During my late night channel surfing I came across an E-channel special on these areas. It consisted of pasty fleshed lager louts, Germans in Speedos, American Paris Hilton wannabes and the typical shampoo challenged Spanish dandies we see lurking in the corner of every tapas bar within 500 meters of every college in Madrid that has female American students studying abroad.

My question is this-Do the Spanophiles and educated hardcore travelers to Spain that inhabit this board ever go to these places?

I long for the wild partying that you describe, but alas... just when I think I am too old to be there, I fancy myself dressed in wild fashion and being part of that scene. I partied as a college student in Benidorm (many Germans there), Marbella, Torremolinos and Punta Umbria (all Spanish there). I was very sad when my study abroad ended and I returned college in the USA (my parents had to come to Spain and bribe me to return). Nothing here ever compared to the party scene in Spain. It was definately better there, along the coast of the mediterranean, taking a break from the drinking and smoking to view the beauty of the sea under a full moon, listening to Lou Reed sing in the background, in a disco under a big tent on the beach. Having Spanish friends made it all that more fun. They knew the best places. We were always in search of "ambiente". Sometimes we walked out of a place because someone in the group said, "no tiene ambiente".

There is something about youth that makes the party scene more intense. I say, go for it. You don't get a second chance and time passes so quickly.

I have not traveled to Spain yet but am slowly becoming a "Spanophile" in preparing for my trip next year (and possibly relocating in a few years). However, I planned a trip to Spain for some friends of mine a couple years ago. They went to Ibiza for just one night. The draw for them was not wanting to look or be with the "cool kids" but to dance to good music by some of Europe's best visiting DJs. My friends are all techno-music fans so they had to visit while in that part of the world. However, they absolutely fell in love with Barcelona and appreciated the culture much more there.

I think that young people uneducated about Spain would gladly visit the party places and never explore the "real" Spain but anyone who reads even a little about Spain will run across the idea that I did: Ibiza is like the Las Vegas of Spain and Costa del Sol is overrun with tourists and high rise condos. I live 6 hours from Vegas and am willing to go for a weekend but I know it's just for the partying and debauchery; it's not a representation of "real" America.

Whether or not I will go to such a place when I visit? It really depends on how much time I have. It's lowest on my list, for sure.

mittens

The party is there if you want it. I had spent my time studying during my summer in Spain, so going to party at the end of it all was a nice relief. I was in Alicante. There are some great spots in a small town called San Juan near there. I remember the bars and the streets being packed with people and music pumping out of every club.

My other good memories of that night include a walk on the beach at 4 in the morning and then being able to walk to the McDonald's right off the beach and get a Happy Meal (with a Snoopy toy) and a beer.