EVEN people who struggle to stifle a yawn at the mention of the word 'history' shouldn't rule out visiting museums on trips to Spain – unless they also hate chocolate, toys, beer, arts and crafts, space,...
Tourism Capital 2021: The 10 candidates vying to be 'destination of the year'
02/05/2021
A STATUS like 'Tourism Capital of the Year' immediately conjures up images of either big cities, such as Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia or Sevilla, or coastal hotspots such as the Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca, or the Balearic and Canary Islands. But apparently, the 10 candidates for 2021, and the winners for the previous three years, could not be more of a contrast from these bustling, cosmopolitan holidaymaker magnets.
Every year since 2018 inclusive, Escapada Rural magazine chooses a Tourism Capital – back then, it was Aínsa-Sobrarbe in Aragón's Pyrénéen province of Huesca; the next two years saw locations in the northern coastal region of Cantabria on the podium: Santillana del Mar in 2019 and Potes in 2020, a year when, other than a few brief months in summer, nobody living outside Cantabria could go there in person to do the Tourism and find out why it was so Capital.
Hopefully, 2021 will be different for whichever of the 10 on the shortlist makes the cut once internet users cast their votes and these are counted up on May 18.
Aïa (Guipúzcoa province, Basque Country)
If you love mountain scenery but think a holiday isn't a holiday without a beach involved, this stunningly-attractive town in the giveaway-named district, or mini-county, of Urola Kosta could just fit the bill.
Its Pagoeta nature reserve and the Hernio and Hernio-Txiki mountains, replete with footpaths and cycle routes and with plenty of organised trips to help you get the best out of these, look more like something out of central Europe with their green, undulating pastureland.
Chelva (Valencia province)
Set in the western hinterland of the Comunidad Valenciana which squashes up against southern Aragón and eastern Castilla-La Mancha, a land of vast stretches of dramatic, multi-coloured mountains with large gaps between pockets of civilisation, and an attractive, rustic, Mediaeval look about said pockets when they appear, Chelva is, as a bonus, located in the district of Los Serranos, close to one of Spain's biggest wine regions, Requena-Utiel, where you can go for the usual vineyard-merchants'-tasting tour.
Also, it's a shortish drive by motorway (68 kilometres) to Valencia city, the third-largest metropolitan area in the country – so even though it feels (and is) remote and rural, Chelva is close enough to all amenities to make it convenient to live in.
Like many villages and small towns in this part of the world, Chelva is oozing with history – 'ordinary' history, not major monuments; passing traces of ancient peoples, from the Iberians to the Romans and the Moors, and a sense of its having been locked away in time for a century or two with not much about life having changed since then (aside from electricity, running water and internet, of course).
Chelva's oldest parts are a national heritage site, and was once highly multi-cultural; whilst there, you can see if you can spot the difference in structure and layout between the Jewish quarter, the Christian quarter, the Mudéjar-Morisco quarter, and the andalusí or Moorish quarter.
Cuacos de Yuste (Cáceres province, Extremadura)
Truly a town that time forgot, this spectacular rural enclave in land-locked western Spain should avoid being refurbished, tidied up or modernised at any cost.
Its haphazard, worn, crumbling look is precisely what gives Cuacos de Yuste its magical character, transporting you back hundreds of years. Of course, it does have modern houses and facilities, but its central hub is free from any sign that the 21st century ever landed, or is ever likely to land at any point soon. In fact, even the 20th century feels a bit futuristic and, if you pull out your phone to take some completely necessary snapshots, you'll feel like a visitor from some far-off space age.
King Carlos V chose Cuacos de Yuste to retire in, building himself a palace adjoining the monastery and remaining there for the rest of his life.
Daroca (Zaragoza province, Aragón)
A cosy, welcoming little town in the same province as Spain's fifth-largest city, Daroca's fortified boundary wall is one of the longest, best-preserved and most attractive in the country. It's easy to see why this stunning piece of living history was a getaway magnet for the monarchy in the Kingdom of Aragón – which encompassed most of the eastern half of the mainland – back in the Mediaeval era, when all those turrets and square towers with their arrow-slits were brand-new.
Every fairytale or fantasy novel comes bursting into life when you set foot in Daroca, and you can let your imagination run wild wandering around its perimeter, imagining knights, kings, princesses in distress or sleeping for 100 years, wizards and gallant, sword-wielding young men on horseback.
