Introducing Sitges

Just 35km along the coast from Barcelona, this fishing-village-turned-pumping-beach-resort town has been a favourite with upper-class Barcelonians since the late 19th century, as well as a key location for the burgeoning Modernisme movement which paved the way for the likes of Picasso. The happy masses have been flooding in since the 1960s – from daytripping shoppers and clubbers to honeymooners and weekending families. A famous gay destination, in July and August Sitges turns into one big beach party with a nightlife to rival Ibiza; the beaches are long and sandy, the tapas bars prolific and the Carnaval Bacchanalian.