BEACHES: Not Spain's only attraction by far, but one of its most famous, and probably one of its most missed this year by anyone living outside the country who has not been able to travel here due to the pandemic.
Our ministry for industry and tourism is expecting you all to come rushing back next year or, at the latest, in 2022, and we look forward to seeing you, because we've missed you, too.
Just to rub it in even more, we're going to show you some of our most-photographed beaches nationwide and spur you on to planning yourself a trip as soon as the Covid-19 situation worldwide allows it.
That said, if it's safe to travel from whichever country you live in – or if you're already in Spain, but land-locked – why wait to book your suntan and sea-dip?
Yes, we know it's mid-September. But at least on the Mediterranean and south coasts, the islands and even, in parts, further north, September is still summer in Spain. Proper summer, not just 'no need to put the heating on yet' or 'perhaps I can take my jacket off' summer. Temperatures are lower than in July and August, but they feel higher as the sun is lower in the sky, although the humidity drops drastically in September, so the heat feels far less suffocating and exhausting.
Also, now that the kids have gone back to school and the youngsters back to university and college, and the big city firms and public-sector companies that shut for the whole of August are open again and their staff back at work, the beaches are practically empty.
Foreign tourists are fewer, especially those from countries where parents cannot legally take their children out of school in term-time, and those who use the beaches tend to be locals and mostly only at the weekends – other than a tiny handful working non-standard hours or taking advantage of long lunch breaks.
So you pretty much get the beach to yourself on weekdays.
Accommodation is much cheaper and more widely available, too, because – despite the thermometer pushing 30ºC – September is considered 'winter' in tourism industry terms.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com