The seven best alternatives to overcrowded Barcelona

Explore Parc Guell, stroll through the cloisters of its Gothic cathedral, or visit Gaudi’s spectacular unfinished Sagrada Familia, and one thing will become painfully obvious. Barcelona is full. Sightseeing in the city, as this reporter can attest, gets more stressful with each passing year. The Catalan capital has become a victim of its own popularity.

And it isn’t just the queues and crowds at key attractions. The influx of tourists - annual arrivals have risen by 25 per cent in four years to more than 34 million (in a city with just 1.6 million residents) - is affecting locals too. Last week The Telegraph reported that residents were at the end of their tether, driven to the brink by “noise emanating from crammed tourist flats, the early hours brawling and public urination, and the drug paraphernalia frequently found in the children’s playground”.

Explainer | What is overtourism?

Authorities are trying to tackle the issue. New hotels are being put on hold and rental firms are facing curbs, but locals say more action is needed. “People cannot rest,” said Manel Martinez, vice-president of the Barceloneta Neighbours’ Association. “Many residents are leaving the barrio - people who were born here - because they cannot go on living like this.”

So what can you do to help? If you’re determined to visit Barcelona (and, given its great food and reliable sunshine, we can hardly blame you) then try going out of season. “Winter can throw up some azure skies and improbably warm days,” says our expert to the city, Sally Davies.

Consider skipping the “bucket list” attractions in favour of something lesser known. The city sits in the shadow of the Serra de Collserola, for example, one of Europe’s biggest urban parks. Trails lead through woodland with a spectacular variety of plants, birds and small animals. Take a picnic, or have lunch in the village of Vallvidrera. Or simply leave the guidebook behind and improvise your own itinerary. 

Or else ditch Barcelona entirely in favour of an equally beguiling - but far less oversubscribed - alternative. These are our favourites.

Five options in Spain

Girona

A few low-cost airlines that claim to serve Barcelona actually fly to Girona, some 60 miles to the north. Avoid the transfer and spend your holiday in this lesser-known Catalan city instead.

“The ancient walled city of Girona, perched on a hillside in northern Catalonia, is often viewed as Barcelona in miniature,” says Jake Brown, writing for Telegraph Travel. “It’s an ideal day trip en route to Costa Brava beaches, Pyrenees ski resorts or from Barcelona, all of which are an hour away by car. But Girona rewards a longer stay. You won’t be the first to find the city, with its millennia of cultural and culinary heritage. From the River Onyar, its labyrinthine old town streets twist up in a beguiling mix of architectural styles, dominated by the cathedral.”

Keen cyclists will be delighted to discover it is a popular base for many professional racers – the ride to Rocacorba is a must.

It is also home to El Cellar de Can Roca, the world’s second best restaurant.

Top 10 | The world's most visited countries

La Coruna

Barcelona does art and beaches like no other Spanish city. Except perhaps La Coruna. Telegraph Travel’s Chris Leadbeater explains: “Lurking in the north-west corner of Spain, this Galician port soothes its scuffed, salty soul on a pair of glorious urban beaches – Playa del Orzan and Playa de Riazor – that teem with life on hot summer days. Its cramped medieval lanes are abuzz with tapas bars, while its Museo de Belas Artes is an underrated nugget of visual wonder which boasts sketches by Spanish romantic Goya.”

San Sebastian

This Basque gem is hardly undiscovered – but it gets far fewer visitors than Barcelona. And it might just be the only Spanish city with a better beach – and finer food.

La Concha, its wide sweep of sand, has been named Europe’s best beach by TripAdvisor users, while of its culinary delights, Andy Lynes, our gourmet travel expert, says: “This upmarket seaside resort town has food and drink running through its veins with it’s thrilling pinxto (Basque-style tapas) bar scene, sociedades gastronómicas (private dining clubs) and superb seafood, as well as being surrounded by vineyards making the local Txacoli wine and sagardotegias (cider houses) dotted around the nearby hills.” 

Cadiz

Another seaside beauty, albeit at the opposite end of the country.  

“Founded more than 3,000 years ago by the Phoenicians, the old part of the city is at the end of a peninsula and shaped like a fist,” says Annie Bennett. “You are never more than a mile from the sea, which is always discernible in the golden light shimmering at the end of the long, straight streets, flanked by stone mansions painted in pastel tones of pink, green and blue.

“The tempting smell of fish frying wafts from every bar. Order a glass of chilled manzanilla sherry, the colour of straw, made just down the coast in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, and some tortillitas de camarones – featherlight fritters speckled with the tiniest shrimps – and maybe some sea urchins or anemones if you’re feeling adventurous.”

Zaragoza

There are options in neighbouring region of Aragón, too. Annie Bennett explains: “West of Catalonia, you enter the vast region of Aragón. The town of Teruel, with its astonishing Mudéjar architecture, the pretty villages of Albarracín and Alqúezar, and the Ordesa National Park, are just a few of the things to see in this undervisited part of the country. And you can fly direct to the capital, Zaragoza, with Ryanair.”

Zaragoza itself is the hometown of the artist Goya. “He is the city’s favourite son,” says Nick Trend. “His statue presides over the main square, while his bust stands proud in the courtyard of the Museo Goya. In the great Basilica del Pilar there are two of Goya’s ceiling frescoes, the Museo de Zaragoza has a good gallery of his portraits, and the Museo Diocesano de Zaragoza has one obscure Goya portrait – that of archbishop Joaquín Company – but it’s an intriguing museum in its own right, with a good collection of medieval paintings.”

And two just beyond its borders

Tavira, Portugal

To glimpse what the Algarve looked like before mass tourism, head to Tavira, saysHelen Pickles. “Straddling the Gil?o river, it exudes an authentic Portuguese charm. Big hotels are few, churches are many, fishing boats crowd the water and everyone has time to dawdle.”

Rabat, Morocco

Often overlooked as a holiday destination, Rabat feels more than a bit European – it’s certainly a far cry from the madness of Marrakech. Overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, the capital is feted for its urban design – which incorporates Islamic architecture and more modernist buildings – as well as a thriving culinary scene and stunning weather.