Piquio

Al principio pasé un poco de largo, los cartelones con las fotos de los platos me desanimaron un poco. Anduve mirando por diferentes cafeterías buscando unos cruasanes dignos … y finalmente deshice el camino y entré en Piquio.
Me llamo la atención el señor que estaba limpiando botas en el interior del local (hacía mil que no veía uno).
cuando miré hacia la barra las tortillas rellenas me hicieron cambiar de opinión y traicionar al cruasán. Deliciosa y suave tortilla rellena con jamón y alioli.
El café estaba bueno, y … 2,2 euros, regalado.

Getting my shop on at Blanco and Marypaz and taking advantage of all those «rebajas» (I was fresh off the adrenaline rush of getting the cutest skirt for 10 euro, but I digress), left me working up a sweat. I desperately needed to re-​hydrate, so I headed to Piquio to sit at the bar and have a glass of sparkling water.
The bartender was extremely sweet when she took my order and left me to read the weekend edition of El Pais. It’s never happened to me in Cantabria, but I received a free little tapa for ordering my beverage [1]. And mind you, this wasn’t crappy potato chips or olives (olives are viewed as a stingy tapas, as my friend from A Coruña would say, «Only Catalanes and Ourensanos would give you olives» [2]). I received a decently sized piece of tortilla. Not only did I re-​hydrate, but I was able to nourish myself after scoping out all of those sales. And people watch: because Piquio is located very close to the plaza and a lot of the popular shops, there are always people strolling about.
The bar area is quite spacious, able to accommodate large groups. If you’d prefer to occupy a table, there are plenty of those too (but snag one closer to the entrance so you can do some people-​watching).
[1] Each region of Spain has different customs regarding free tapas when you order a drink. Cantabria happens to be one of the regions where you must order your tapas separately and pay for them.
[2] People from Cataluña and the Galician region of Ourense are notorious for being extremely cheap.