Non tourist beach towns Spain

I spent an afternoon at Llafranc on the Costa Brava in August 2012.
It is gorgeous. I would gladly go back for a week.
White sandy beach. Boats bobbing in a blue bay. Fantastic waterfront restaurants along a shady promenade.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/bestbeaches/7690876/Best-beaches-on-the-Costa-Brava-Spain-Platja-de-Llafranc-Llafranc.html
Hotel options ...
http://hotelblaumarllafranc.com/?lang=en
http://www.hterramar.com/eng/

Costa Brava is a good choice and convenient to Barcelona. They aren't quite as quaint as you describe, more tourists from around Europe - but they are very nice. Blanes is on the big side. Tossa de Mar or Arenys de Mar are smaller and right on the beach.

The best place for a traditional small town on the beach is on the Costa de la Luz. Roughly Tarifa northwest to Portugal. This area has miles and miles of nearly deserted beaches with occasional towns that provide just enough services. Chiclana de la Frontera and Barbate are both a little too touristed, popular beach destinations (not resorts like Costa del Sol), but the entire stretch between the two is great. If it's not too far out of the way and you really want to relax, this is probably the place.

Hi Brad,
Thanks for you input. We will definetly check out the Costa de la Luz . Sounds like what we're looking for.
Cheers
Dave

Costa de Almeria has 18 EU blue flagged beaches. See San Jose. Costa del Sol, see La Herradura just east of Nerja.

Almost every coastal town in Galicia will match what you're looking for. The water will be colder as it's on the Atlantic, but there will be few tourists.

Many of the larger resort towns of the Costa Brava are as you describe Brad, but not the ones of Palafrugell (Llafranc, Calella de Palafrugell, and Tamariu). I suggest you get there.

If you're inclined to travel to Basque Country, consider Getaria, near San Sebastian. We booked a hotel there without knowing how far it was from San Sebastian. It was a hotel in a gothic house just above a wonderful beach - a few doors down from the birthplace of Elkano, one of Columbus's sailors. The beach was terrific, the countryside was picturesque, and each night, crowds of people (locals, I think), went to the "downtown" area for pinxtos and drinks. There were several restaurants that grilled fish outdoors and the dining area is also outdoors overlooking the harbor and the mountains. Truly outstanding. I intend to return.

Hi there, since an image is worth a 1000 words... Coasts in Catalonia: http://www.infocatalonia.eu/w/map-of-catalonia/ From all the "coasts", the two best known are Costa Brava (http://infocatalonia.eu/w/AioW1), located north of Barcelona and Costa Daurada (http://infocatalonia.eu/w/0QhHM), located south. For text info: http://www.costabrava.org/en and http://www.costadaurada.info/d1/index.php?idioma=EN_EN respectively.

I'd also like to clarify something mentioned in djpsyd's post: Catalonia doesn't have "resorts" -in the North American sense of " a self-contained commercial establishment which attempts to provide for most of a vacationer's wants while remaining on the premises, such as food, drink, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping ". I feel important to mention this as I am not sure how this term is used in Australia (djpsyd's home country), whether as in the UK (towns where tourism or vacationing is a part of the local activity) or as in North America (as described above).

Sorry. Yes, to clarify, our English usage in Australia is usually of the mother country meaning, that is Great Britain.

Thanks for clarifying @djpsyd, as the saying goes "You learn something every day..." ;)