THE BEST RESORTS IN SPAIN - WHERE TO RELAX IN 2021?

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Author: Nadia

We look, we choose! The best resorts in Spain by the sea - for youth holidays, for children, for families - which one are you?

"Mutuo amor", or "love that is mutual." This is how the Spaniards describe the attitude of Russian tourists to the country of bullfighting, endless beaches and resorts with the prefix "Costa".

It is not without reason that Spain remains the long-term leader of the domestic tourist flow. Since 2016, more than three million holidaymakers from Russia have visited its coast - a number comparable to the statistics of outbound tourism to Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam and island China for the same period.

When is the best time to go? Season in Spain

The climate in this country is milder than in Turkey or Tunisia, but the average water temperature in the middle of July is slightly lower than in the besieged by tourists Rhodes in Greece or in Larnaca in Cyprus - + 24 ° С ... + 26 ° С.

The swimming season on the east coast of Spain can be opened already in the first half of June, when the water temperature in the Mediterranean Sea warms up to + 23 ° C. However, this does not happen at all resorts; in general, the Costa Blanca and Costa Tropical are getting warmer. Since July, the rest have been catching up, incl. and the popular Costa Brava and Costa Dorada.

May cannot be called a season for a full beach holiday, but this month is perfect for active youth or budget travelers: before the official start of the European holiday season in 3 * hotels in Barcelona, you can still grab rooms for 50 euros for two per night.

Thinking about a tour? Look at the prices on Level.Travel and Travelata - these aggregators show the best deals, because search for all tour operators at once. They will tell you exactly where in Spain is cheaper 🙂

Resorts of Catalonia (near Barcelona)

A high-quality beach vacation in Spain, in the minds of many tourists, is a vacation on the Catalan coast. Thanks to the status of an autonomous commune, Catalonia was little affected by the spontaneous influx of migrants from North Africa, which began in the 70s of the last century, so it is here that some of the most environmentally friendly resorts in the Mediterranean have survived.

Historically, wealthy Frenchmen, Germans, British, Portuguese, and Spaniards themselves from the northern regions of the country flocked to the resorts of the Costa Brava and Costa Dorada. Until now, they come here not only for the warm sea and hotels with a high rating of comfort, but also for cultural tourism, wine routes and the cleanest beaches in all of Spain.

Costa Brava

The two most famous and best resorts in Catalonia are called Costa Brava and Costa Dorada. They are equidistant from the Catalan capital Barcelona, but differ greatly in the quality of the beaches and the price segment.

Located further north on the map and closer to the French border, the Costa Brava lives up to its name "Wild Coast". There are more lost beaches, rocky cliffs with pine trees and in almost every bay you can see the remains of ancient outposts. The beaches of the Costa Brava are sandy, but the sand on them looks more like crushed pebbles.

The most popular holiday destinations on the Costa Brava are:

Lloret de Mar bay, which is famous for its beach parties for European youth 17-25 years old. Recreation here is centered around the beaches of Lloret, Fenals and Santa Cristina.
The city of Palamos, the center of attraction for divers and fans of outdoor activities on the Costa Brava.

The Playa d'Aro party center, where beginning yachtsmen from all over the world gather in the summer season. An ideal place for renting a yacht for the whole family at a reasonable price (from € 60 per hour).
Wine region Roses, the northernmost resort of the Costa Brava, which is still little explored by tourists from Russia. This city is quieter than its southern neighbors and is famous for its Michelin-starred restaurants serving fresh seafood.

A cultural must-visit for the Costa Brava - the old center of Girona, the botanical garden in Calella de Palafrugell and the photogenic fishing village in Blanes. A separate attraction is the house-museum of Salvador Dali in Figueres (entrance € 15).

