Human beings have lived in Cantabria since prehistoric times. The cave paintings of Altamira are calculated to be fifteen thousand years old and the existence of settlers in this region is well attested in many other places. Many centuries later the Cantabrians settled there. Their fierce resistance to the Romans resulted in their extermination. During the Middle Ages the inhabitants of the region acted as a rearguard for the Reconquest and were also the founders of the enclaves that would later become Castile.

Together with Asturias, the region was the last one to be dominated by the Romans, whose influence was very superficial and restricted almost entirely to the area of the cities they founded.

After the year 409, with the vanishing of Roman power in the Peninsula, Cantabria recovered its independence, which was to last until 574 with the coming of the Visigoths, who created the Duchy of Cantabria. This name showed it to be a geographical area with an identity of its own, although, after a period of confusion, it finally disappeared during the Middle Ages when the eastern part was absorbed into Castile and the western part in Asturias.

Thesetting up of the province of Santander, which took place in 1833 as a part of the territorial reform of Spain, gave Cantabria an administrative centre for the firt time in its history. This gave rise to a series of initiatives throughout the 19th century.