I was there in May (there are plenty of photos in the gallery: http://www.zoochat.com/gallery/zoo-santillana-del-mar As I commented in one of the photo threads, it's basically a decent little bird park with a slightly dodgy zoo around it. Plenty of animals, a few decent enclosures but a lot of small enclosures. Zoologically most notable resident is Europe's only Congo Dwarf Crocodile (O. t. osborni). One of the worst bear enclosures I've seen. In short, worth a look, but keep expectations under control! If you were in the region and only had time for one zoo then, unless you're a raving croc fan, I'd recommend you make it Cabarceno.
In my modest opinion, Santillana is sometimes better than Cabarceno. Not in all the things you can thinking about, I agree... But all in all, more biggest, it's not better all the time.