Gran beach - there are many vacationers, but the place can always be found (Tossa de Mar, Costa Brava)

(Photo courtesy of traveler Rodomaster - tripadvisor)

Costa Dorada

Costa Dorada, or Spain's Gold Coast, is located to the south, an hour and a half from Barcelona. This place got its name for a 200-kilometer strip of beaches with fine yellow sand and a gentle slope. Therefore, for families with children, this part of the Catalan coast is more suitable than the neighboring resort of the Costa Brava.

Some of the quietest beaches on the Costa Dorada can be found in the towns of Cambrils and El Perelló. All conditions for a vacation from the metropolis are created here: well-groomed municipal beaches, golf courses, long promenades and dozens of bars with homemade wine.
Another destination for a quiet holiday by the sea is the Mont Roig del Camp resort with a 12 km long Miami Platja beach strip. The main attraction of the town is the Bulls Square, where you can watch the bullfight live.
One of the youngest resorts on the Costa Dorada, La Pineda is ideal for a beach holiday in Spain. For the little ones, there is a huge town with animation and restaurants with a children's menu.
The city of Salou is known for its Port Aventura amusement park, which is called the Spanish Disneyland. A visit to the park is not cheap (€ 55 per person), but worth the money.
A large share of the tourist flow here falls on the resort of Tarragona - an open-air museum city. Here the Roman forum of the 1st century and the ruins of the Roman amphitheater of the 2nd century AD, architecture of the Carthaginian and Visigoths epoch have survived. The main sights of the city can be seen for free, the entrance to the city's cathedral and some museums is up to € 3 per person.

Costa del Maresme

For those who are not going to rent a private car, but want to explore as many sights of eastern Spain as possible, it makes sense to stay on the Costa del Maresme. It is a 50 km stretch of beaches between the Costa Dorada and Costa Brava, which starts less than 20 km from Barcelona.

The advantage of this part is that the Costa del Maresme is the "golden" middle of the price segment of Catalonia: for example, in Malgrat de Mar you can book a 3 * hotel on the first line from the sea at a modest price for Spain.

For family holidays, Malgrat de Mar is considered the best resorts - there are good beaches with a gentle coast and there is a free transfer to the Marineland water park (adult ticket € 25, children and concessionary € 16).
The tourist suburb of Barcelona - Pineda de Mar - is more suitable for adult vacationers, since nudists sunbathe on the local beach without hesitation. The sandy strip is wide here, but there is practically no shallow water, so for families with children it is better to choose neighboring cities, for example, Santa Susanna, one of the quietest Catalan cities. The sand on the beach here is very fine, the entrance to the sea is gentle, the water is clean and transparent.
For those looking to split their vacation between city and beach, Calella is the place to be. Located just an hour from Barcelona, but boasts well-groomed beaches and affordable hotels.
If you are planning to combine a spa vacation with traveling in Spain, you can stay in the town of Premiya de Mar, where the Mataro-Barcelona railway runs along the sea coast. This is the closest resort to the large Illa Fantasia water park with extreme slides for adults and an animation zone for children.
Adults will find it more interesting to visit the big city of Mataro - a shrine for fans of budget shopping. Local outlets hold sales in the middle of each season (June 10-26, October 15-30), so many tourists and Spaniards themselves come there to devote the day to choosing new things.

Other resorts on the southeast coast

The next three Costa - Blanca, Tropical and del Sol - are located closer to the south of the country (and Africa) on the map. This means that it is hotter, drier and more "Spanish" here, because Catalonia, insisting on its individuality, is replaced by Valencia and Andalusia.

Costa Blanca

South of the Catalan borders, the "Gold" coast turns into the "White" - begins a strip of beaches belonging to the Costa Blanca.

Its resort capital, Benidorm, is the most popular place to buy real estate from Spaniards with above-average earnings, but the Costa Blanca is not only loved by the locals. In the coastal resort of Torrevieja, foreigners from France, the Czech Republic, the UK and Germany make up almost half of the population, and this is where Spain's largest Russian-speaking community lives.

