Yecla: Monastrell Wine and Monte Arabi
What Yecla is really like: a Murcia Altiplano wine town of Monastrell reds, near the prehistoric UNESCO rock art of Monte Arabí and rugged sierras.
Jumilla: Monastrell Wine and Castle Town
What Jumilla is really like: a Murcia Altiplano wine town famous for Monastrell reds, with a hilltop 15th-century castle and the Sierra del Carche nearby.
Alcoy: Moors and Christians Mountain Town
What Alcoy is really like: an inland Costa Blanca mountain town of bridges and Modernista streets, home to Spain’s greatest Moors and Christians festival.
Villena: Atalaya Castle, September Fiestas and Wine Country
Inland Alicante town, about 46 km from the coast: 12th-century Atalaya Castle, the September Moors and Christians fiestas and Alicante wine country.
El Vendrell: Pau Casals, Coma-ruga beach and the town centre
Inland town of 41,195 people, 3.5 km from its own beaches: Pau Casals houses, the Coma-ruga and Sant Salvador sands, markets, and how to choose between the town and the coast.
Calafell: Family Beaches, an Iberian Citadel and the R2 Train to Barcelona
Family beach town in Baix Penedès, Tarragona: five km of beaches, an Iberian citadel, Santa Creu castle and R2 trains to Barcelona every 30 minutes.
Tortosa: Ebro River City and Cathedral
What Tortosa is really like: a historic Ebro-river city in Tarragona, with a hilltop Parador castle, Gothic cathedral and the delta and mountains nearby.
Lepe: Strawberries and Costa de la Luz Beaches
What Lepe is really like: a Huelva strawberry town on the Costa de la Luz, with La Antilla and Islantilla beaches and the Río Piedras estuary nearby.
Puerto Real: Bay of Cadiz Royal Port
What Puerto Real is really like: a royal-founded town on the Bay of Cádiz, ringed by natural-park marshes and salt pans, minutes from Cádiz city.
San Roque: Old Town, Sotogrande and the Gibraltar Border
Municipality of about 34,900 in the Campo de Gibraltar: hilltop old town, Sotogrande marina and golf, Roman Carteia, and La Línea and Gibraltar a few km away.