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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Travel
Annabelle Thorpe

Eight of the best affordable beach holidays, from Crete to the Costa de la Luz

Sunny beach with white buildings and palm trees visible and young child playing in waves
Los Caños de Meca on the Costa de la Luz, ‘the Spanish coastline time forgot’. Photograph: Image Broker/Alamy

Los Caños de Meca, Cádiz, Spain

Wild, windswept and wonderfully unspoilt, the Costa de la Luz is the Spanish coastline time forgot; a great swathe of Atlantic drama, fringed with sandy beaches and small seaside villages and resorts. Hotel Madreselva, surrounded by the pine forest, wetlands, dunes and sea cliffs of the Breña y Marismas de Barbate nature reserve, makes a suitably tranquil base, with a palm-shaded courtyard, flame-walled pool area and 18 stylish rooms, all with a private patio. A minute’s walk from the beach at Los Caños de Meca, the hotel is perfect for watersports lovers, as well as exploring this unspoilt corner of Andalucia. The hilltop pueblo blanco of Vejer, a 20-minute drive away, has charm in spades, while Cape Trafalgar, a lighthouse with views over the Strait of Gibraltar, is 10 minutes’ walk along the beach.
Doubles from £83 B&B, hotelmadreselva.com

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