La Baronia de Rialb (Lleida province, Catalunya)
A rural haven not far from the Pyrénées in Catalunya's only land-locked province, La Baronia de Rialb is, arguably, in one of the most attractive parts of the country – vast turquoise lakes, densely-forested hills, ancient solid-stone buildings and winding, narrow lanes, making it a Mecca for fans of cycling, rambling and other activities in clean, rural air.
In addition to its hard-to-rival beauty (as you can see from the first picture, above), La Baronia de Rialb holds UNESCO's Starlight stamp, in recognition of its having some of the lowest levels of light pollution on the Iberian peninsula – which means it's perfect for catching a clear view of the heavens at night and, being at a high altitude, you might even catch the Northern Lights.
Chances of that are extremely slim, but Spain does, in fact, have an Aurora Borealis roughly once every two years – some of the most spectacular have been witnessed from ground level by ordinary dwellers going about their lives, although others have been caught through a telescope when nobody was expecting to see them.
Olvera (Cádiz province, Andalucía)
So good that this isn't the first time we've mentioned it, Olvera sits in the heart of the Sierra de Cádiz, the province's northernmost mountains, and the entire village is a national heritage site.
It's easy to see why, with its breathtaking panorama of white and terracotta from the hillside that houses its Moorish castle – in fact, Olvera is part of Spain's much-adored Ruta de Pueblos Blancos, or 'White Village Route', an itinerary that is exactly what the label claims and which covers some of the most beautiful of the southern mainland's whitewashed towns.
Olvera is definitely one of the most photogenic villages in Andalucía – for a picture of it that will leave you gasping and wowing, but which is completely unfiltered with no special effects whatsoever, take a look at our selection of Mediaeval towns in Spain's coastal provinces, where you'll find out where you can combine the sublime and historic with beach life. Olvera is at the end, because we wanted to save the most stunning of all of these splendid examples for dessert.
Ortigueira (A Coruña province, Galicia)
The scenery and coastline in the far north-western region of Galicia is often compared with Scotland – although its weather generally is not, since, despite fairly regular light rain which keeps its bright emerald tones intact, Galicia is a huge favourite with summer tourists seeking some beach time.
Galicia is, additionally, world-renowned for its spectacular Atlantic Rías, or river deltas, dotted with islands – including the Cíes, which are inhabited but which limits visitors to prevent overcrowding or pollution – and you'd need weeks to spare to be able to see every corner of its Rías Altas and Rías Baixas, or upper and lower deltas.
Ortigueira is known as 'The Pearl of the Rías Altas', due to its sharply-contrasting landscape, between rugged and raw and verdant and virgin, sliced by valleys, ravines, mountain ranges, lush grassy hills and unspoilt beaches.
You're likely to spot birds of prey, especially endangered species, as Ortigueira is a protected conservation area that forms part of Spain's Red Natura 2000 ('Nature Network 2000').
Sepúlveda (Segovia province, Castilla y León)
Beautifully picturesque, cobbled, Mediaeval and quaint, Sepúlveda town in Spain's centre-north offers plenty of social media photo fodder on its own, without even stepping outside it – but it's recommended you do, at least as far as Las Hoces del Duratón. These natural pools breaking off from the river of the same name and filling the chalky cliffs among the expanse of greenery are a fabulous bathing spot in high summer when you're hundreds of kilometres from the coast.
In Sepúlveda itself, the Romanesque-style churches, ancient 'city' wall, the main Plaza which looks like an open-air museum or model village, and its narrow lanes chock-full of craft shops mean there's enough to do and see to keep you occupied for months.
Taramundi (Asturias)
Straight out of a scene from Johanna Spyri's Heidi, Taramundi's lush, steep hillsides with stone cottages nestled into their slopes and bathed in forest and its determination to keep its ancient, traditional industries alive makes it something of an outdoor rural theme park.
Energy from hydraulic systems involving water mills, locks and wooden water-wheels, workshops churning out knives, wool and hand-made foodstuffs using entirely local produce are tourist attractions in their own right, set against a backdrop that reminds one of Switzerland, albeit far cheaper to visit.
Yeste (Albacete province, Castilla-La Mancha)
Right on the edge of the dramatic Sierra del Segura mountain range, Yeste's landscape is littered with river scenes – its watery surroundings include the Segura, Tus, Taibilla and Zumeta, making it a bit of a rural Venice once you step outside the main hub.
