Painting holidays in Spain: a week with Dale Scott on Cantabria's coast and villages

For painting holidays in Spain with a tutor and good company, Spice Escapes runs a week on Cantabria's green north coast, where Dale Scott teaches a small hosted group to paint the sea, old villages and mountain views. Every level and any medium is welcome, and sketch pads and a canvas are provided.

It is the Spanish Drawing and Painting Break with Tuition: 7 nights in a twelve-bedroom house, on a holiday most people book on their own. Below: the five painting days, the places, the weather, the house, and two other weeks if the dates do not suit.

Five subjects in five places: the week as Dale plans it

Dale teaches different techniques through a range of compositions. The plan covers:

• Seascape on the coast at Comillas and San Vicente de la Barquera.
• Structure in the village of La Colsa, with its church as a subject.
• A bridge at Bárcena Mayor, which our itinerary also credits with excellent bars.
• Landscape on the mountain pass to Carmona, with a picnic.
• Still life at the house, when the group stays local.

It is a guide. Dale adapts it to flight times and the weather, and there are other options to talk over during the week. The break runs 25 Apr 2027 – 2 May 2027, so see the dates and book online on the Spanish Drawing and Painting Break page.

The seascape day: Comillas, San Vicente and a 500-metre bridge

Turismo de Cantabria calls the shore from Unquera to San Vicente the best-preserved stretch of Cantabria's coast, where estuaries carry the sea inland and dairy meadows run right down to the beaches.

Comillas is aristocratic yet keeps the feel of a fishing village, with a small working harbour lined with little taverns. Its modernist buildings include the Sobrellano Palace and Gaudí's El Capricho.

San Vicente de la Barquera's old quarter is a protected historic site. Its Puente de la Maza, built in the 15th and 16th centuries, runs 500 metres across the estuary on 28 round arches. The tourist board names the view from Gerra beach, the town and its bridge with the Picos de Europa behind, as one of the best-known images of the area.

Lunch is at the house or a picnic, unless the group tries a local restaurant at its own cost. San Vicente's dish is sorropotún, a stew of bonito and potatoes.

Inland: a bridge at Bárcena Mayor and a picnic on the pass to Carmona

Bárcena Mayor is the only village inside the Saja-Besaya Natural Park, protected as a historic site since 1979. Visitors come for its 17th-century church, balconies full of flowers, the walk across the river and its wicker and woodwork shops.

Carmona, between the Saja and Nansa valleys, is protected too. Baroque manor houses stand among simpler homes on cobbled streets, and a statue honours the Tudanca, Cantabria's native breed of cattle.

The weather: green for a reason, so the plan bends

Cantabria's colour comes from its rain. For a spring week, the World Weather Information Service gives Santander, about 50 minutes from the house by car, an April average of about 17°C by day and 8°C at night, with rain on around 15 days of the month. These are long-term averages from AEMET, Spain's state weather agency, not a forecast. Dale adapts the week to the weather, and still life needs only the house.

Agara: twelve bedrooms, a resident dog and wine you pour yourself

The group stays at Agara, Sanskrit for home, a former restaurant renovated with new bathrooms and a new kitchen while keeping its character. Three of the twelve bedrooms have their own bathroom, at a supplement, and the others share. Our single supplement guide explains how room costs work for people booking on their own.

Local wine, beer and spirits are in the house to help yourself to. There is no choice of bars on the doorstep, so any party happens at home, and a very friendly dog lives there too.

Arrivals are split across Saturday and Sunday, and you arrive among people who came to paint too. Our over-50s solo holidays page explains how our hosted groups work, and if this is your first holiday on your own, our guide for first-time solo travellers covers what to expect.

If those dates do not work: two other weeks, without the tutor

Read, Relax & Restore: A Week in Spain's Green North uses the same house and runs 6 Jun 2027 – 13 Jun 2027, hosted by Jackie Whyte. There is no tuition, but every room is sole occupancy, breakfast, a light lunch and dinner come each day, and Comillas and San Vicente are a 20-minute drive for anyone with a sketchbook.

Croatian Chillout is 7 nights on the island of Lošinj, half board at Hotel Punta, with the harbours of Mali Lošinj and Veli Lošinj to sketch and a boat day round the archipelago. It runs 1 May 2027 – 8 May 2027, hosted by Jackie Whyte.

There are more holidays in Spain and culture and discovery holidays, and solo holidays in northern Spain covers the wider region.

Questions people ask

Do I need to be a good painter already?

No. The break is for every level, from people just starting out to those well on their way. Dale is very experienced at helping all of them, in almost any medium.

Which mediums can I use?

Any of them. Sketch pads and a canvas are provided, and you are welcome to bring your own kit.

What happens if it rains?

Cantabria is green because it rains, and the long-term averages show rain on around half the days in spring. Dale adapts the plan to the weather, and still life at the house needs no sunshine.

Will most people be on their own?

Most people on Spice holidays book on their own, so you will not be the odd one out. You paint together by day and share the house, its wine and its dog in the evenings.

See the dates and book your painting week online

When you are ready, see the dates and book online on the Spanish Drawing and Painting Break with Tuition page, where the Book button takes you into our booking. Availability: 9 places left.

For questions before you book, about mediums, rooms or flights, ask Rob Thompson, who owns Spice Escapes and hosts holidays himself, through our contact page, or ask Rosie, the chat on the holiday page.