Those who plan their trip to the Costa Blanca should remember that holidays in Benidorm and the resort of Alicante are typically urban. In search of solitude, you will have to leave the city limits:

to Granadella bay (pebble beach with rocks, great for divers)
the bay of Moraira to the beach of El Portet (shallow beach strip 350 meters long, suitable for families with children)
to the lagoon of Santa Pola to the beaches of Lisa and Tamarit (the best beaches for windsurfing and kitesurfing in mainland Spain)
or Guardamare lagoon (10 kilometers of beach, surrounded by coniferous forest).

Levante and Poniente are considered good urban beaches in Benidorm, San Juan and Postiguet beaches in Alicante, but it will not be easy to find a place on them in the high season. From the reviews of tourists it follows that you can take a closer look at the Calpe area, where it is much quieter and more space.

Las Colinas Golf and Country Club (Costa Blanca)

(Photo courtesy of DouglasFalkirkregion traveler - tripadvisor.com)

Costa Tropical

Costa Tropical is a resort little known to Russian tourists in the south of Spain (because you have to travel on your own), but popular among Europeans. Still, this is the warmest region in mainland Spain!

You can swim from the 10th of June until mid-October (+ 21 ° C ... + 24 ° C), and the air temperature throughout the year is not lower than + 10 ° C. It is convenient to get from Malaga airport (which is in the Costa del Sol), and Tropical is the closest place to it with a guaranteed warm sea.

Almuñécar and Salobreña are the main tourist destinations - well-developed infrastructure, picturesque and hilly. Two hours by car - Granada and the Sierra Nevada National Park.

The only negative: resort cities are not with sandy beaches, but small pebbles. Plus, five-star hotels are not the forte of the Costa Tropical, they are not here at all. But there are decent and, most importantly, budget "triplets" - from € 70 per night for two.

In general, the Costa Tropical is universal, it is chosen both for outdoor activities and for the beach.

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Costa del Sol

The Spanish coasts south of the Costa Blanca can only be called European.
The proximity to the African continent and the high mountain range have formed a tropical microclimate near the southernmost resorts of the country - Marbella and Malaga. The sun shines here almost 300 days a year; By summer, the water in the Alboran Sea warms up to + 25 ° C ... + 26 ° C, but it is periodically diluted by cold currents.

Marbella is considered one of the most expensive resorts: world celebrities live in the local Golden Mile quarter, so it makes sense for tourists with an average budget to take a closer look at apart-hotels and apartment rentals.

There are noticeably fewer vacationers from Russia here than in the neighboring Costa Blanca and Costa del Maresme, but there are more visitors from the United States. The landscapes of this part of the coast are very reminiscent of California: long promenades, highways with palm trees, beaches with American music and theme parties (Bounty Beach, Nikki Beach and Playa Hermosa).

There are dozens of settlements between Malaga and Marbella, which 15 years ago were authentic fishing villages, and today they are bustling resorts:

Torremolinos, where it is better to relax in the Carihuela area, if you want a measured beach vacation, because this is a typical party town where DJs and young people from all over Europe come every weekend
Fuengirola yacht port - a more conservative resort for older holidaymakers, typically touristy, packed with hotels and cafes
finally, the most "family" of the Costa del Sol resorts - Benalmadena, where you can swim on the almost deserted beach of Benalmadena Costa and stroll through the picturesque palaces of Castillo de Colomares and the Moorish palace Biel-Bil

If your plans do not include a car rental point, it will be more convenient to stay in Malaga itself, a transport hub in the province of Andalusia, where commuter trains run to Seville (adult ticket € 25), Granada (€ 38).

The length of the beach line in Malaga is shorter than in Marbella (14 kilometers), so the municipal beaches are located more compactly to each other and run in a continuous line along the city promenade.

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Resorts in the Balearic Islands

Few have heard of the Balearic Islands in general, but everyone knows their local names. Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza - yes, this is the very corner in the Mediterranean Sea, where the wild crowd gathering tourists from all over the world and the best beaches for families with children are concentrated.

