To want to holiday like a normal person

[Bimgy85]

Popular places in Spain have been ruined and are now so tacky and commercial... Benalmadena, Salou, Benidorm is a no go completely.

Ruined by these typical lager lout holiday makers usually consisting of a large British family who drink cans of San Miguel beside the pool at 1 in the day smoking cigarettes and or drinking beer with their breakfast...

Aibu to want to relax by the pool like a regular person without taking over the entire place, reserving sunbeds, allowing my kids to scream their heads off from 9 am until 9 pm

Parts of Spain have been ruined and taken over by these type of people! Lager lout beer bellies up for a fight most of the time, poor fuckers

Can you recommend a nice spot in Spain that hasn't been ruined? And become tacky central?

Agree about France, however the south is quite expensive and gets extremely busy with tourists. Most of the West coast is lovely though if you're looking for beaches - the vendee gets the best weather too.

I'm sure there are loads of lovely, unspolies parts of Spain too though - and Italy. And yes, I've heard Croatia is absurdly beautiful.

unspoiled

Oh FFS why are people getting het up about ladies and calling the OP a 'nob'.

OP, there are some lovely parts of spain but you need to avoid the larger resorts. Yes, you can googke but it's good to hear people's experience, I second Xabia, beautiful place. We're currently in Lake Garda which is stunning, we've only been here a day and I love it!

What, the whole of Spain, a country larger than the UK, is spoiled by British tourists? Don't be so utterly absurd!

You just noticed?

Kinky because it's an outdated and patronising word. And OP has no idea if we are women or not.

You need to broaden your holiday research OP, in particular the type of hotel you want to stay at.

We like Menorca, but then we go all inclusive and I am very likely to be having a san Miguel at 12pm, I'm on holiday!

We holidayed inland from Benidorm ten years ago. Maybe twenty/thirty miles away in a little hillside village. It was a little traditional cottage with a pool. We walked in the hills and ate at tavernas and barely met a tourist.

So even that part of Spain is still stunning away from the coast

We had a fantastic week one Easter staying in Conil de la frontera. Day trips to Jerez, Seville, Cadiz, Gibralter, the Roman ruins at Bolognia and the Easter Day Bull Run at Vejer de la frontera!

We like Menorca, but then we go all inclusive and I am very likely to be having a san Miguel at 12pm, I'm on holiday!

I don't see anything wrong with having a San Miguel or any drink at 12pm on holiday. We are just back from a very nice holiday in a gorgeous boutique hotel in Greece and quite often had a drink at 12, as did other civilised people staying there. Not everyone who drinks at lunchtime is a lager lout. OP is obviously choosing the wrong hotels.

What we have found is you book a hotel which has multi nationalities and is taken over by the likes of tui as a family resort.

Last year we were in Salou at a lovely hotel, part of a chain. Lots of different nationalities and not too many Brits. As there were 2 pools one had the entertainment and the other was quiet. We had always stayed elsewhere in Salou but the last time we were there was the 2006 World Cup and it was awful. I swore I would never do a hotel again that one travel company take over.

Lanzarote was amazing along with Fuertaventura. And we learned then to stay in a hotel geared for all nationalities.

Time to maybe look outside spain too or if its because you speak spanish maybe look at western spain. We went to northern tenerife one year - not tacky at all. It was very spanish.
South tenerife on the other hand was all brits abroad

Go to Greece or Croatia, much nicer than Spain.

We go to Costa de Almeria where there are mainly Spanish and German tourists. Carboneras is lovely. Roquetas de Mar is a bit busier. I've not been to Almeria city.
I've found that you do need to be able to speak some Spanish to get by as not as many staff speak English as in the main British hotspots.

Nerja is lovely.

@bimg: This Monty Python sketch is from 1972, so it's obviously not a new problem: Starts at about 2mins into it.

Sadly, this made me go, very briefly, to Torremolinos to see what it was like. Loved lots of Spain, such as Toledo, Seville, Madrid. However. I'm not really a beach person.

Croatia is absolutely lovely - fabulous places, beautiful cities. I initially went to Dubrovnik because I was so struck by it in a Peter Stuyvesent Cig commercial at the cinema as a 10 year old - just shows how long ago it was - and I knew I would eventually visit it.

Try mainland Greece or the islands near Athens. You can get a ferry to Spetses or Hydra, both are beautiful. Sicily is wonderful, as is Montenegro. We're currently in the south of France and definitely no lager louts here. We've rented a house in the countryside and have hardly met another soul.

Look for places that aren't big tourist resorts and you'll be fine.

GF

The behaviour you describe is likely to only be found in resorts that are specifically aimed at under 25s. Everyone knows where these are, kavos malia sunny beach etc etc so they're easy to avoid if you so wish. I don't understand what the point of your post is tbh. You are moaning about places like Benidorm but then come back and say you wouldn't set foot in them, so what do you want from the thread? If you just want ideas for unspoiled holiday destinations in Spain you could have asked without being nasty and judgemental

Alicante city is lovely, not much English spoken, friendly people, very Spanish, would recommend. Many people fly into Alicante to go to Benidorm etc, but miss out on spending time in this lovely city. Good for a short break too.

Pollenca in Majorca

Still Spanish but quaint and traditional with lovely beaches and incredible restaurants and hasn't not been found by louts.

Highly recommend.

Exactly XiCi. We holidayed in a fishing village 4 miles from Malia a few years ago. You would never have knwn Malia was so close. It was a different world. The locals hate the reputation that Malia has as it attracts the wrong kind of holiday maker. Apparently it is very quiet outside of the main holiday season because their target market are still at school/college/university, and because of its reputation people like us don't go there.

I go to Benidorm in a quiet adults only hotel, don't drink during the day and enjoy the delights of the old town in the evening. I think perhaps you need to pay a bit more for your hotels and you won't encounter the people you despise.

The nicest holiday we had was near Benidorm! It would seem OP hasn't actually been there! The scenery in the area is beautiful and Benidorm beach is oen of the loveliest beaches : hence why a big resort sprung up. We stayed in Calpe, mentioned upthread.

Also been to Costa Del Sol. Also absolutely beautiful but the road of death does spoil getting around a bit! I found the Costa Brava the least inspiring and most beach crowded of the Costas I have done but still great. Self catering villas are definitely the way to go!

We have done France several times : completely different kind of holiday . The weather, even near the Spanish border was not as good and the sea colder. I actually liked the Ardeche the best but not the same kind of holiday at all.