If Portugal isn’t out of range, Lisbon is a great city and Cascais a very nice GA airport (loads of biz jets) and Sintra is nearby. Flying in Portugal is great, loads of small GA fields, and no, you don’t need to phone ahead!
Seville at this time of year is VERY hot, I remember taking off there once in 46C WX, but the upside is that there won’t be too many tourists. Check landing/ handling fees, though.
Cordoba is also beautiful, the mezquita alone I’d worth going. Nice airport, cheap landing fees. You can take a high-speed train from there to Seville.
Writing this on a gorgeous day in Malaga….
Peter I would echo San Sebastián as a destination, also Bilbao – both are interesting cities with excellent food.
La Cerdanya is an off the beaten track gliding airfield near Alp and Puigcerda in the Catalan Pirineos – beautiful country side but the towns are quite small.
+1 on Cascais, Portugal.
As to the Pyrenees, Seu d’Urgel (LESU) is an option to La Cerdanya and is near Andorra, just in case the missus wants to do some cheap shopping.. Interesting to land on an airport on top of a (flattened) hill. Not as spectaculair as Catalina Island in California, but the same impression.
So Peter, you need more than a few days..
Of Santander and Bilbao, which is “better” for hanging out for 1-2 days?
Can anyone offer any opinions on any difficulties at the airports? I wouldn’t need avgas in this case.
Unfortunately, probably not enough time to do Portugal this time round 
Of Santander and Bilbao, which is “better” for hanging out for 1-2 days?
Bilbao. The weather is a bit unstable in the bay of Biscay and if you get more rain than sun, there is not much to do at Santander. If however the weather is forecast to be stable sunshine then Santander will be the more scenic location coming back to the thread title, with possible beach walks and hiking up the mountains.
Difficulties at the airport? From these two, I only have been to Bilbao. Expect to be parked at the opposite end of the terminal, so everything will take it’s time. Worst is fuel, like everywhere in Spain, the fuel truck can be at your plane within ten minutes after landing, but it can also take one hour. Or two. If you ask, you will always be told “ten minutes” But you write that you won’t need fuel…
Isle of Cavallo, south of Corsica, has a relatively long airstrip, but it is unclear if it can be used by GA planes (it used to be), or only by microlights. That isle is the closest to Maldives you can find in Europe (and Roberto Cavalli is used to give a party middle of August at Hotel des Pecheurs :-).
Isola d’Elba has an airport with customs, and landing from the north enjoys quite dramatic views (but read the AIP before attempting a landing from north!).
These are the only 2 small islands with airports I know in the Tyrrhenian sea, otherwise you have to land at larger airports in the mainland which are typically not so close to nice seaside spots.
Currently I am looking at 24-28 July, Zaragoza and Santander, so if anybody fancies a lunch…
Bummer, too late. Been and gone….. have a good trip!
For me Santander is better than Bilbao, but then it’s just a matter of taste. LEXJ is a small commercial airport, you will be parked very near the terminal and you can expect no problems. Landing fee will be around 20-25 € and parking is 15€ per day.
In Madrid you cannot enter LEMD Barajas. It’s restricted since a few years ago for to jet or turboprop aircraft only. So Cuatro Vientos LECU is the only option.
I agree that LECD Cerdanya is a lovely place, but as already said, not big cities around.
Cordoba is also a good destination. But be aware that now the airport closes at 15:00 LT, which is completely inconvenient.
I see that you have decided for 24-28 Zaragoza and Santander. I will be flying into Santander in the next weekend. We will not coincide by just a few days!
