What's on in Costa de la Luz – Huelva hidden gem

This is the Spain that most British visitors haven't found yet — and that's exactly the appeal. The Huelva stretch of the Costa de la Luz sits on Spain's Atlantic side, between the Portuguese border and the Doñana national park: long, wild, golden beaches, pine forests, working fishing harbours and resort towns like Punta Umbría, Isla Cristina, El Rompido and Mazagón that fill up with Spanish families in August and stay refreshingly low-key the rest of the time.

Because it's Atlantic rather than Mediterranean, the light is softer, the beaches are enormous and the seafood — especially the prawns of Huelva and the tuna of Isla Cristina — is some of the best in Spain. The fiestas here are genuinely local: Punta Umbría's summer-opening concerts, the Virgen del Carmen boat processions that every fishing town holds in mid-July, and small-town patron fairs where you'll often be the only English voices in the crowd.

Getting here takes a little more effort, which is part of why it stays quiet. The nearest airports are Faro in Portugal (often the cheapest option from the UK and only about an hour away) and Seville, around the same distance inland. There's little in the way of public transport along the coast, so a hire car is close to essential here — but it also means the empty beaches and the white villages are all within easy reach.

If you want the warmth, the seafood and the fiestas of Andalusia without the crowds of the Costa del Sol, this is the coast to watch. Here's what's on while you're visiting.