Laredo, Spain

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You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Spanish. (March 2013) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Spanish article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Spanish Wikipedia article at [[:es:Laredo (Cantabria)]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|es|Laredo (Cantabria)}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Laredo
Municipality and town
Panoramic view of Laredo center
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Laredo
Laredo Show map of Cantabria Laredo Show map of Spain
Coordinates: 43°24′52″N 3°24′36″W / 43.41444°N 3.41000°W / 43.41444; -3.41000
Country	Spain
Autonomous community	Cantabria
Province	Cantabria
Comarca	Eastern coast of Cantabria
Judicial district	Laredo
Settled	757
Government
• Alcalde	Rosario Losa Martínez (2019) (PSOE)
Area
• Total	15.71 km2 (6.07 sq mi)
Elevation	5 m (16 ft)
Population  (2018)[1]
• Total	11,148
• Density	710/km2 (1,800/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Laredano/a, pejino/a
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	39770
Dialing code	942
Website	Official website

Laredo (Spanish pronunciation: [laˈɾeðo]) is a town in the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain. According to the 2008 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 12,648 inhabitants. In addition to Laredo, the municipality includes the villages of La Arenosa, El Callejo, Las Cárcobas, Las Casillas, La Pesquera, Tarrueza and Villante. Except from the last two, the other villages had been physically integrated into Laredo.

Located between the cities of Santander and Bilbao, Laredo is known in the region and nationally for "La Salvé", its 5 km long beach (7 km at high tide) and for the historic part of town dating back to Roman times. Its festivities in August are also well known due to the main event that occurs every year on the last Friday of August, known as la batalla de flores (the battle of the flowers), during which large floats entirely covered with flowers and petals are paraded along the central streets.

In Laredo (and many other cities in Spain) it is tradition for a group of men to parade a giant sardine through town at the end of carnival. At the end of this ritual, called Entierro de la Sardina ("burial of the sardine"), the sardine is burned on the beach after a fireworks display.^[2]

This town gave its name to the twin cities of Laredo and Nuevo Laredo on the U.S.-Mexico border.