Best Beaches in Spain

1. La Concha, San Sebastián: a perfect shell-shaped city bay with calm water, a promenade and pintxo bars five minutes away. Ondarreta at its west end is quieter, Zurriola across the river is the surf beach. Fly to Bilbao (1 hour 15 by bus) or San Sebastián airport.
2. Rodas, Cíes Islands: a curve of white sand and turquoise water in a car-free national park off Vigo. Visitor numbers are capped, and you need a free online authorisation from the Galician government plus a ferry ticket (about 40 minutes from Vigo, Cangas or Baiona, €20 to €30 return). Ferries run from Easter and mid-May to September.
3. Playa de las Catedrales, Ribadeo: rock arches and caves on the Galician-Asturian border that you can walk under only at low tide; check the tide table. In Easter week and summer, entry needs a free booking on the Xunta de Galicia website.
4. Bolonia, Tarifa: a 4km bay with a giant dune and the Roman ruins of Baelo Claudia at one end, 20 minutes from Tarifa. Often windy; great for walking, less so for sunbathing on a levante day.
5. Playa de los Genoveses and Mónsul, Cabo de Gata: undeveloped sandy bays between volcanic hills near San José, 40km east of Almería. In summer the access road closes to cars once the car park fills, and a shuttle bus runs from San José.
6. Zahara de los Atunes and Los Caños de Meca: long Atlantic beaches with a village feel; Caños sits under Cape Trafalgar and its lighthouse. Conil de la Frontera, nearby, is the liveliest of these beach towns.
7. Calella de Palafrugell and Aiguablava, Costa Brava: small coves under pines with whitewashed houses and boats on the sand. The Camí de Ronda coastal path links them, and Tossa de Mar has a walled old town above its beach.
8. Cadaqués and Cap de Creus: pebble coves and rocky inlets on Spain’s easternmost point, reached by a winding road from Figueres; better for snorkelling and boat trips than sand.
9. Burriana and Maro, Nerja: the prettiest part of the Costa del Sol, with clifftop views from the Balcón de Europa and coves at Maro reachable on foot or by kayak.
10. Playa de la Granadella, Xàbia: a pebble cove of clear water on the Costa Blanca between Valencia and Alicante; parking is limited and access is regulated in summer, so arrive early.
11. Rodiles, Torimbia and Gulpiyuri, Asturias: Rodiles is a surf beach by an estuary, Torimbia a remote crescent below green hills, and Gulpiyuri a tiny inland beach filled by the sea through a tunnel.
12. El Sardinero, Santander: grand city beaches with lawns and belle-époque hotels; Somo across the bay is Cantabria’s surf school hub.
13. Riazor and Orzán, A Coruña: city beaches under the promenade, with the Tower of Hercules at the end of the walk.

The Costa Brava runs about 200km from Blanes to Portbou on the French border, and its north half is the best Mediterranean scenery on the mainland: red rocks, pine forest and coves too small for big hotels. Base yourself in Begur, Calella de Palafrugell, Llafranc or Tossa de Mar for coves; Lloret de Mar is the high-rise package resort. Buses from Barcelona and Girona (Sarfa/Moventis) reach the main towns in 1 to 2 hours, but a car or a coastal walk on the Camí de Ronda is the way to reach the small coves. Arrive before 10am in July and August, when coves fill and car parks charge €5 to €15 a day.

South of Barcelona, Sitges is 40 minutes by train and has a string of town beaches and a lively old town, and Tarragona has long sandy beaches near its Roman ruins. Barcelona’s own beaches (Barceloneta to Bogatell) are good for a swim but crowded, with pickpockets on the sand.

Valencia has wide city beaches at Las Arenas and La Malvarrosa, 20 minutes from the old town by tram, plus wild dune beaches at El Saler in the Albufera park. South of the city, Dénia and Xàbia have the best coves of the Costa Blanca, Altea is a white hilltop town above a pebble beach, and Benidorm is the skyscraper resort with two long sandy beaches and year-round visitors. Alicante has the airport and the Postiguet city beach, and in Murcia the shallow, warm Mar Menor lagoon suits small children. Peñíscola, further north, has a castle on a rock above a long beach.

The Costa del Sol is Málaga province’s coast and the easiest beach trip in Spain: Málaga airport has flights from all over Europe, and the cercanías train runs along the coast to Torremolinos, Benalmádena and Fuengirola in 15 to 45 minutes for a few euros. Beaches are long and sandy or grey-pebbled, backed by promenades and chiringuitos (beach restaurants) where you order espetos, sardines grilled on sticks over a fire in an old boat. Marbella mixes an old town with beach clubs and Puerto Banús’ marina, Estepona is calmer, and Nerja, east of Málaga, has the coast’s prettiest coves. The upside is sunshine from March to November; the downside is the high-rise development and crowds in August.

The Costa de la Luz, from Tarifa to the Portuguese border, is the opposite of the Costa del Sol: long beaches of fine white sand, pine woods and dunes, small towns and little high-rise building. Tarifa is Europe’s kitesurfing and windsurfing capital because the levante (east) and poniente (west) winds blow most days; the beaches at Valdevaqueros and Los Lances are full of kites. Cádiz has a city beach, La Caleta, in the old town, and Zahara, Caños de Meca, Conil and Bolonia are the beach-village bases. The Atlantic here is cooler than the Mediterranean, around 20 to 22°C in August.

Cabo de Gata-Níjar in Almería is the Mediterranean’s last big wild coast: volcanic headlands, dry hills and beaches like Los Genoveses, Mónsul and the Playa de los Muertos that you walk or boat to. San José and Agua Amarga are the small bases. Bring water and shade, as there are almost no facilities on the best beaches.

The north coast feels like a different country: green hills down to the sea, rain at any time of year and summer air temperatures of 22 to 26°C, which is why Spaniards escape here from the July heat. In the Basque Country, Zarautz and Mundaka are famous surf spots, and the hermitage of Gaztelugatxe near Bilbao sits on an island reached by 241 steps. Cantabria has the Santander beaches and surf at Somo, and Asturias has hundreds of coves between fishing villages like Llanes, Ribadesella and Cudillero, with the Picos de Europa mountains a short drive inland.

Galicia’s coast is cut into rías (estuaries). The Rías Baixas, south of Santiago, have sheltered, slightly warmer beaches around Sanxenxo and Baiona plus the Cíes Islands; the Costa da Morte to the north is wild, with the cape at Finisterre. Water in Galicia rarely tops 19°C, even in August.

Spanish school holidays and the national holiday rhythm make August the busiest month by far, with prices at their peak and coves full by mid-morning. June and September give you warm water, open beach bars and half the crowds. Lifeguards and Blue Flag services usually run from mid-June to mid-September; out of season beaches are open but unguarded.

Spain had more than 600 Blue Flag beaches in recent years, the most in the world; the award covers water quality, lifeguards, toilets and accessibility, and the current list is on the Blue Flag website. Flags on lifeguard towers mean: green, safe to swim; yellow, take care; red, do not enter the water. Atlantic beaches in the north and on the Costa de la Luz have strong currents and rip tides, so swim near lifeguards. Jellyfish appear on Mediterranean beaches in some summers; a purple flag or sign warns of them, and lifeguard posts treat stings.

Topless sunbathing is normal on most beaches; full nudity is accepted on designated naturist beaches. Barcelona and several resort towns fine people for walking the streets in swimwear, and a growing number of beaches ban smoking. Beaches are free; sunbeds and umbrellas cost €10 to €25 a day on the Mediterranean.