Cinque Terre in Spain?

You might want to look into Collioure on the French coast near the Spanish border. But I've never been to Cinque Terre.

I have been to both Cinque Terre and Collioure. I would say there is no comparison except they both are on the coast. I did enjoy Collioure as a day trip from where I was staying, and it's not too far from Barcelona. The beach I saw there was pebbly, rather than sandy. I haven't been to any beachy places in Spain, so can't help you there.

Well I am trying out the Costa Brava coast this time, on recommendations by friends.. specifically we are staying in a place called Tossa De Mar, small, not a ton to do, pretty, a few nice but pebbly beaches, boat rides to other little bays.
Anyways, I would google and look specifically at the Costa Brava coast, and Tossa De Mar..

Everywhere is different so I'm not sure you get a perfect substitute for CT. Start by ruling out Costa del Sol, it's all resorts and golf courses. I think your best bets are: Costa Bravo north of Barcelona, has nice beach towns on a coast broken with rocks, coves and hills. This is pretty easily reached by train. Anywhere on the Atlantic coast north of Portugal to the French border. We only went to San Sebastian, which is a very pretty and very expensive place (like Portofino). The weather is probably only reliable in the main summer months. The place we liked the best was the Atlantic Coast south of Portugal down to Tarifa. I actually thought Tarifa had more of the small town feel that CT has. North of Tarifa is far less developed than Costa del Sol but much more "beachy" than CT.

Scott If you are driving in Spain(which we did after visiting Barcelona and took a train to Madrid where we picked up a car).
We travelled from Madrid to Toledo then to Seville, then into Portugal (all great roads) to a small place called Salema. Please get RS book on Portugal as this area around Salema are all small and the beach in Salema is great. Very small town and very safe. You can take a few side day trips to Sagres and then to Lagos. Great area. We stayed at Pension Mare very reasonable and great breakfast. The restaurant on the beach has the best fish. If you are not driving then you can take a train to Lagos and from there a bus - not far in between also the bus runs to Sagre where there is a great fort where Henry the Navigator had a school. It is at the tip of Portugal.

I agree with Brad, Tarifa might be nothing like Cinque Terre but it is a great small town with lots of beach activities. You can enjoy a beautiful sandy beach and lots of sunshine. Take the ferry over for a day trip to Tangiers - drive a little north and visit the museum & Roman ruins at Balonia. Wonderful place and people. Your girls should enjoy this place and will feel safe. We stayed at the Miranda hotel - it's listed in RS's Spain guide book. Enjoy!

Scott, if you pick Terrifa, don't stay downtown; stay somewhere near the beach, and rent a car. Downtown is a great plce to wander and the restaurants are fantastic, but it is not a great place to stay. Visit Gibralter and take the cab tour of the "Rock". We did the Portugal Algarve in the winter and loved the Selema area, and all the fun things you could do/visit if you had a car. We stayed in Tavira, which really comes alive in summer, and has lots of condo rentals in the nearby vicinity. Be aware that both of these locations can be VERY warm in the summer, and some places can be really packed. Please pick up a copy of Rick's Spain and Portugal book and do some reading, and then make your choice.

Salema (Portugal) probably has decent bus service to other towns. I was there on a RS tour in 2008 and one person in our group used her free day in Salema to take a bus to a nearby town for the day. I thought the town was just about ideal for a relaxed beach town. We were there in May. The weather was perfect and it wasn't crowded.