{"id":7487,"date":"2026-04-19T09:19:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T09:19:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/7487\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T09:19:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T09:19:11","slug":"british-tourists-are-swapping-spains-costas-for-its-quiet-rugged-north","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/7487\/","title":{"rendered":"British tourists are swapping Spain’s costas for its quiet, rugged north"},"content":{"rendered":"

Racing to get a place on the crowded beaches of the Spanish costas is losing its charm, with rising numbers of Britons now heading to the cooler climes and spectacular scenery of the country\u2019s north.<\/p>\n

Turning their backs on the traditional diet of sun, sea and sand, a growing number of UK holidaymakers prefer to go hiking, surfing, watching bears or sampling the rich variety of food along the country\u2019s Atlantic coast, data has shown. <\/p>\n

The lush green landscape of regions including Galicia, Cantabria, Asturias and the Basque Country could pass for Britain \u2013 except sunshine here is a more common occurrence than at home.<\/p>\n

New FeatureIn ShortQuick Stories. Same trusted journalism.<\/p>\n

Although most Britons still head to the Mediterranean coast or the Balearic or Canary islands<\/a>, there is a growing trend for exploring hidden corners of Spain<\/a> \u2013 our favourite holiday destination.<\/p>\n

Reflecting the growing popularity of walking the Camino de Santiago<\/a> pilgrimage route or enjoying the white sands of the C\u00edes Islands, there was a 47.4 per cent rise in British visitors to Galicia<\/a> between last year and 2024, with 108,246 tourists making the trip.<\/p>\n

The culinary delights of the Basque Country<\/a>, which boasts the largest number of Michelin-starred restaurants in Spain, partly explained a 40 per cent rise in British visitors over the same period to 182,876.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Asturias, in northern Spain<\/a>, also saw an 18.7 per cent increase in UK tourists between 2024 and 2025.<\/p>\n

Cantabria, whose white beaches are not crowded with UK tourists fighting over sun loungers at the height of summer \u2013 unlike in M\u00e1laga<\/a> or Benidorm \u2013 welcomed 338,940 British visitors last year, making UK travellers the second largest group of international visitors after the French. <\/p>\n

Just five years ago, only 125,763 Britons visited Cantabria.<\/p>\n

The region\u2019s growing popularity has been aided by ferry links between Santander and Plymouth and Portsmouth, and flights from London, Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh.<\/p>\n

\"\"The National Museum and Research Center of Altamira in Cantabria, Spain (Photo: Miguel Angel de Arriba\/Turismo de Cantabria)<\/p>\n

\u201cMore and more Brits and northern Europeans are choosing northern Spain because they are discovering a destination which combines a gentle climate, lush nature, top-level gastronomy and a sense of authenticity that has been lost in many other Mediterranean areas,\u201d Gustavo Egusquiza, a tourism expert who specialises in luxury travel, told The i Paper.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe north of Spain offers mild summers without the extreme heatwaves you see in the south, and that is particularly attractive for travellers coming from the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n

The most popular attractions are the Picos de Europa mountain range, which straddles Asturias, Cantabria, and Castilla y Le\u00f3n and has a cable car at Fuente D\u00e9 for those who don\u2019t fancy a hike; the Unesco-listed cave complex of Altamira, which feature human paintings from Paleolithic period dating back 35,000 years \u2013 and where replica caves can be visited; and the Parque de la Naturaleza de Cab\u00e1rceno, one of the largest wildlife parkss in Europe.<\/p>\n

\"AThe Northern Way of the Camino de Santiago in Cantabria, Spain (Photo by Romy Arroyo Fernandez\/NurPhoto via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

In\u00e9s Mier, director general of Cantur, the Cantabria Tourism Board, said she believed that more Britons were coming to this region to rediscover nature in cooler climates than in the south of Spain.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we have seen with British tourists is that they are coming to go hiking in places like the Picos de Europa, to see our natural parks and to visit the caves of Altamira. Climate change has been an important factor in this as summers have become hotter in southern areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andrew Dougall, 71, is the British founder of Dougall\u2019s craft beer brewery in the village of Li\u00e9rganes, who has lived in Cantabria for nearly 30 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am surprised more Britons don\u2019t come. We are happy to share the place with more people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"CityCity of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain, is a major UNESCO World Heritage site (Photo: Jose A Bernat Bacete\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Dougall said it used to be the case that UK tourists got off the ferries with their cars and drove south but he believes that more are now staying to explore Cantabria.<\/p>\n

In January, the Bank of Spain published a report<\/a> that said climate change could cause tourists to explore destinations with more moderate summer temperatures.<\/p>\n

It said that despite a record number of tourists coming to Spain, some were shortening their stays in areas of the south where the highest temperatures were recorded. Some 18 million Britons holidayed in Spain last year.<\/p>\n

Others were swapping for holidays in winter or autumn, the so-called shoulder season around the peak summer season.<\/p>\n

\"\"Comillas, a town in Cantabria, northern Spain, is a place with a rich history and beautiful architecture (Photo: Turismo de Cantabria)<\/p>\n

A report<\/a> published by the Spanish Environment Ministry in February said climate change meant that during the coming decades, the country would experience \u201crising average temperatures, more frequent heatwaves, and fewer cold days\u201d.<\/p>\n

Manuel Butler, director of the Spanish Tourism Office in London, said: \u201cWe are delighted to see growing interest from UK travellers in our northern coastal regions, known as Green Spain.<\/p>\n

\u201cNature takes centre stage in Asturias, the Basque Country, Cantabria and Galicia. Combining gastronomy, rich culture and deep-rooted traditions gives a true flavour of northern Spain.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Racing to get a place on the crowded beaches of the Spanish costas is losing its charm, with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7488,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4843,1936,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-7487","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spain","8":"tag-brits-abroad","9":"tag-expats","10":"tag-spain"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}