 1988 the Government of Cantabria carried out an important landscape restoration. It turned its southern zone into a leisure area with the creation of the Cabárceno Nature Park, a large area of land where a wide variety of animals were incorporated in a semi-freedom regime in an environment of great scenic interest.

At the top of Peña Cabarga there is a viewpoint next to the Monument to the Indiano from which you can see the entire coast of Cantabria, Santander and its bay, and the Picos de Europa. In addition, in the upper viewpoint of the monument there is a dark room in which the visitor can see panoramic views of the Bay of Santander, being able to reach the bordering provinces of Vizcaya and Burgos on clear days.

The main center for television and radio broadcasting in Cantabria is located on the Llen peak.

Cycling

Peña Cabarga has been classified as a first class and special category port. He has been the final stage of the Vuelta a España five times (1979, 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2016), with the following results:

Year	Phase	Date	Cat.	Departure	km	Winner	Leader
1979	13. a	7 May	1. a	Haro	180	Angel López del Álamo	Joop Zoetemelk
2010	14. a	11 September	Esp.	Burgos	178	Joaquim Rodríguez	Vincenzo Nibali
2011	17. a	7 September	Esp.	Faustino V	211	Chris Froome	Juanjo Cobo
2013	18. a	12 September	1. a	Burgos	186,5	Vasil Kirienka	Vincenzo Nibali
2016	11. a	31 August	1. a	Museum of Jurassic	168.6	Chris Froome	Nairo Quintana