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Where are all the dog-friendly beaches in Spain?

Most beaches in Spain don't allow dogs in summer, instead they're reserved for sunbathers and swimmers, but as the long, hot days approach you'll need somewhere to take your pooch to cool down.

Published: 16 June 2023 17:07 CEST
Updated: 18 July 2024 07:31 CEST
Where are all the dog-friendly beaches in Spain?
Where are all the dog-friendly beaches in Spain? Photo: Justin Aikin / Unsplash

Spain is home to almost 8,000 kilometres of beaches, but they don’t all allow dogs. Finding somewhere to take your four-legged friend, when you want to enjoy the beach too, can be difficult, but luckily there are several across the country where you can take them.

Different rules apply on each beach with some only allowing them in certain sections, others during certain hours of the day and some applying other restrictions. 

Taking your dog on a beach where they are not permitted, even if they are well-behaved and on a lead, will often be met with anger from fellow beachgoers and could result in a steep fine, so it’s important you know where to take them during the hot summers.

RedCanina.es has an interactive map to show where you can go

Andalusia

Málaga:

  • Playa de Arroyo Totalán (Málaga)
  • Playa del Castillo (Fuengirola)
  • Playa de Piedra Paloma (Casares)
  • Playa Canina de Torre del Mar
  • Playa El Pinillo (Marbella)
  • Playa de Ventura de Mar (Marbella)
  • Playa canina de Torrox.

READ ALSO: What are the rules on taking your pets on holiday in Spain?

Almería: Playa de la Rana, in Adra.

Granada: Playa El Cable, in Motril.

Cádiz: Dog zone of Playa de Camposoto (San Fernando).

Huelva:

  • Playa El Espigón (Huelva)
  • Playa de la Gola (Isla Cristina)

Córdoba: Playa de Valdearenas (Iznájar)

Catalonia

Girona:

  • Playa de La Rubina (Empuria Brava)
  • Zona Canina de Playa Els Griells (l’Estartit)
  • Playa del Rec del Molí (l’Escala)
  • Playa de las Barcas (Colera)
  • Playa de Sant Jordi (Llançà)
  • Playas de Port de la Vall y La Ribera (Port de la Selva)

Barcelona:

  • Cala Vallcarca (Sitges)
  • Playa de Llevant (Barcelona)
  • Playa de Les Salines (Cubelles)
  • Playa Canina de Pineda de Mar
  • Playa La Picòrdia (Arenys de Mar)
  • Playa canina de El Masnou– Montgat
  • Playa de la Conca (Malgrat de Mar)

Tarragona:

  • Bon Caponet y Cala del Cementiri (Ametlla de Mar)
  • Playa la Platjola (Alcanar)
  • Playa La Balsa de La Arena (Delta del Ebro)
  • La Playa de la Riera d’Alforja (Cambrils)
  • Playa Punta del Riu (Mont-roig del Camp)
  • Cala de la Torrota (Roda de Berà)

READ ALSO: Spain to allow large dogs on high-speed train services between Madrid, Alicante and Valencia 

Valencia

Alicante:

  • Caleta dels Gossets (Santa Pola)
  • Playa Punta del Riu (Campello)
  • Playa Barranc D’Aigües (Campello)
  • Playa Vilera del Xarco (Villajoyosa)
  • La Playa de Agua Amarga (Alicante)
  • Playa de la Escollera Norte (Dénia)
  • Playa Mar y Montaña (Altea)
  • Cala Rocío (Torrevieja)
  • Cala Les Urques (Calpe)

Valencia:

  • Playa de Pinedo (Ciudad de Valencia)
  • Playa de La Torreta – Santa Elvira (El Puig)
  • Playa canina de Alboraya

Castellón:

  • Playa de Les Llanetes (Vinarós)
  • Playa de Aiguaoliva (También en Vinarós)
  • Playa L’Estany in Punta Capicorb (Alcossebre)
  • Playa Belcaire (Móncófar)
  • Playa El Barranquet (Benicarló)
  • Playa Boca del Riu (Vinarós)
  • Playa La Renegá (Oropesa del Mar)

Find out which beaches you can take your dog to in Spain. Photo: Kojirou Sasaki / Unsplash

Murcia

  • Playa de Las Moreras (Mazarrón)
  • Playa del Gachero (Mazarrón)
  • Playa de Cobaticas (Mazarrón)
  • Playa de La Cañada del Negro (Águilas)
  • Playa Larga (Lorca)
  • Playa La Calera (Cartagena)

READ ALSO: What are the fines for not picking up dog poo in Spain? 

Galicia

Pontevedra:

  • Playa de O Espiño and Playa O Portiño
  • Playa da Cunchiña (Cangas)
  • Playa de Cesantes y Chapela (Redondela)
  • Playa O Castelete (Vilagarcía de Arousa)
  • A Foz y A Calzoa (Vigo)

A Coruña:

  • Playa del Arenal (Pobra do Caramiñal)
  • Playa canina de Ares

Lugo:

  • Punta Corveira (Barreiros)

 READ ALSO: How much does it cost to keep a pet in Spain?

Asturias

  • Playa de El Rinconín (Gijón)
  • Cala Saliencia (Cudillero)
  • Playa canina de Sabugo (Valdés)
  • Playa del Sablón (Bayas, Castrillón).

