While parts of Spain grapple with overtourism, the Region of Valencia is quietly taking a different route — and 2027 is shaping up to be its biggest year yet.

Speaking at World Travel Market in London, the region's vice-minister for tourism, José Manuel Camarero Benitez, said the strategy is about managing visitor flows rather than maximising them: spreading tourists across seasons, not stacking everyone into the same beaches at the same time. There's logic to it — even in November, the coast still sees sunshine and temperatures above 20°C, warm enough for swimming and diving.

The region's current campaign, "could this be happiness?", leans into exactly that: small pleasures like sand between your toes and a shimmering sea, rather than box-ticking sightseeing.

**Castellón: the province to watch**

Alicante and Valencia city need no introduction (Benidorm alone draws crowds year after year), but the tourism chief is betting on Castellón as the next success story. It's a varied patch of coast and hinterland: eat langoustines in Vinaròs, hike the Sierra de Irta, view prehistoric cave art in Ares del Maestrat, or go canyoning at Montanejos. Food is its calling card, so come hungry.

**A packed 2027 sporting calendar**

Sport gives travellers a fresh reason to time a trip. Valencia city will host the Copa del Rey basketball tournament, the European Indoor Athletics Championships, SailGP and the MotoGP Valencia Grand Prix across the year, while Alicante fires the starting gun for The Ocean Race. In May, Alicante also welcomes the IAGTO European Convention, with the region pitching its 30 golf sites as part of a wider lifestyle offer — golf plus gastronomy and culture, not just fairways.

**Sustainability credentials**

Valencia held the European Green Capital title in 2024, and Benidorm — of all places — picked up the European Green Leaf award for smaller cities, effective into 2028. Whether that translates into cleaner beaches and better-managed crowds on the ground, it signals where the region wants to head.

**Why it matters for travellers**

If you've written off this coast as package-holiday territory, the off-season pitch and Castellón's low-key towns offer a genuinely different version of it: milder crowds, autumn sea swims, mountain villages and some of Spain's best rice and seafood cooking. And if you like your holidays with a side of elite sport, 2027 is the year to book.