Sanxenxo

We visited Sanxenxo in July 2006, mainly because it is widely regarded as the best and certainly the most exclusive and expensive beach resort in Galicia. It lies at the top of the ria de Pontevedra and, as the photographs show, has some stunning beaches.

The main beach at Sanxenxo is almost semi-circular and has white sand and crystal clear blue sea (at least on a sunny day) and the buildings in the hills behind combine low rise apartments and hotels. The entire beach side area is attractive and it is clear that tourism is this town's primary source of income.

Property prices in Sanxenxo are higher than anywhere else in Galicia and although great deals could be had a few years ago those days are long since gone. Even one and two bedroom apartments can run into hundreds of thousands of euros, if that is they have the right location and ocean facing aspect.

Sanxenxo is especially popular with Galicians and many of the apartments and nearby houses are owned by residents of Pontevedra city only a few kilometres away. Many of these wealthy residents simply travel a few kilometres every August and quite literally take their summer vacation a mere 30 minutes from their year round residence. Distances, travel durations and “getting away from everything” have a different and much smaller scale meaning in Galicia.

The whole of Sanxenxo is spotless and the promenade area, with numerous little balconies, offers stunning views of the semi natural beach below. Its appeal to foreign tourism may however be less. We found this beach beautiful, but whilst its sands and sea were very enticing, it was no different to many other beach resorts you will find throughout southern Spain and beyond and, for us at least, it lacked that uniqueness to Galicia. This is of course a personal preference, but if you like beaches backed by mountains and accessed by timber boardwalks over grassy dunes, Sanxenxo may disappoint. If on the other hand you want a beach resort in Galicia with all the trappings of modern tourism, and a genuinely stunning one at that, Sanxenxo will definitely meet your requirements. The town is clean, well designed, and cosmopolitan and for anyone wanting a "sun and sand" holiday, but one away from the typical Mediterranean resorts, this town definitely delivers.

You get to Sanxenxo on the VRG-41 that connects to the AP-9 toll road. It is quickly and easily reached from Pontevedra and Vigo. The greater area around the town also has many other great beaches, explorable towns and excellent examples of heritage like monasteries and churches.

For a selection of hotels in Sanxenxo, see this Sanxenxo hotels link. Pontevedra is also only a short distance away and may be more affordable at peak times of the year (i.e. late July and all of August).

The links below may contain some travel or holiday sites connected with Sanxenxo. If not, please ignore them.