Spain
Holiday Packages

How Spain's holiday regions differ

• Cities: alongside the capitals and cultural centres named above, Bilbao in the Basque Country suits a short break built around sightseeing on foot rather than the beach. See our Seville city breaks and Bilbao city breaks.
• The Costas: the Costa del Sol around Marbella and the Costa Blanca around Alicante in the south and east, and the Costa Brava and Costa Daurada in Catalonia. See Marbella holidays.
• The Balearics: Majorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera in the Mediterranean, with Palma as Majorca's capital. See Majorca holidays.
• The Canaries: Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura lie in the Atlantic off north-west Africa. From mid-October to April they can have cloudy, windy spells, and summer occasionally brings hot, dusty Saharan air (calima). See Canary Islands holidays.

When to go: sea and city temperatures

Warm air in the Canaries in winter does not mean warm water. The sea is around 18 to 20°C from January to March and reaches its warmest, about 23 to 24°C, from August to October, so autumn suits swimmers best.

For a city break in the south, Seville averages highs of about 24°C in April, 28°C in May and 27°C in October, which is comfortable for walking between sights. In July and August its average highs reach about 36°C, so plan sightseeing for the morning and evening in high summer.

What drives the cost, and what is paid locally

Travel dates, the hotel's category and the board basis make the biggest difference to price, so check what is included before you book. Some regions and cities also charge a tourist tax per person per night, paid at the hotel: Catalonia (Barcelona, the Costa Brava and the Costa Daurada), the Balearic Islands and Santiago de Compostela, among others. The rate depends on the type of accommodation, and Barcelona adds its own city surcharge on top of the Catalan rate. For how package bookings are protected, see ATOL protected holidays.

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