ok, am being told that this is close to impossible, but what about a non-touristy place in spain (but with beach!!) for my mom, lil sis, bf and me. in august. :-) There must be some people out there with an idea!! my mom is coming in august for 10 days and i am way excited but want to get out of madrid for a few days and go to a beach... and not be surrounded by tourists...so looking for a non-touristy area.. or at least if there are tourists let them be spanish tourists!!! so where do spanish people go in august... i dunno, any ideas welcome!..

hi juliebean5, try the beaches of cantabria or asturias.

my absolute favorites are those of "llanes" (cantabria).

see www.llanesnet.com

� positives: beaches are beautiful, crystal-clear waters, not overly crowded and mostly locals.

� negatives: water is much colder than that of the costa blanca/de la luz and/del sol beaches in summertime.

saludos,
jer...

I agree with jer with his 'Go North Young Lady' sentiment.

If you want beaches in August, the place to be is in the north. I took my girls there last May and it was wonderful. We went to Comillas in Cantabria and drove around to 'Los Picos de Europa' and then visited Santillana del Mar and most other Costal towns in Cantabria. It was gorgeous.

We stayed at: La Solana Monta�esa and loved it! It's a small family run inn. The service was second to none. It's a great seafood town. I loved everything I tried while there.

Best of Luck...

:cheers:

Several years ago I visited the Cabo de Gata area in Almer�a and really enjoyed it. It's not overdeveloped, like a lot of the Mediterranean coast, there were no tall buildings anywhere around, it�s a gorgeous Parque Natural, beautiful crystal clear waters and most of the people we saw were locals or Spanish tourists. We stayed in a campground, there are quite a few and some of them actually have cabins, so you do not need to have a tent, I�m sure there are hostels and hotels in the towns around as well.
I think it is a lovely area but it�s important to have transportation because you want a car to be able to drive around and visit all the little coves and beaches and some of the towns in the area too. I�m afraid I don�t remember the name of the campground where we stayed but I�m sure if you search the web you�ll be able to find lots of information.
I can also vouch for the previous recommendations, anywhere in Asturias, love the place, and Santillana del Mar is beautiful too, I, being a Caribbean island girl, just prefer going south for beaches because the water is warmer.
Whatever you do, enjoy your vacation.
Lena

If you went to Matalasca�as, you�d find lots of tourists, but mostly Spanish ones and a very nice beach. It�s in Huelva, very close to the Coto Do�ana (though you have to be in an organised party to visit most of that). There�s a visitor centre for the park within walking distance (2-3km) of Matalasca�as.

You also have the wild west town of El Roc�o very close by. It�s not that far in a straight line to places like Sanl�car de Barrameda or Jerez, though IIRC you have to go quite a long way around. Can�t remember which month the Sanl�car horse fair is, maybe July?

Being on the Atlantic coast, the water may be rather bracing. Stephen

i would certainly second or third the idea of heading north. All of the north cost is quite beautiful and if you have had enough of the beach you can head inland to the mountains or the local towns.

Comillas is a personal favourite, however over in the last 6 years the town has become very popular with a lot of new 2 storey buildings being put up on the coast from from Santillana-del-mar. If the weather is good the beach will be packed so you might want to head slightly west to a beach which is 1Km or so from Comillas (first right after you pass over a bridge that crosses marsh land).

If you want to stay in Comillas you will need to book soon as most of the cheap/reasonable accomodation will soon go. There is a place just outside of Comillas on the road to San Vincente de la Barquera that is reasonable (30�-40� per room per night). The sea food in that town is some of the best i have ever had, in fact if you were to go to any where on the north coast the food will not disapoint.

One thing that must be said is the north coast may still be affected by the prestige oil tanker. Last year on a trip from Asturias across into Galicia most of the beaches had little pieces of chapapote on the sand. Little enough to be able to avoid treading in it but if you did you would need a good scrubbing brush to remove the stuff. That said, there were people patrolling the beach picking it up.

regards

grant

wow, now i have lots or researching to do! thanks for all the feedback, people! :-) will let you know once i come to any conclusions.