M grew up listening to the American group Steely Dan and always loved the song ‘The Caves of Altamira’ off their 1976 album, The Royal Scam. Only now, here in Spain, did curiosity lead us to find out where the caves are. And they couldn’t be further from where we live.
It – the site is regarded as just one cave – is located near the town of Santillana del Mar in Cantabria, Northern Spain, 30 km west of Santander.
The cave, which contains wall paintings from the Upper Paleolithic period, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was discovered around 1880. An exact replica of the cave has been built next to the actual caves to prevent damage to them.
Only the song’s writers, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, could get the word ‘Hollywood’ in a song about prehistoric cave paintings.
This new series may only ever have one entry – unless someone can come up with more ideas (Que Será, Será is banned, and it’s not about Spain anyway).
Here’s a video of the song which someone had fun putting together visually. The second one tells you a bit more about the Cave of Altamira museum.
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© con jamon spain
con jamón spain 
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