Northern Spain - any recommendations for cheap places to stay etc?

[Tinker]

Hope someone can help me. Thinking about summer holiday and fancy northern Spain. Want to stay in Spanish equivalent of a gite, but it has to be cheap! Had a look at some sites but wondered if anyone had been recently and could recommend a site/area etc.

Know very little about Spain, my only real memeory is going to San Sebastian when I was 11 and driving through an ETA siege! Oh, and my dad having a fight with the neighbouring family on the horrid campsite we stayed at!

So, all information would be gratefully received. Thanks

Tinker, bunny2's site recommended`when I asked about internet villa rentals has loads at widely varying prices - holiday-rentals.com.

Now we have booked I have deleted all the sites I had bookmarked but I got most of them by googling "spanish villa rentals" or something like it.

Are you driving or flying or ferrying?

Brittany Ferries do the Plymouth to Santander, or P&O do the Portsmouth to Bilbao route - takes 36 hours or so, overnight on way there. I know Brittany Ferries do "gite" type accommodation - I don't think the crossing is that cheap though. Go have low cost flights to Bilbao.
For decent accommodation try contacing Traveller's Way 01527 559000 or Casas Cantabricas 01223 328721 - i think they both have websites if you do a search through Google for them.

Do you speak Spanish Tinker? Only ask 'cos we holidayed in N Spain a few yrs ago, and found it a real struggle as we didn't know the lingo. We did give it a go, but the locals tended to stare at us blankly!
We went with Brittany Ferries to Santander, then travelled from guest house to guest house (also a couple of Paradors for a treat - surprisingly cheap). Anyway, it was our intention to stay off the beaten track, which we did, but found it hard because of this. Most of the guest house owners spoke no English at all, so found this doubly difficult. We knew another couple who went over at the same time, and they stayed in a cottage typ thingy in the 'Picos de Europa' area - absolutely stunning area, but again they felt very isolated and came home early as they claimed the locals weren't veyr friendly or welcoming. Saying that, also know people who've been, and had a great time (they did know rudimentary Spanish, which probably helped)
Must also add, we did come across a couple of fantastic guesthouses tho', where theowners couldn't do enough. One opened his little restaurant just for us, and cooked us a meal (we had no choice, just got it, but it was lovely!) - cheap too.
Overall, we enjoyed the larger areas like Hondarribia and Santana del Mar more, but only 'cos we're heathens.

Thanks for all the info everyone. But more is always welcome. Have looked at the holiday-rentals site jan and am very impressed, even if end up choosing a different country. Have also found one called Iglu which is very good as well.

Leese - I failed my Spanish O level 22 years ago! But, tbh, I quite like having a go at these things. But, I imagine northern Spain is pretty un-touristy (hence the appeal for me) so can imagine there, maybe, being some hostility/unfamiliarity from the locals. Like the sound of cheap guesthouses but I do fancy a little cottage in the middle of nowhere.