Spain

Why sail to Spain?

Spain is a beautiful and varied Mediterranean sailing destination. The season here is endless and the conditions are ideal, especially for experienced sailors. Spain simply gets under your skin. You can explore it in the most beautiful and adventurous way on a yacht.

• You'll enjoy wild unspoilt nature, ancient monuments and remarkable modern architecture, bustling cities and deserted
The
• Balearics'
• more tranquil coves
• and beautiful scenery will delight the recreational boater in
• the area
. The
• Canary Islands
will be the place
• to be for sports sailors and to experience unbridled ocean sailing
• In Spain, the vibrant nightlife, sultry flamenco, delicious tapas and fragrant paellawill spice things up

Spain is a very diverse destination from a sailor's point of view. It boasts more than 5,000 kilometres of coastline and a multitude of islands and islets. The distances between islands are greater than in Croatia, so it is ideal to charter a boat for at least 14 days.

The Balearic Islands will delight you with their unspoilt nature, beautiful harbours and deserted beaches. Young people will appreciate the nightlife in Ibiza. A separate chapter of sailing in Spanish waters is the Canary Islands

, where you will experience truly challenging ocean sailing.

The mainland coast of Spain will be of particular interest to those who like to combine a boat holiday with an exploration of Spanish culture and mood.

The Balearic Islands are a beautiful sailing region with beautiful nature, beaches and wonderful marinas with a rich history. It is made up of the Balearic Islands proper (the islands of Mallorca, Menorca and several smaller islands and islets such as Cabrera) and the Pityus Islands (the islands of Ibiza, Formentera and several other islands).

Each of the three main islands, Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza, is a separate sailing area. It enjoys stable weather and is the place with the longest sailing season in the entire Mediterranean (similar to Sicily or the southern coast of Turkey). The yachting season in the Balearics runs from April until the end of October. There is a relatively long distance between the islands, so if you are sailing here you are unlikely to be crossing from one island to another.

It's not a destination for complete beginners, because when the Balearics have a champagne wind it's really worth it. The weather can be extremely challenging and the sea swell very unpleasant. It can also be an advantage - in stronger winds you can circumnavigate all three islands in a week. But in summer the weather in the Balearics is relatively stable.

Mallorca is the largest of the Balearic Islands and is also where you will find the most charter companies and boats. Mallorca combines everything we love sailing for: beautiful nature, rich history, bays, beaches, small harbours and adjacent islands. Palma de Mallorca is a magnificent medieval town and harbour that was already important in the days of ancient Greece.

The Cabrera Nature Reserve and National Park

are definitely recommended for a visit. Located in the south of Mallorca, entry is by permit and charges a fee, but it is well worth it. It is an ideal place for snorkelling and diving with equipment.

Menorca is a rugged island with endless virgin coves and paradise beaches, more than Mallorca and Ibiza combined. Most of these beaches are unspoilt and only accessible from the sea. For yachtsmen, this is a truly ideal island for sailing and swimming. In the north of the island, the beaches tend to be golden to red, while the southern coast is lined with white sand beaches.

The island boasts a natural diversity that allows us to admire endemic species. In addition to its beaches and impressive nature, Menorca has towns that tell many stories of its interesting past. The towns of Ciutadella and Mahón are well worth a visit.

Theisland of Ibiza is a centre of entertainment and nightlife, ideal for young people. Renting a boat can also be seen as a form of relatively cheap accommodation compared to hotel prices in Ibiza.

Neighbouring Formentera

is the opposite of Ibiza. It is unspoilt, beautiful and only accessible by boat. It is famous for its white sandy beaches, azure Caribbean-like sea and wonderful tranquillity. It has rightly been called the last Mediterranean paradise.

The Canary Islands are a very demanding and accessible year-round sailing destination. It offers unique experiences and challenges, but only truly experienced sailors or crews led by an experienced skipper will be able to compete. Sailing around the islands of La Palma, El Hierro or La Gomera is already a truly challenging ocean sailing experience.
Each of the islands of eternal spring captivates us with a completely different natural scenery. Fuerteventura is lined with long sandy beaches, the island of red volcanic rock Lanzarote only turns green in February and March, the jagged and steep Tenerife shows snow-capped peaks. Gran Canaria is literally a miniature continent. You'll find everything from dry desert landscapes to rainforests. The other three smaller islands of La Palma, Gomera and Hierro, with their secluded beaches and preserved nature, are already being swallowed up by the wild Atlantic.

It is possible to sail from Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria or Tenerife. The most interesting cruise promises to be the route from Gran Canaria or Tenerife towards the islands of Gomera, Hiero and La Palma. Islands lying away from tourism, islands with beautiful and wild nature whipped by the ocean. It's a sailing challenge you can't resist.