Ibiza

The island that never sleeps and will not allow any of the tourists visiting it to sleep is the Spanish Ibiza. The “club season” (May-August) on this island of the Balearic archipelago is replaced by the “velvet season” (September-October), a short lull ensues in winter, the time for divers and windsurfers, and in spring everything starts anew.

The resort towns in Ibiza are located close to each other. The length of the island from north to south is only 40 kilometers, and you can move between them by public transport:

The south coast is the noisiest part, home to casinos, electronic music clubs and famous diving schools in Spain. In the suburb of the eponymous city of Ibiza, Talamanca district, there are also children's schools for teaching swimming, water sports and the Aguamar Water Park (entrance € 12);
The North Coast is full of beaches with themed parties. For example, Benirass Beach has gained fame as a Mecca for all followers of the hippie culture.
The Santa Eulalia Resort also has a hippie fair on Wednesdays and Fridays. This place is one of the few on the island that is suitable for a quiet and even family vacation - there are many performances, museums and family parties with children's animation in the city.

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Cala Bassa beach - sea as in the picture, azure blue, clean, you can see fish (Ibiza)

(Photo courtesy of traveler FM883PJ - tripadvisor)

Majorca

To the east of Ibiza is the legendary island of Mallorca, the name of which is translated as "big island".

But peace and quiet, with which we associate the word "Mallorca", is not easy to find on the coast, because every year the island is visited by up to 8 million tourists. Unlike Ibiza, Mallorca is tailored specifically for a comfortable family vacation - in August and September, the resorts resemble a European kindergarten with animators on promenades and parties for children.

Not surprisingly, the most expensive vacation item in Mallorca is accommodation. During the peak season, August, hotel prices in Palma de Mallorca rise two to three times higher than in mainland Spain. Renting an umbrella and sun lounger on the city beach of Palma Can Pere Antoni will have to pay € 10 per day, compared to the price tag of € 3-5 on the mainland.

The busiest party town in Mallorca is Magaluf, a safe nightlife hub with many UK and German visitors
Less busy, with good sea and cultural attractions - Alcudia. This is the best resort for children - a gentle coastline, clean sand, water parks, zoos and a scattering of hotels all inclusive

We also recommend visiting the seaside town of Port de Soller with an old tram running along the boardwalk, a fortress in the village of Valldemossa and the Gothic cathedral of La Seu on the waterfront of Palma.

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Menorca

Despite its proximity to Mallorca, the second largest island in the Balearic archipelago, Menorca, is very different from its "older sister" both in terms of noise level and popularity among tourists. The reason is that the whole island is under the protection of UNESCO as a unique biosphere complex, therefore it is forbidden to build hotels and hotels higher than three floors here, and the color of the walls of all buildings must fit into the overall color scheme of the landscape.

Menorca is chosen mainly by lovers of quiet rest and secluded resort towns, which are abundant here, for example, Cala Galdana on the central coast, Cala en Porter in the south of the island.

An absolute must-visit in Menorca is the so-called bay with soaring boats Cala Macarella: the water there is so transparent that you can see the shadows from the yachts sailing on it, which they cast to the bottom of the sea.

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Canary Islands (Tenerife)

Finally, the main Spanish resort "in the picture" is the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Each of the seven islands of this chain deserves a separate description: if on the easternmost of them, Lanzarote, there are more than three hundred extinct volcanoes and little accessible beaches for swimming, then neighboring Gran Canaria and Tenerife are buried in hotels, green space and photogenic beaches.

For many visitors, a culture shock is caused by the black volcanic beaches of Tenerife El Medano, Taganana, Socorro, Playa Arena
On the islands of Lanzarote and Gran Canaria, there are many natural "water parks" - pools with warm salt water, which the locals call "charcos"
Fuerteventura boasts a beach strip and golden sand, while La Palma is home to one of the most photographed lagoons in the world, the blue Charco Azul lagoon.

The holiday season in the Canary Islands is open here all year round, the warmest water is in September and October (+ 23 ° С ... + 24 ° С), in January and February it cools down to + 19 ° С.

