Which is the least British / Irish of the following Spanish destinations...

scrotist

Looking at direct flights from Cork for a beach holiday.

Alicante

Gran Canaria

Lanzarote

Malaga

Tenerife

Which of these is more Spanish than drunken pink people? I would like to feel like I'm on holidays in a foreign country.

Bonus points:

Other beach destinations from Cork?

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058337491/which-is-the-least-british-irish-of-the-following-spanish-destinations

Málaga.is a city of half a million people. The city centre is a proper working centre like any other so you wouldn't even notice the tourists.

growleaves

Those are all flooded with UK/Irish tourists.

Perhaps what you should do is fly to Alicante first, and then travel further down the Spanish coast by train or coach.

You'd have to research it though. I'm not sure where there are both good beaches and fewer tourists.

ted1

Malaga. Most English speakers head down the Costa.

it’s areal gem. That is often over looked

You can get away from foreigners in Spain by going where the Spanish go, as I have done. Best sunny area for this is the Costa de La Luz, equidistant from Faro in Portugal or Seville in Spain. Tourists are nearly all Spanish, some Portuguese and a handful of French. The north of Spain is favoured by Spanish citizens too, as are offbeat quiet resorts in various places. La Graciosa Island off Lanzarote, La Gomera Island off Tenerife, La Palma island also in the Canaries, and indeed El Hierro is the smallest of the main Canary Islands, all beloved of the Spanish who enjoy getting away from the tourist hordes. Formentera Island off Ibiza is a very quiet offbeat space with magnificent beaches.

fm

Malaga city,Alicante city or Valencia city,all have beaches and not resort type destinations at all.

scrotist

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121805015#Comment_121805015

How is Portugal vs Spain for a beach holiday? Never been to Portugal but there's a direct flight from Cork to Faro. And the missus speaks Portuguese so that's a plus.

It might have been a dream or maybe real life but I heard that the water in Portugal is absolutely freezing?

Gusser09

Lanzarote is great. Something for everyone. Guaranteed weather.

Spanish Eyes

If it's any use to you, we go to a place called Estepona via Malaga. It is down near Gibraltar, it is a Spanish working city/town and it is just great. Depends on what you want I suppose, but the beach is amazing, manicured and tractors clean it every day. The Paseo goes from Carrefour all the way down to the port area and is great for a walk by the sea without sand in yer shoes!

I haven't seen an English or Irish breakfast place there yet. All churros and chocolate. Now there is tourism there for sure, but it is of the more upmarket variety. The town itself is amazing with all the flower displays and quirky shops/restaurants/bars one street back from the Paseo/beach. Well all I can say is that it bears no resemblance to any of the resorts nearer to the airport.

You can get to Gibraltar very easily from there if that's your bag, but honestly it's a bit of a kip full to gills with mopeds and ahem Brits living in Spain going to Morrisons to get some Marmite lol. However from San Roque you can get a train to Ronda and the trip is just so scenic. Great day out. Lots more but I'd be here all night.

babyducklings1

Just do some research it’s all there thanks to sites like trip advisor etc etc but is time consuming. A business hotel rather than a family hotel would probably rule out a lot of holiday makers. Also if you don’t go in peak season ( July, August) there will be less tourists anyway. Friends went to Malaga and really enjoyed it. Think going to cities is good advice. Good luck in your search.

WishUWereHere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058337491/which-is-the-least-british-irish-of-the-following-spanish-destinations

Cartagena - The Spanish holiday there, it’s about 100kms south of Alicante.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121805034#Comment_121805034

The water is fine! Faro itself is supposed to be a lovely town, and has a boat you can get across the lagoon to the beach. The western Algarve, in my own experience is kind of way overbuilt and spilt, and some of the beaches have quite an undertow as they are facing slightly westwards into the open Atlantic which has some fetch, the eastern Algarve around Tavira is much less spoilt, so I believe.

Last time I landed in Faro, I took some pictures of the Algarve from the air. The plane began its descent from the north over the coast near Albufeira, making an eastward approach.

You can see how built up it is around Albufeira.

Passing Vilamoura & built up Quarteira.

Nearing Faro you can see it’s getting much more unspoilt.

Beach close to Faro, no buildings, just a pedestrian boardwalk across a nature lagoon, through dunes and onto a spacious beach. Yes there would be aircraft noise right here! But there are beaches very similar east of Faro.

https://www.algarve-tourist.com/Faro/Ilha-Barreta-Island-Deserta-Deserted-Algarve.html

This is the type of coastal seascape around that region.

https://www.faroportugaltourism.com/guide/faro-old-town.html

Everyone always seems to be in a rush to get past and out of Faro!

AyeGer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058337491/which-is-the-least-british-irish-of-the-following-spanish-destinations

Maybe stay away from the areas the Spanish themselves like to go. Why inflict another pink tourist on them.

miamee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121805034#Comment_121805034

I had never been to Portugal before but went twice last year. The first time was just for a few days in July (too hot for me) but I went back in November and we had beautiful weather, 23-25 degrees all week. It wasn't like that the week before or the week after, we were just lucky. The beaches are beautiful, in November we stayed in Portimao, an easy walk to Praia de Rocha as well.

We didn't get in to the sea other than paddling feet on a walk so I can't say how cold or not it is further in :) Pics from Praia de Rocha