Costa del Sol or Menorca?

Menorca wins for the sea itself. Its southern coves between Ciutadella and Cala Galdana have fine white sand under pine-covered cliffs and very clear water, and the north coast adds wilder red-sand bays such as Cavalleria. Many of these coves have no buildings, so you carry in your own shade, and in high summer you need to arrive early.

The Costa del Sol offers quantity and convenience instead: a near-continuous run of coarser grey-gold sand with sunbeds and beach bars from Nerja to Estepona. Only the Maro coves match Menorca for clear water.

The Costa del Sol eats better, mostly because of Málaga. The old-town taverns pour wine from the barrel, Atarazanas market is good for fish and fruit, the beach grills of Pedregalejo serve espetos, and the hills around Marbella have a serious fine-dining tier on top.

Menorca's cooking is more local but narrower: lobster caldereta in Fornells, Mahón cheese bought at the farm gate and pomada on the quays. Away from the harbours the choice thins out quickly, and many kitchens close outside summer.

These two are broadly level, though Málaga gives the mainland a slight edge, and the heritage is of very different kinds. On the Costa del Sol it is almost all in one city: the Alcazaba and Roman theatre, the Picasso Museum and a strong run of galleries along the port.

Menorca's heritage is spread across the countryside, with Bronze Age navetas and taula sanctuaries that you can reach by a short drive between farm fields. In the towns there is Ciutadella's Gothic old capital and Mahón's Georgian streets above its deep harbour. The museums are small, but nothing on the mainland resembles the prehistoric sites.

The gap is wide. The Costa del Sol offers several kinds of night: dawn-closing clubs at Puerto Banús, the long-established gay scene in Torremolinos, cheap bar strips in Fuengirola, and Málaga's tapas crawls, which keep going all year.

Menorca spends its evenings over drinks on the quays at Ciutadella and Mahón, plus the cave club near Cala en Porter at sunset. Its big nights are the summer festes, above all Sant Joan in June.

The Costa del Sol has the bigger scenery, with steep mountains only a few kilometres inland. You can wade up the Río Chíllar gorge, walk among the firs of the Sierra de las Nieves, cross the Caminito del Rey or see the eroded rocks of El Torcal.

Menorca's landscape is gentler and more continuous: the Camí de Cavalls circles the whole island past coves and watchtowers, S'Albufera des Grau suits birdwatchers, and kayaking under the sea cliffs is easy to arrange. Walk either place in spring or autumn.

This is where the two differ most. From Málaga, high-speed trains reach Córdoba's Mezquita in about an hour and Seville in about two, and the Alhambra in Granada is close by road. Ronda, Antequera and Gibraltar are within easy reach from the western end of the coast.

On Menorca a day out usually means crossing to the other end of the island to see Ciutadella or Mahón, or visiting Fornells and Binibeca. The only real trip off the island is the long ferry ride to Alcúdia on Mallorca.

Both work well with children, but the Costa del Sol has more to fill the days. Between Torremolinos and Fuengirola you have Fuengirola's zoo, Benalmádena's aquarium and marine park, the cable car and water parks, all next to gently sloping sand.

Menorca is calmer and smaller, with sheltered shallow beaches such as Cala Galdana and Son Bou and short drives everywhere. Beyond the sea, though, it offers little more than a small water park and farm visits, and the prettiest coves mean a long walk carrying beach gear.

On the Costa del Sol the busiest stretch needs no car: the commuter train links Málaga, the airport and the resorts as far as Fuengirola. Past that point you rely on slow summer buses or a hire car for Marbella, Nerja and the mountains.

Menorca is compact, with no drive much over an hour, but buses reach few of the wild coves, so a car is close to essential. At the popular southern bays the last stretch often means a shuttle bus or a walk.

The Costa del Sol gives you more to shop for: luxury houses on the Puerto Banús waterfront, the Spanish chains and the department store around Málaga's Calle Larios, and big malls by the motorway. Menorca has no fashion streets, but it does have things to bring home: avarca sandals, Ciutadella leather, Mahón cheese and island gin.

The Costa del Sol costs less mainly because it is so large and so varied. A long run of resorts built for mass tourism keeps hotels competing with each other, and you choose your own price level, from plain apartment blocks to the yacht-harbour end of Marbella, where the bill climbs steeply. Meals rarely stretch the budget either, since grilled fish and tapas are everyday food here rather than a treat.

Menorca has no cheaper end to retreat to. It is a small island whose rooms and villas fill with families in a short summer season, so prices rise everywhere at once, and the car most visitors need is at its dearest in the same weeks. What it gives back costs little or nothing: the coves and most of the prehistoric sites. Both places get noticeably cheaper in June and September.

Málaga gives the mainland the edge. The Teatro Cervantes hosts the city orchestra, opera and dance, and the flamenco peñas put on weekend performances for aficionados, which are more genuine than the resort dinner shows. Marbella adds big open-air concerts with international headliners in summer.

Menorca's offer is smaller but has character: Mahón's 1829 Teatre Principal, organ recitals at Santa Maria and Ciutadella's summer classical festival. For most of the year there is little else.

The Costa del Sol has the larger spa offer. There are big spa hotels and residential detox clinics between Marbella and Estepona, golf-resort spas along the coast, and Arab-style baths in Málaga. Its mild winters also draw long-staying visitors.

Menorca's restfulness comes from quiet rather than treatments. Converted farmhouses, low-rise resorts and slow harbour evenings suit people who simply want calm, but spas are limited to the bigger hotels.