Spain's Mediterranean coast also offers many interesting places, but it cannot compete with the Balearic and Canary Islands.

The most interesting is certainly the Costa del Sol between Malaga and Cadiz. The sun is said to shine here three hundred days a year and the sea is the colour of emeralds. And you can sail from the Mediterranean through the Strait of Gibraltar to the Atlantic to another sailing world. A world of strong tides, currents, big waves and strong winds. And to the wild beauty of the Atlantic coast of Spain.

Sailing south around the Costa del Azahar (Orange Blossom Coast) and the Costa Blanca

(from Valencia to Alicante) is more interesting than the Costa Brava. We enjoy sandy and pebbly beaches and a diverse coastline. The flat and calm coastline is interspersed with steep cliffs, large bays and tiny well-hidden coves. Watchtowers are reminiscent of the pirate rampages of yesteryear, and picturesque fishing harbours can be enjoyed.

The Catalan coastline from Barcelona north to France, known as the Costa Brava (Wild Coast), is full of beaches and hotel resorts, but not so attractive to yachtsmen. However, chartering a boat in Barcelona will offer you a unique opportunity to discover a city full of modern architecture, monuments and bustling city life with street music and renowned tapas bars. You can sail along the Catalan coastline, enjoying the sun and tranquillity aboard a sailboat with family or friends. Barcelona's location also makes it a good base for sailing to the Balearic Islands.

The Spanish climate

is very diverse. The east and south of the country are very warm, sunny with minimal rainfall. Winters are mild. The northern coast is rather cold and characterised by high rainfall. The

average air temperature is around 25 °C in summer

and 15 °C in winter.

• The Spanish islands are very different from the rest of Spain. The Canary Islands have a subtropical climate
with very summer temperatures and minimal rainfall. Winters are mild and pleasant. Sea temperatures rarely fall below the long-term average of 20°C.
• The weather in the Balearic Islands is much more capricious and erratic. Summers are hot
, winters can be rainy accompanied by cold winds from the sea.
• Barcelona boasts a Mediterranean climate with mild winters and hot summers. The coldest month is January and the hottest is August. Temperatures here are relatively stable and it is not too windy.

The prevailing wind is not stable in the Balearic Islands. Sailing can be made very difficult by a mistral, strong to gale force cold wind. The winds are most frequent and strongest in winter and can reach up to 12 BF

.

The mainsheet, unlike the Croatian juga for example, does not come gradually but very suddenly and can last for several days. Yachtsmen must therefore keep a close eye on weather forecasts in this area . In the Canary Islands, the trade winds blow regularly.

However, the seemingly ideal sailing conditions are complicated by acceleration zones. These are created by the very high mountains on the islands. The sea around the islands is full of windless places (the so-called wind shadow), but also places where the wind is stronger than in the surrounding area (the so-called acceleration zones). Moreover, the wind strength in the acceleration zones is very fast - a sharp increase from 5 BF to 8 BF is not something that would please a sailor.

Paella

- delicious saffron risotto in a special huge pan in which it is prepared and served, very often you can see this preparation right in the streets. Variations abound - meat, vegetables or seafood can be added. Arros negre is a black paella with seafood, coloured with cuttlefish ink to give it an unmistakable flavour.

Gazpacho - a

refreshing cold soup made from blended tomatoes, garlic and other vegetablesTapas

-

any small delicacy. A plate of tapas might include delicious olives, tasty cheeses, fried cuttlefish, sausages, pickled or grilled vegetables, anchovies, meatballs, seafood and other goodies.

Tortilla de patatas

- a special thick omelette prepared in oil with eggs, potatoes and onions.

Cozido (or also puchero, olla podrida, caldereta, frite, cocido, caldo, marmitako) - a one-pot dish. Each region has its own special recipe.

Canarian Gofio

is a porridge made from roasted wheat or corn flour. Mojo is a sauce made of oil, vinegar, salt, garlic and various herbs and spices.

Pork in various forms dominatesthe cuisine of the Balearic Islands . The national dish is the lechona, a grilled piglet. Try the traditional sobrasada, a spicy sausage that can be spread on bread.

An unforgettable experience is diving in the nature and marine reserve off the island of Lanzarote, which consists of part of the northwest coast and the islands of La Graciosa, Montaña Clara and Alegranza

. Fishing is prohibited here and diving is subject to a special permit.

You will also be enchanted by the wilder Roques del Salmor on the island of El Hierro, whose massive rocks, thecliffs, caves and deeper crevasses offer hiding places for truly abundant schools of fish of all shapes and colours. You're likely to spot stingrays, manta rays, sharks and schools of snappers and barracuda.

We also highly recommend visiting

the

Cabrera Nature Reserve and National Park. Located in the south of Mallorca, entry is by permit and charges a fee, but it's well worth it.

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