With its voluptuous Gaudi architecture, creative soul and golden beaches, Barcelona has become one of the top cities in Britain’s favourite holiday destination. But it’s not all sunshine and sangria. With 15.6 million tourists descending in 2023, a region-wide drought and high property prices due to the pervasive presence of short-term holiday lets, locals are taking to the streets.
Spraying diners on the famous Rambla boulevard with water pistols is just one of a series of protests that have gripped Spain in key tourist hotspots, from Mallorca to Malaga.
But that’s not to say you can’t visit Spain this summer, there are plenty of alternative cities that combine culture and beach and are all the more charming for their lack of tourists.
Valencia, Valencian Community
Named European Green Capital for 2024, Spain’s third city is enjoying a moment in the spotlight. Around 350km (218 miles) south along the coast from Barcelona, Valencia has long been in its northern neighbour’s shadow, a smaller city with fewer than a million inhabitants.
A network of cycle routes connects the wide golden beaches with the Gothic old town and futuristic architecture of the City of Arts and Sciences, and a 12km-long park meanders through it all, following the route of the old Turia River.
The home of paella, Valencia pulls in fresh produce from surrounding farms and wetlands, and the city’s cultural offering ranges from medieval city gates and Roman ruins to the new Hortensia Herrero Art Centre showcasing contemporary art in a grand palace.
Stay at Hotel Marques House from £90 a night.
Bilbao, Basque Country
Tucked in the folds of a lush valley, where the Nervion River flows towards the Bay of Biscay, this once-industrial city is now better known for the sinuous curves of Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum and its bustling pintxos culture.
The strollable city has become a symbol of regeneration with its parks, hills and estuary. Here you can wander the lively lanes of the old town, dipping into bars for pinxtos finger food skewered to pieces of bread.
And the Guggenheim isn’t the only architectural marvel, with Zubizuri bridge, by Santiago Calatrava, Norman Foster’s metro stations and cultural centre La Alhondiga by Philippe Starck.
Looking for coastal beauty? Simply hop the metro to explore the cliffs and beaches of nearby Getxo.
Stay at Hotel Tayko Bilbao from £134 a night
A Coruña, Galicia
Tucked up in the north-west corner of the country, A Coruña looks squarely out at the Atlantic, its history shaped by the sea. A former Celtic settlement, it became a Roman trading post and has the oldest working Roman lighthouse in the world. Sir Francis Drake once laid siege to the city, until local heroine Maria Pita rallied the locals to chase him off, and the English fled Napolean from here in the Battle of Corunna.
Today, the peninsula that juts into the Atlantic is populated by Romanesque buildings and the medieval streets come alive with bars and restaurants at night. Modernist glass galeria buildings look out over the harbour and there is a 10km promenade that takes you from city to sandy beaches.
Stay at Hotel Riazor from £60 a night
Almeria, Andalucia
One of the sunniest cities in Europe, little Almeria perches on Spain’s south-east coast, surrounded by wild desert scenery where Spaghetti Westerns were once filmed and lapped by the Mediterranean Sea.
This bijou city offers small-scale Andalucian charm, with a tangle of narrow, streets watched over by the 10th century Alcazaba fortress, the largest Arabic citadel in the Iberian peninsula.
Within the historic district, the so-called La Chanca cave quarter features homes built into the rocky hillside and the fortress-like cathedral doubled to defend the city from Berber pirates. The palm-fringed coast offers unspoilt beaches by day, and when the sun sets you can join Almerians as they take to the streets to make the most of the city’s tapas culture.
Stay at Hotel Murallas de Jayran from £76 a night
Gijon, Asturias
A fishing port that has presided over the Cantabrian Sea since Roman times, Asturias’s largest city is a colourful blend of seafood restaurants and cider bars.
Shaking off its industrial past, Gijon combines Roman ruins with avant-garde installations and a charming fishing quarter with sandy beaches. And it comes alive in July for its annual literary and arts festival Semana Negra.
Start your exploration in Cimadevilla, the historic rocky outcrop where you’ll find fishermen’s houses, grand mansions and Roman baths, presided over by the hilltop Eulogy of the Horizon sculpture, by Eduardo Chillida.
Explore contemporary art in restored palaces, hit the sands at San Lorenzo Beach and try your hand at surfing. Then recuperate with a glass of the region’s hearty cider.
Stay at El Moderne Hotel from £80 a night