In the bottom-left corner of the cathedral's nave an old priest sat on a wooden chair with a shawl wrapped around his shoulders against the cold stones surrounding him.
It indeed felt rather bracing inside the Cathedral of Santander that Saturday morning to say the least. Spain’s northern Cantabria region had been enjoying milder temperatures compared to the UK—but they dipped just as I arrived on Friday afternoon.
The priest was waiting to hear Confession with what appeared admirable patience. There didn’t appear to be many takers. Other than an old lady sitting in front of the cathedral’s Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament off to one side, with its splendid ostensory tabernacle in gilded silver by the goldsmith Maese Calvo from Burgo and a painting by the Santander painter José Ramón Sánchez depicting the Disciples of Emmaus, a few tourists pottered around the chilly interior.
