THREE locations in Spain have made it into the TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice top 25 European destinations, and one into the world’s top 25.
London wins both, and is a popular choice for Spaniards on city breaks and also those moving abroad to seek jobs – in fact, Britain is home to over a quarter of a million Spanish nationals, a high number of whom live in the capital.
Barcelona comes fifth, after Paris, Rome and the Greek island of Crete, in that order – both in the world and the Europe list.
Its entry on the Travellers’ Choice page recommends visitors do not miss seeing the Casa Amatller – an optical illusion of a house with an undulating façade that looks to be straight out of a Grimm’s or Andersen’s fairytale – the Bellesguard Tower, designed by Antoni Gaudí, the same architect who created the ultra-modern and quirky Sagrada Família cathedral, and the Barcelona History Museum, or MUHBA.
The description cites Gaudí’s influence and surrealist artist Salvador Dalí’s having spent time there, and mentions the spectacular, colourful mosaïc complex, the Güell Park, as well as ‘flamboyant street performers' and pavement cafés on Las Ramblas, the popular and animated pedestrianised tourist boulevard through the city centre.
In the top 25 European destinations, the Balearic island of Mallorca comes ninth, and the description tells visitors not to miss Palma cathedral, the El Muro beach and the old town in Alcúdia.
It calls Mallorca a ‘dreamy island’ and refers to the ‘inspiration’ it provided to its home-grown artist Joan Miró and to Polish-born composer Frédéric Chopin, who famously spent a winter at the monastery in Valldemossa with French novelist George Sands.
The Travellers’ Choice page does not mention the stunning artists’ colony of Deià, where novelist and World War I veteran Robert Graves spent most of his adult life, nor the stunning caves of Drac and Ham, the former of which is dotted with deep underground lakes, but it does list attractions for families and children – the dolphin and sea-lion shows at Marineland, family beaches and the antique Palma-to-Sóller train.
Next on the list, at number 10, is the Canary island of Tenerife, where the description recommends visits to the Teide National Park – an extinct volcano where trippers can walk into the crater and Spain’s highest peak - the Parque Loro parrot park, Siam Park, the ‘petrifying drive to the beautiful Masca Valley’ and Los Gigantes beach, as well as urging holidaymakers to try ‘fresh farmhouse cheese and local bananas’ and to take home a piece of calado canario handmade lace as a ‘special souvenir’.
On the Best Destinations in Europe list, Barcelona beats Istanbul, Prague and Lisbon, in that order, and Mallorca and Tenerife beat the Greek islands of Santorini and Rhodes, the Italian cities of Florence and Venice, plus Amsterdam, Budapest, Berlin, Edinburgh, Vienna, Saint Petersburg (Russia), Manavgat (Turkey), Krakow (Poland) and the islands of Corsica (France), Madeira (Portugal), and Malta.
Other than Italy and Greece, Spain is the only European country featured with three destinations elected – all the others have one or two only.
The three photographs shown here are the cover pictures for each of the Spanish destinations featured – in ranking order – on the TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Best Destinations in Europe page (second picture, showing Mallorca, originally from travel blog Mountainleon.com).
