Beach holidays in Spain – the Spanish love them too!

Jun 302011

BEACHES IN SPAIN - GANDIA

One of the surprises for me when I first came to Spain was to witness, to my amazement, the passion of the Spanish for beach holidays in Spain – and when I say ‘passion’ I really mean it. Most of my Spanish friends spend every spare moment on the beach. Indeed, if the sun is out (virtually any time of the year) then you can bet that most of them are down on the beach. During the long summer months this is taken to almost obsessive lengths.

Does this sound odd?

Well, I thought it was – not least because I thought the Spanish would be inured to the summer heat of Spain and consider us foreigners eccentric (to the point of madness!) for our devotion to Spanish beaches and our dedication to getting great tans. In fact, I was prepared to hear a good deal of ridicule about foreigners coming all the way to Spain to then spend 14 days doing nothing more than sitting on a beach – with the odd foray into a nearby bar.

‘What about the lovely interior of Spain’, I expected Spaniards to cry indignantly. ‘Has no-one any interest in our ancient Spanish culture – our glorious architecture, museums and historic towns?’

In fact, over the past eight years I do not think that I have ever heard anything adverse about our North European lust for beach holidays in Spain from the Spanish. Nothing at all.

Of course, any Spanish criticism would be totally hypocritical! This is because for most Spaniards the beaches of Spain represent their dream of a great holiday and this seems as true for inland Spanish as it does for those living on the coast. Furthermore, once on a beach resort, Spaniards move no further away from the beach area of their particular destination than the average sun-deprived Londoner.

MARINA IN GANDIA

Certainly, my area (Gandia in Valencia Province) is notable for having fabulous beaches which annually draw just about every vaguely mobile Spaniard from Madrid and its surroundings. Many own flats close to Gandia beach and they often come here for several weeks at a time whilst, remaining steadfastly by the beach – only ever moving away from it with the very greatest reluctance.

Mind you, it is one thing for Spaniards from the interior of Spain to love the beaches of Spain but quite another to see the same obsession for them from the locals who live around me. This takes its most extreme form in the number of people I know who live in Gandia town (5kms from the sea) who also own an apartment on the beach (Gandia Playa). Amazingly, once the school term finishes in June these people move ‘lock, stock and barrel’ to their beach apartments (only 5 kms away!!!) for the duration of the summer. There they stay until the autumn school term starts (if they have children) when they then move everything back to Gandia and return to ‘normal’ life.

I well remember, a few years ago, a very wealthy Spanish friend of ours (who lives in Gandia) telling us that they had just booked their summer holidays – which they were greatly looking forward to. I had visions of them spending time in some luxurious resort in the Bahamas or perhaps on an exclusive palm fringed island off Madagascar.

But no – they were off to Denia, which is some 30 minutes drive south of Gandia!

In a way, I can see why the Spanish love their beach holidays in Spain with Gandia itself an excellent example of somewhere with beaches that would stand alongside the best anywhere in the world. I know that I will seem biased (as I live here) but you just have to come to Gandia beach to see what I mean.

Gandia beach is something like 3kms long with around 30 metres of pure, golden sand before you reach the sea. Then, to make matters better, the depth of the sea is only around half a metre deep for 10 or 15 metres before it drops gently down to the depths. This means that the water is shallow and warm providing safe swimming for young and old alike.

Meanwhile, Gandia beach (which is Blue Flagged) has life guards, showers, play areas, palms and wooden walkways, along with little bars that are perfectly placed for that welcome drink after all the hard work involved in sun bathing. As to the sand – it is actually sieved early every morning, resulting in a beach so clean, at the start of the day, that you could not find a cigarette butt if you tried.

MARINA IN GANDIA

Away from the immediate sand, Gandia beach has a beautiful promenade that extends as far as you can see (literally), a pretty marina and countless bars, ice cream parlours, boutiques and coffee shops. Behind these are numerous night clubs and casinos which offer a vibrant nightlife that lasts until the very early hours of the morning. Certainly, they complement the free entertainment on the beach that is often put on by the local authority in the evenings – such as bands and shows.

Really great stuff!

So, perhaps it is not so surprising that the Spanish do not travel very much for their summer holidays and, once on the beaches of Spain, they barely move. They know the value of what they have and that it could hardly be bettered elsewhere. They also know that an impressive tan is de rigeur with, incidentally, most inland Spaniards (reassuringly!) starting out on their holidays as pale as the rest of us!

However, the odd thing is that my family probably know Valencia Province better than the Spanish who live here. Whilst they remain firmly and immovably on the beach, we spend our time delighting in exploring tiny pueblos and beauty spots that are often unknown by our Spanish friends.

It all works rather well, to be honest, the excellence of the beaches of Spain keeps everyone away from the interior of Spain and makes any summer cultural travel enchanting for its lack of tourists (whether Spanish or international. Mind you, if you are a ‘culture vulture’ – do not tell anyone else about this…

Nick Snelling – Culture Spain