Which Spanish city is in National Geographic's 'Best of the World 2021' destinations?

IS THERE anywhere in Spain that can compare to the volcanic Lord Howe Island with its gigantic coral reefs, the vast tundras and mountain wilderness of Alaska's Katmai National Park, the Caribbean paradise of Dominica with resident sperm whales you can go diving amongst, Argentina's Glacier National Park, or Brazil's wild Cerrado with its seven-stone armadillos?

Apparently so, according to National Geographic. The far-flung, fascinating, awe-inspiring and totally unique scenery found in the long list of global destinations described and pictured in its Best of the World 2021 list of emerging destinations for the year to come, one Spanish city has been picked as a top choice for travellers.

No doubt, given the exotic nature of most of the other 24 on the Best of the World 2021 list, you'd imagine Spain's sole entry (no country has more than one) to be somewhere in the Canary Islands, the Balearics, Andalucía, the Comunidad Valenciana, or one of the major metropolitan areas that attract visitors from every continent year-round.

But the oracle on the wonders of the little-known world says Vitoria, in the Basque Country, is the one to watch.

'Timeless'

Describing the capital of the province of Álava as a former 'commercial and cultural crossroads' in the Mediaeval era, because of its easy access between the Kingdom of Castilla and northern Europe, National Geographic highlights Vitoria's greenery and green policies, its music and arts scene, its Gothic architecture, history, culinary and handicrafts traditions, and its main annual festival.

Known in the Basque language, euskera, as Gasteiz and usually written with the two names hyphenated – Vitoria-Gasteiz – the magazine chose it as one of 25 destinations on earth that are 'timeless wonders' which will 'define our future travel'.

Arts and entertainment

This year it was called off due to the pandemic, but the city is usually famous nationally for the Vitoria-Gasteiz Jazz Festival in La Florida Park (first picture) in July.

A massive expanse of greenery among the urban hub and just one of a string of public gardens that, according to National Geographic, give its residents more square metres of 'green space per inhabitant than any other Spanish city, La Florida Park's central attraction at every other time of year and a talking point during the Jazz Festival is the bronze sculpture of legendary trumpet-player Wynton Marsalis (second picture, with his septet).

Spanish fiestas all have their quirks that set them apart from the rest – the national and regional pageants as well as each town's patron saint festivals – so Vitoria's unique celebratory customs are far from being the most unusual; they're merely another one-off stitch in the rich pattern that makes up Spain's collective imagination when it comes to their long-standing carnivals, marches, parades, parties and costumed processions.

In Vitoria, the statue of the city's patron stain, the Virgen Blanca ('White Virgin', literally) in the Plaza of the same name (fifth picture) takes centre stage in August.

Based upon the real-life character of Celedonio Alzola, from the village of Zalduendo, who attended the fiestas in Vitoria every summer, rallying everyone to join in, the Celedón (third picture) is an effigy rather like a Guy Fawkes figure, but without the political scandal, treason and plot: He flies down a zip-line, carrying an open umbrella, across the Plaza de la Virgen Blanca on August 5 and, when he reaches the balcony at the other end, it's an official signal for the festival to start and is immediately followed with a mass popping of champagne corks among the crowds.

History and architecture

Vitoria's classical-Spanish squares with their Maltese-style 'indoor' balconies and stone arches lead off into the historic quarter, a myriad of winding streets named after craftsmen's guilds from the Middle Ages, watched over by the Gothic splendour of the Santa María Cathedral. 

On the outside, it looks like a simplified version of the Duomo in Milan; attractive enough, but in contrast to most European cathedrals, the inside is the more spectacular part. The intricate wonder of the one in Burgos – probably the prettiest nationwide, if not in the world – appears to have been shifted to the interior of the Santa María in Vitoria; it's practically an inside-out Burgos.

Sitting atop a hill, the monument offers visitors a splendid view of the 'original' nucleus of the city, hundreds of years old but with a clean, cared-for look about it.

Within this historic quarter, dozens of pavement cafés line squares and traffic-free streets, serving up traditional Basque cuisine and the northern region's answer to tapas, known as pintxos. If you've ever popped into a branch of the nationwide snack-bar chain Lizarrán on your travels to Spain, you'll have an inkling of what pintxos are all about: Unlike tapas as we know them, which are served up on saucers as something to nibble along with a drink, the Basque versions are on cocktail sticks. Once you've finished, the bar staff count up the sticks to calculate your bill.

Clean air: European Green Capital

It's not just La Florida Park and its neighbouring circle of huge gardens that are green. Vitoria is practically (although not entirely) car-free, meaning emissions are a fraction of those in other provincial capitals.

And it can be car-free, because its public tram system is efficient, regular, cheap, and everywhere, and powered with clean fuel.

But even the transport network is not used as much as in cities of a comparable size: Thanks to its widespread pedestrianisation and string of footpaths and cycle paths, a high percentage of residents walks or bikes everywhere. 

Fortunately for anyone in Spain, the climate most of the year means cycling is rarely absolute torture – it's not often, or in many places, that it's too cold to get from A to B in the open air; however, Basque summers are milder than in the south, centre and on the Mediterranean, without the intense humidity, and although the winters are chillier than in these parts, they're still not as cold as much of northern Europe, so cycling and walking will not make you sweat uncomfortably either – at its coldest, either form of conveyance will warm you up sufficiently, and at its hottest, won't have you wilting, melting and going light-headed with the direct, burning sunlight.

All this sustained effort in making getting around as easy as possible without having to pump out exhaust fumes as you do so has gone a long way towards Vitoria's earning a reputation as one of the continent's most environmentally-friendly cities – in fact, it was named European Green Capital in 2012.

So, for a city where you're breathing in healthy air even during commuter hour, Vitoria's practically unrivalled; and as an emerging global destination for 2021, it's among 25 of the best on earth.