The holiday gain in Spain

Spain has overtaken France as the most popular overseas destination for Brits, according to a new report from the Office of National Statistics. No wonder - from haute cuisine to high treks, the country has something for everyone.

Best for bargain-hunters

Flights to Madrid, on Iberia from Gatwick, start at £92 at www.opodo.co.uk (booking until 1 August 2004). Until 31 December, there are threenightsfor-two deals at all Madrid's 28 NH Hoteles (00 800 0115 0116, www.nh-hoteles. com); doubles from £68 room only in a central five-star. Holiday Autos (www. holidayautos.co.uk) has global rental reductions for pick-ups until 31 October 2004 (book by 16 December): on Tenerife, a week's car hire is only £63.

Best for design devotees

Bilbao became a byword for urban regeneration when Frank Gehry unveiled the Guggenheim there in 1997. On show until 18 April 2004 is Jean Dubuffet - Traces of an Adventure. Make a pilgrimage to the city's two best interior-design stores, Urbana (at Elcano, 15) and Mosel (Gran Via, 53). Stay at Hotel Miró - refurbished with a façade in green aluminium and stone and 50 rooms, pale and Zennish. Doubles £111 room only; Design Hotels (0800 169 8817, www.designhotels.com).

Best for families

If they're city kids, show them Barcelona: Gaudí's playful buildings seem designed with children in mind. Ascend Tibidabo, for its fairground; see Parc Guell and its mosaic dragons; and performance-art human "statues" on the Ramblas. For beach-bunnies, try Zahara on the Costa de la Luz; the Melia Atlanterra is best for babies and children. Full programme for all ages. A week from £610pp B&B (35 per cent discount for under-12s), with Magic of Spain (0870 888 0222, www.magictravelgroup.co.uk).

Best for clubbers

When partying Madrileños need a new high they head for Valencia. Around kicking-out time in London, Caballeros - a street of designer bars - is just getting going. Recommended: Johnny Maracas, at 39, and Cafe Sant Jaume, at 51. Expect glam girls, adoring boys and huge vodka tonics. Two nights from £189pp (B&B, flights): Bridge Travel (0870 191 7287, www. bridge-travel.co.uk).

Best for gastronomes

In Spain, superchef Ferran Adrià is "as easily recognised as King Juan Carlos," says Tatler restaurant critic Jeremy Wayne. At his three-Michelinstarred El Bullí, three hours from Barcelona, diners are given endless rounds of tapas, from savoury ice-creams to barnacles in aspic with tea foam. Reservations: bulli@elbulli. com, 0034 972 150457. Or try Adrià's La Alquería, at Hacienda Benazuza, outside Seville (call Harlequin on 01708 850 300).

Best for nature lovers

The Coto Doñana National Park in Andalucia, one of Europe's most extensive wetlands, is a protected nature reserve and Unesco Natural World Heritage Site. Kingfishers flit by as you chug up the Guadalquivir river; spring and autumn bring flamingos and aquatic birds to its lagoons. Inntravel (01653 629010, www.inntravel.co.uk) features it on a three-nighter to Seville, from £454pp B&B.

Best for poseurs

Marbella was put on the map in the Fifties by Prince Max Hohenlohe and his son, Prince Alfonso, the former buying 185 hectares, the latter erecting the Marbella Club upon it. Refurbed in 1999, it is "perhaps the most famous hotel in Spain... an almost magical oasis of palm-shaded courtyards and lush, half-hidden gardens in which charming fountains play", according to author Nick Foulkes, who once drove there in a Bentley. Three nights from £555pp B&B. Elegant Resorts (01244 897 777, www.elegantresorts.co.uk).

Best for solace-seekers

The Picos de Europa (Peaks of Europe), in the Cantabrian mountains of north-west Spain, are truly compelling. See the sugarloaf peak of the Naranjo de Bulnes (2,518m), rising above an uninhabited plateau, on an eight-day hiking tour with Explore Worldwide (01252 760 000, www. exploreworldwide.com). You pass forests of beech and chestnut, and goats grappling with unimaginable gradients. Departures from May 2004, packages from £520pp.