One of Spain’s most popular seaside towns on the sunny Costa del Sol has been slammed as a “seedy dump”.
A Which? Travel survey asked more than a thousand travellers to rank Spanish seaside towns based on the quality of the beach, safety, food and drink, accommodation and value for money.
Puerto Banus, a suburb of Marbella and a celebrity haunt, was slammed as the country’s worst seaside town.
Its marina might host some of Europe’s most expensive superyachts but the destination failed to impress British tourists.
Puerto Banus scored just one star for value for money with one tourist describing their experience there as “overpriced”.
It also scored just one star for tourist attractions and one star for peace and quiet. One person said the town had noticeably “deteriorated” in the last few years.
They claimed that while Puerto Banus was still a place to be seen for the rich and famous it had now “become tacky” while another person said, “it is a seedy dump”.
La Manga was Spain’s second-worst seaside town with tourists describing it as “faded” and “tacky” and complaining about the high-rise hotels.
At the other end of the scale, San Sebastian in northern Spain was crowned as the best seaside town. Nerja, another popular and affordable Costa del Sol town, was named second best.
Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, said: “This survey shows that there are plenty of fantastic Spanish beach resorts that will easily beat the best-marketed destinations like Marbella and Torremolinos.
“You don’t even need to look far, with beautiful Nerja and its quaint white-washed streets also to be found on the Costa del Sol.
“For those looking for a city break with a dose of sea and sunshine, San Sebastian can’t be topped – it’s rightly famous for its excellent restaurants and authentic cuisine, and comes complete with a pretty old town and fantastic beaches.”
