We went in the late '90s on a last-minute cheapie after an AI holiday we had originally booked had to be cancelled due to my missus losing her job.Calella, Spain around 2002. Really run down and tatty. Lots of petty theft like bag snatching and pick pocketing. Not Spanish. Didn't like it and didn't feel safe leaving the hotel at night.
Booked in the olden days when you had to go into a travel agent and the lady who booked it said it was nice!
Would rather have stopped at home - hotel was ancient and minging. Full of East Europeans with no concept of queuing. Trying to get breakfast or an evening meal was like a mass scrum - our son got elbowed in the face by a woman so she could get to the counter before him. Generally nowt left worth eating by the time we managed to get there - b@stards had hoovered the lot.
Resort itself was crap and expensive - had to cross a major road and train line to get to the beach.
Only found one boozer worth going to - Iirc it was a welsh-themed bar 'hosted' by a transvestite whose nightly act made Julian Clary sound like Michael McIntyre. Luckily a lot of what was being said went over the head of the young 'un.
Best part of the holiday was getting on the bus to back to the airport. Put me off mainland Spain for life.