Spain

Mallorca is the working heart of Balearic yachting. Palma sits at the top of a wide bay with the Gothic cathedral of La Seu standing over the water and a front lined with marinas, yards and the restaurants that come with them, which makes it the easiest island in the group to start and finish a week in. Move north and the coast turns dramatic: the Serra de Tramuntana falls straight into the sea, with Soller, Deia and Valldemossa strung along it. The south east side is the opposite, shallower and calmer, and built for a long lunch at anchor.

Ibiza needs no introduction for the nightlife, but a charter here spends most of its time on the quieter half of the island: the pine covered west coast, the rock of Es Vedra standing offshore, and a run of anchorages that only open up from the water. Formentera lies a short hop to the south and is the reason a good many Balearic weeks get booked at all, a low island of pale sand and shallow water where the yacht anchors off and the day happens on the beach.

Menorca is the quiet one, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve whose coastline is cut into dozens of small calas, most of them reachable only by boat. Mahon sits at the head of a long natural harbour that runs well inland, and Ciutadella keeps the older Catalan face of the island at the far end. Guests who have done the Ibiza week and want the exact opposite of it come here for the next one.

The Spanish mainland is close enough to build into an island week when it wants a city: Barcelona for Gaudi and a night ashore, and the coves of the Costa Brava along the coast north of it. South of Mallorca, the Cabrera archipelago is a national park with controlled access and a limited number of moorings, which is exactly why it has stayed as empty as it is. Ask early if you want it on the itinerary.

Spain gives a charter week short passages, a serious base in Palma and four islands that share almost nothing but a sea. You can spend the morning off Formentera and the night in Palma, or never leave Menorca at all. It is the corner of the western Mediterranean where the sailing is easiest and the choice of anchorage is widest.