Prices for tours to the Canary Islands

Interestingly, Gran Canaria and Tenerife are not the most expensive resorts in Spain.

In 2021, the minimum price for a trip to the Canary Islands in the summer is 95,000 rubles per week for two. It's cheaper to fly in April-May: a little cooler, but already from 75-80,000 rubles
For comparison, in May a 3 * hotel for two - from € 240 / week (≈19,000 rubles), and a flight - from 18,000 rubles for one round trip. Feeling the benefit of being self-reliant? 🙂

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San sebastian

We didn't manage to get to San Sebastian, but we were in Bilbao (only 100 km away)

One of the few resorts in Spain, which is located not in the Mediterranean Sea, but on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, and only 18 kilometers from the French border, on the northwest coast of Spain.

The waters of the Bay of Biscay are warmer here less than in the Mediterranean - up to + 22 ° C in July, so seasonal excitement, as in the resorts of the southern coast, is less common here. But for surfers, local waves and cool water are one of the most convenient locations on the entire Atlantic coast (most of all, surfing is done on the city beach of Playa de Suriolla).

You can get to San Sebastian from Madrid - 5 hours by train for € 22. Local hotels are considered expensive for accommodation, so most tourists prefer to stay in guesthouses on the second or third lines.

The sand in this part of the Spanish coast is shallow, oceanic, 10-20 meters from the coastal strip at the bottom, you can see large fragments of coral, which are carried here by the Gulf Stream. Of the most photogenic beaches in the city, two can be distinguished: the crescent-shaped Playa de la Concha bay and the shallower Playa de Hondaretta beach, which is suitable for families with children.

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Where is the best place to relax in Spain?

Much has been said and written, it remains only to summarize and briefly and in a structured manner to go over the resort locations and their "purpose".

So, the top places where it is better to relax in Spain, depending on the composition / goals:

Holidays in Spain with children

With children on a budget - Costa Dorada (Salou, Cap Salou, Cambrils) - from 73 000 ₽
average - Costa Blanca (Calpe), Costa Tropical (Almunecar) - from 100 000 ₽
above the average - Mallorca (Alcudia) - from 82 000 ₽

Youth rest

budgetary - Costa Brava (Lloret de Mar, Blanes), Costa del Maresme (Calella) - from 57,000 ₽
average - Costa Blanca (Benidorm, Alicante), Barcelona, Costa del Sol (Torremolinos, Malaga), Canary Islands (Tenerife) - from 60 000 ₽
above the average - Mallorca (Magaluf), Ibiza - from 66 000 ₽

Beach vacation

budgetary - Costa Dorada (Salou, La Pineda), Costa del Maresme (Santa Susanna), Costa Brava (Blanes) - from 57 000 ₽
average - Costa Blanca (Calpe, Benidorm), Costa Tropical (Almuñécar, Salobreña) - from 68 000 ₽
above the average - Mallorca - from 66 000 ₽

What we want to say: it is more profitable to have a rest on your own on all Costa (-Tropical, -dell-Sol, -Blanca) strangers to the Russian people. And no, it's not scary and not difficult in the organization. For air tickets, everyone goes to Aviasales, and for housing, if a hotel, then to RoomGuru. We like to stay in apartments more, so we often use Airbnb - there are a lot of options for Spain. Plus, follow the link for a discount of 4000 rubles on your first booking 🙂

Last minute tours to Spain in 2021. Where to buy tours?

By the way, cheap tours to the resorts of Spain are not even rare and are caught mainly in September-October and April-May. In summer - in the highest season - they are less common, but there is a chance (and even more than to Turkey, since the direction is visa).

We always use online aggregators - we are satisfied with the prices (directly from tour operators), and the very concept of an independent search for a ticket, without imposing.

Travelata
Level.Travel
Onlinetours

These services work with the bases of more than 120 tour operators and therefore are able to quickly find everything interesting and profitable - for any dates and for any "wishes".