Within said hub, the ancient Moorish castle, perfectly conserved, as majestic as when it was home to powerful Arab dynasties and appears to be rising out of a mountain, is hauntingly beautiful when illuminated by night.
And among the many reasons why fans and regular trippers consider it could be in the running for Tourism Capital 2021 is the warm welcome they get when they first arrive – before, in fact, they even meet any of the inhabitants.
As you enter the village, you pass a sign that reads: “You've arrived in Yeste – you're home now.”
Traditional industries, home-cooked food, centuries-old customs and culture are the pride and joy of Yeste's residents, and whenever anyone travels there, they will be treated as one of the family before they've even unpacked.
Tourism Capital candidate it may be, but visitors to Yeste do not stay tourists for long – within hours, or less time even, they start to feel as though they had indeed just come back to a place they had grown up with and were meeting old friends again.
Related Topics
A STATUS like 'Tourism Capital of the Year' immediately conjures up images of either big cities, such as Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia or Sevilla, or coastal hotspots such as the Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca, or the Balearic and Canary Islands. But apparently, the 10 candidates for 2021, and the winners for the previous three years, could not be more of a contrast from these bustling, cosmopolitan holidaymaker magnets.
Every year since 2018 inclusive, Escapada Rural magazine chooses a Tourism Capital – back then, it was Aínsa-Sobrarbe in Aragón's Pyrénéen province of Huesca; the next two years saw locations in the northern coastal region of Cantabria on the podium: Santillana del Mar in 2019 and Potes in 2020, a year when, other than a few brief months in summer, nobody living outside Cantabria could go there in person to do the Tourism and find out why it was so Capital.
Hopefully, 2021 will be different for whichever of the 10 on the shortlist makes the cut once internet users cast their votes and these are counted up on May 18.
Aïa (Guipúzcoa province, Basque Country)
If you love mountain scenery but think a holiday isn't a holiday without a beach involved, this stunningly-attractive town in the giveaway-named district, or mini-county, of Urola Kosta could just fit the bill.
Its Pagoeta nature reserve and the Hernio and Hernio-Txiki mountains, replete with footpaths and cycle routes and with plenty of organised trips to help you get the best out of these, look more like something out of central Europe with their green, undulating pastureland.
Chelva (Valencia province)
Set in the western hinterland of the Comunidad Valenciana which squashes up against southern Aragón and eastern Castilla-La Mancha, a land of vast stretches of dramatic, multi-coloured mountains with large gaps between pockets of civilisation, and an attractive, rustic, Mediaeval look about said pockets when they appear, Chelva is, as a bonus, located in the district of Los Serranos, close to one of Spain's biggest wine regions, Requena-Utiel, where you can go for the usual vineyard-merchants'-tasting tour.
Also, it's a shortish drive by motorway (68 kilometres) to Valencia city, the third-largest metropolitan area in the country – so even though it feels (and is) remote and rural, Chelva is close enough to all amenities to make it convenient to live in.
Like many villages and small towns in this part of the world, Chelva is oozing with history – 'ordinary' history, not major monuments; passing traces of ancient peoples, from the Iberians to the Romans and the Moors, and a sense of its having been locked away in time for a century or two with not much about life having changed since then (aside from electricity, running water and internet, of course).
Chelva's oldest parts are a national heritage site, and was once highly multi-cultural; whilst there, you can see if you can spot the difference in structure and layout between the Jewish quarter, the Christian quarter, the Mudéjar-Morisco quarter, and the andalusí or Moorish quarter.
Cuacos de Yuste (Cáceres province, Extremadura)
Truly a town that time forgot, this spectacular rural enclave in land-locked western Spain should avoid being refurbished, tidied up or modernised at any cost.
Its haphazard, worn, crumbling look is precisely what gives Cuacos de Yuste its magical character, transporting you back hundreds of years. Of course, it does have modern houses and facilities, but its central hub is free from any sign that the 21st century ever landed, or is ever likely to land at any point soon. In fact, even the 20th century feels a bit futuristic and, if you pull out your phone to take some completely necessary snapshots, you'll feel like a visitor from some far-off space age.
King Carlos V chose Cuacos de Yuste to retire in, building himself a palace adjoining the monastery and remaining there for the rest of his life.
