Spain conjures up images of white sand beaches, all-year sun and enough steamy romantic imagery to fill a whole volume of poetry. When planning a hen party, it’s essential to choose the destination that best reflects your party and you could do alot worse than Spain where there really is something for everybody – from the young party animals to the more sophisticated culture vulture. Let’s take a look at Hen Heaven’s top 5 Spanish hen weekend destinations (in no particular order).
1. Marbella
Despite being popularised recently by the controversial ITV2 reality show, The Only Way is Essex, Marbella has a reputation as home from home for the rich and famous. The stars of the afore-mentioned show recently flew over to the Andalusian coastal town for a well documented stag weekend. Those seeking classic Spanish architecture, museums and galleries might be rather disappointed as Marbella is more Anglicised than some of the destinations in this list but those who like a full English after a heavy late night won’t be found wanting. Glorious beaches, a multitude of clubs and bars and more than a few wealthy Ferrari-driving bachelors casually strolling around the old harbour make a Marbella hen weekend a tempting proposition, indeed.
2. Sevilla
Now, here’s a classy, sophisticated city that really marches to the beat of its own drum – this is authentic Spain at its very best. For the fond of food there’s an enormous range of top quality traditional tapas restaurants lining the thin streets that arrow off from the main streets. It’s here you’ll discover your own personal little corners of Seville, a city that has a very unique, romantic pulse informed by the staggering medieval architecture you’ll stumble upon at regular intervals. A Sevilla hen weekend is about as alluring as they come.
3. Barcelona
This fiercely independent city won’t thank me for listing it in a Spanish list, seeing as it considers itself the capital of Catalunya, but let’s not get dragged into politics here. A Barcelona hen weekend is probably the most versatile option for a Spanish hen do. The city is equally adept at providing beach weekends with its long, beautiful beaches, a bonafide sight-seeing city break or even a no-holds-barred party weekend, only aided by some of the most beautiful inhabitants of any city worldwide.
4. Madrid
The capital of Spain is unsurprisingly rich in variety, though possibly not a great option for the spendthrift among you. This destination suits small parties best of 4-6 as it’s not really a city you’ll want to tear up, rather than lose yourself in. Madrid, despite being one of Europe’s biggest cities, is very much in touch with its history, something you won’t fail to recognise when wandering the streets. It’s a slow-burner of a destination, perhaps not a place you will immediately fall in love with, more a city that slowly reveals its charms rising to intoxicating levels before you leave.
5. Ibiza
Ibiza had a very different reputation in the 90s than it possesses today, thanks in-no-small-part to those folks at ITV again, with Ibiza Uncovered – the show where travel reps would ply gawky teenagers with enough booze to down an elephant – fortunately, it’s a reputation that’s starting to shift more towards being a classy, upmarket destination for the thinking-person’s-clubber. Ibiza is an island that still boasts some of the world’s best clubs, but it’s become so much more with progressive, forward-thinking restaurants setting up shop there, as well as vintage markets, boutique shopping and, of course, beautiful beaches. Ibiza hen weekends aren’t the cheapest option available, but they certainly pack quite the punch for their emphasis on all-night dancing and all-day beach-dwelling in real style.
