Elevation of Santander, Spain
16ft
above sea level · 5 m
Santander is the capital of Cantabria, a single-province region of Spain. Of Spain’s 52 provincial capitals and autonomous cities, it’s the 3rd lowest.
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Key facts
- Coordinates
- 43.46° N · 3.81° W
- Degrees, minutes and seconds: 43° 27′ 44″ N · 3° 48′ 36″ W
- UTM coordinates
- 30T · 434,476 E · 4,812,478 N
- Zone 30 · ETRS89, the official datum on the mainland, the Balearic Islands, Ceuta and Melilla
- Municipality
- Santander
- INE code 39075
- Time zone
- Central European Time
- UTC+1 · UTC+2 in summer
- Population (2025)
- 175,425 people
- 13.9 sq mi municipality · 12,593 people/sq mi
- Ground height (MDT05)
- 19 ft (5.8 m)
- What the IGN’s terrain model measures at this exact point. The official elevation is 16 ft.
Population
Santander had 175,425 residents on January 1, 2025, according to Spain’s municipal register (Padrón), 0.8% more than in 2015, when it had 173,957. The municipality covers 13.9 sq mi, a density of 12,593 people/sq mi, against a Spanish average of 251 people/sq mi.
It’s the most populous of the 102 municipalities in Cantabria, home to 30% of its people.
Compared with Spain’s other capitals
Santander sits 16 ft (5 m) above sea level. Of the 52 provincial capitals and autonomous cities, the highest is Ávila, at 3,691 ft, and the lowest is Melilla, at 7 ft. The average is 1,152 ft, so Santander is 1,132 ft below it.
The nearest capital is Bilbao, 47 mi away in a straight line and 7 ft higher than Santander.
According to the IGN’s summit table, the highest point in Cantabria is Torre Blanca, at 8,586 ft (2,617 m). It lies 56 mi away in a straight line, 8,570 ft above Santander.
- 50 Santander 16 ft
Each color band is 500 m (1,640 ft), the same colors as the map. See the full list
Nearest capitals
Tools for this place
Frequently asked questions
What people most often ask about the elevation of Santander.
What is the elevation of Santander, Spain?
Santander sits at 16 feet (5 meters) above sea level. That’s the official figure from Spain’s National Geographic Institute (IGN), measured at the reference point of the town center.
What are the coordinates of Santander?
Latitude 43.46234 and longitude -3.80999 in decimal degrees (43° 27′ 44″ N · 3° 48′ 36″ W). In UTM, zone 30: 434,476 E and 4,812,478 N, in the ETRS89 datum.
How does Santander rank among Spain’s highest capitals?
It’s the 3rd lowest of the 52 provincial capitals and autonomous cities. The highest is Ávila (3,691 ft) and the lowest, Melilla (7 ft).
Which is higher, Santander or Bilbao?
Bilbao. Santander sits at 16 ft and Bilbao at 23 ft: a difference of 7 ft, 47 mi apart in a straight line.
How is elevation measured?
Elevation is the height of a point above mean sea level. Mapping agencies such as Spain’s IGN measure it on the ground with leveling and survey-grade GPS. Maps read it from an elevation model, a grid with the ground height at every point, so the model can differ by a few meters from the official figure, especially on sharp summits.
Sources
- IGN · IGR Poblaciones (population centers) Official elevation and coordinates of the town center. CC BY 4.0 license.
- MDT05 Digital Terrain Model (IGN) Ground height at this exact point, to check the figure. 5 m grid, CC BY 4.0 license.
- Municipal register (INE), January 1, 2025 Population: our own work with data from the INE website (www.ine.es). Area: IGN (CC BY 4.0).
- Terrain Tiles (AWS Open Data) Hillshading on the map, from public data by USGS, NASA, Copernicus and others.
- OpenStreetMap and OpenFreeMap The base map, with OpenStreetMap data (ODbL).
Reviewed October 31, 2026 · Methodology and sources · Spotted a mistake? Let us know