 

Cantabria

  • Playa La Maza (San Vicente de la Barquera)
  • Playa La Riberuca (Suances)
  • Playa Arcisero
  • Muelle Oriñón and Cala Cargadero Mioño (Castro Urdiales)
  • Playa el Puntal (Somo)
  • Arenal del Jortín (Soto de la Marina Bezana)
  • Playa de Helgueras (Noja)
  • Playa El Madero (Liencres)

Balearic Islands

Mallorca:

  • Playa de Llenaire (Port de Pollença)
  • Playa de Na Patana (Santa Margarida)
  • Playa de Es Carnatge (Palma de Mallorca)
  • Cala Blanca (Andratx)
  • Cala dels Gats, Costa de la Calma (Calvià)
  • Punta des Marroig, Palmanova (Calvià)

Menorca:

  • Cala Binigaus (Es Migjorn Gran)
  • Cala Escorxada y Cala Fustam (Es Migjorn Gran)

Ibiza: Two small inlets in Santa Eulària del RiuLa (Es Viver)

 

Canary Islands

Gran Canaria:

  • Los Cuervitos (Agüimes)
  • Los tres peos (Agüimes)
  • Playa de Bocabarranco (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria)

Tenerife:

  • Playa Callao/Las Bajas (Güimar)
  • Playa el Socorro (Güimar)
  • Playa El Puertito (Güimar)
  • El Confital/Playa del Horno (Granadilla de Abona).

Lanzarote:

  • Playa de las Coloradas/El Afre (Yaiza)
  • Playa de la Guacimeta in Playa Honda (San Bartolomé)

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WORKING IN SPAIN

How to make money by dog walking and pet sitting in Spain

Have you ever thought about making some extra money by dog walking or pet sitting in Spain? Here's how to go about setting yourself up, what you need to know and what you can expect to earn.

Published: 16 September 2024 13:02 CEST
How to make money by dog walking and pet sitting in Spain

Spaniards love their pets. In fact, they own around 30 million of them. With that many furry friends around, it’s reasonable to think that there may be a money-making opportunity somewhere, including dog walking or pet sitting.

Firstly, you’ll need to decide what services you’re going to offer – dog walking or petting sitting or both.

When it comes to pet sitting, there’s probably more money to be made if the pet comes to you, providing you have the space and the set up. This is because there are many companies which connect pet sitters with owners in exchange for free accommodation while they’re on holiday, so you won’t actually be making money, but you may be saving it.

READ ALSO – Compulsory courses and paperwork: The new rules for pet owners in Spain 

Not everyone who owns a dog has time to walk it every day, especially if they have busy jobs, so that provides many opportunities for dog walkers. This is mostly the case in big cities.

Dog walking in Spain is not really seen as a profession like it is perhaps in the United States, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t people doing it or making money from it on the side.

It’s worth keeping in mind that if you’re making from dog walking, pet sitting or anything else, you should be declaring your earnings to the tax man. If you’re not employed by a company with an official contract and you just have individual clients, which is probably the case when dog walking, in order to legally do this you will have to register as self-employed or autónomo.

In order to do this you will be paying €60 a month in social security during the first year plus taxes on earnings. After that, even you will be paying a minimum of €225 in social security fees.

This means you’ll need to do a lot of dog walking in order to make any money on top of your fees. For this reason, many people opt to be paid in cash for dog walking and simply won’t declare it, but be aware if you get caught doing this, there are some hefty fines to pay.

READ ALSO – Under the table: How many workers in Spain don’t pay taxes?

You don’t need an official qualification to be a dog walker or a pet sitter in Spain, but it’s important that you have a lot of knowledge of pet behaviour. It’s one thing to be able to look after your own pet or just walk your neighbour’s dog once in a while, but it’s a whole other level to walk five dogs at once or have 10 of them in your home.

It’s a good idea to research as much as you can about animal behaviour, and maybe take a class with an expert trainer so that you know how to handle the responsibility and clients will be happy with the services you provide.

If you’re going to have other people’s pets in your home, you will also need to be very organised. Have proper feeding times, places for them all to sleep and maybe even send small updates and photos to the owners.  

READ ALSO: How much does it cost to keep a pet in Spain? 

How much money can I make from dog walking and pet sitting in Spain?

Typically in Spain you could charge between €5 and €15 per hour for dog walking, although that will depend on location, your experience and the difficulty of the animal. According to website CronoShare, the average price is €8 per hour. 

In Madrid for example, dog walkers can charge between €7 and €10 per hour. However, the price could increase and be around €15 per hour if it is a holiday, weekend or any request for a special day that was not arranged in advance.

There are dog walkers who charge prices based on the number of walks, regardless of the number of dogs being walked, however, another dog walker may charge based on the number of pets in addition to the number of walks.

You can also add extra for any other jobs you need to do such as feeding them, giving them medication, training them or if it’s a public holiday.

When it comes to pet sitting in your home you could start at the lower end of a flat fee of €10 per day for example if you are taking care of many dogs or you could charge higher the more responsibilities you have. If you’re only taking care of a couple at a time, you may also need to charge more to make it financially viable for you.

How do I go about being a dog walker or a pet sitter?

There are many online sites that you can advertise your services such as CronoShare which has a page where people can look for dog walkers.

You can also advertise yourself on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, promoting pictures of you looking after pets and following people who have pets or joining groups. For example, Barcelona has a cats Facebook group as well as a dog one and a specific dog sitting one where people are often asking for people to help look after their pets.

For this type of activity word of mouth is invaluable too, so it’s important to do a good job and let your clients know that you’re looking for more work if they know of anyone.

There are also many companies who need pet sitters and dog walkers. In this case you would work for them as an employee, rather than setting up on your own and finding your own clients. 

Is it a good way of making money?

This depends, if you are already self-employed and are paying social security fees and want to top up your income, dog walking could be a good option.

If you’re not, you will have to register as self-employed as mentioned above. You can make it work if you work hard to advertise your services and offer lots of them, such as dog walking and pet sitting for example.

It’s doable, but you’ll need to make a good name for yourself to keep your business afloat.

READ: Nine ways to make extra money in Spain

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