Daroca (Zaragoza province, Aragón)
A cosy, welcoming little town in the same province as Spain's fifth-largest city, Daroca's fortified boundary wall is one of the longest, best-preserved and most attractive in the country. It's easy to see why this stunning piece of living history was a getaway magnet for the monarchy in the Kingdom of Aragón – which encompassed most of the eastern half of the mainland – back in the Mediaeval era, when all those turrets and square towers with their arrow-slits were brand-new.
Every fairytale or fantasy novel comes bursting into life when you set foot in Daroca, and you can let your imagination run wild wandering around its perimeter, imagining knights, kings, princesses in distress or sleeping for 100 years, wizards and gallant, sword-wielding young men on horseback.
La Baronia de Rialb (Lleida province, Catalunya)
A rural haven not far from the Pyrénées in Catalunya's only land-locked province, La Baronia de Rialb is, arguably, in one of the most attractive parts of the country – vast turquoise lakes, densely-forested hills, ancient solid-stone buildings and winding, narrow lanes, making it a Mecca for fans of cycling, rambling and other activities in clean, rural air.
In addition to its hard-to-rival beauty (as you can see from the first picture, above), La Baronia de Rialb holds UNESCO's Starlight stamp, in recognition of its having some of the lowest levels of light pollution on the Iberian peninsula – which means it's perfect for catching a clear view of the heavens at night and, being at a high altitude, you might even catch the Northern Lights.
Chances of that are extremely slim, but Spain does, in fact, have an Aurora Borealis roughly once every two years – some of the most spectacular have been witnessed from ground level by ordinary dwellers going about their lives, although others have been caught through a telescope when nobody was expecting to see them.
Olvera (Cádiz province, Andalucía)
So good that this isn't the first time we've mentioned it, Olvera sits in the heart of the Sierra de Cádiz, the province's northernmost mountains, and the entire village is a national heritage site.
It's easy to see why, with its breathtaking panorama of white and terracotta from the hillside that houses its Moorish castle – in fact, Olvera is part of Spain's much-adored Ruta de Pueblos Blancos, or 'White Village Route', an itinerary that is exactly what the label claims and which covers some of the most beautiful of the southern mainland's whitewashed towns.
Olvera is definitely one of the most photogenic villages in Andalucía – for a picture of it that will leave you gasping and wowing, but which is completely unfiltered with no special effects whatsoever, take a look at our selection of Mediaeval towns in Spain's coastal provinces, where you'll find out where you can combine the sublime and historic with beach life. Olvera is at the end, because we wanted to save the most stunning of all of these splendid examples for dessert.
Ortigueira (A Coruña province, Galicia)
The scenery and coastline in the far north-western region of Galicia is often compared with Scotland – although its weather generally is not, since, despite fairly regular light rain which keeps its bright emerald tones intact, Galicia is a huge favourite with summer tourists seeking some beach time.
Galicia is, additionally, world-renowned for its spectacular Atlantic Rías, or river deltas, dotted with islands – including the Cíes, which are inhabited but which limits visitors to prevent overcrowding or pollution – and you'd need weeks to spare to be able to see every corner of its Rías Altas and Rías Baixas, or upper and lower deltas.
Ortigueira is known as 'The Pearl of the Rías Altas', due to its sharply-contrasting landscape, between rugged and raw and verdant and virgin, sliced by valleys, ravines, mountain ranges, lush grassy hills and unspoilt beaches.
You're likely to spot birds of prey, especially endangered species, as Ortigueira is a protected conservation area that forms part of Spain's Red Natura 2000 ('Nature Network 2000').
Sepúlveda (Segovia province, Castilla y León)
Beautifully picturesque, cobbled, Mediaeval and quaint, Sepúlveda town in Spain's centre-north offers plenty of social media photo fodder on its own, without even stepping outside it – but it's recommended you do, at least as far as Las Hoces del Duratón. These natural pools breaking off from the river of the same name and filling the chalky cliffs among the expanse of greenery are a fabulous bathing spot in high summer when you're hundreds of kilometres from the coast.
In Sepúlveda itself, the Romanesque-style churches, ancient 'city' wall, the main Plaza which looks like an open-air museum or model village, and its narrow lanes chock-full of craft shops mean there's enough to do and see to keep you occupied for months.
Taramundi (Asturias)
Straight out of a scene from Johanna Spyri's Heidi, Taramundi's lush, steep hillsides with stone cottages nestled into their slopes and bathed in forest and its determination to keep its ancient, traditional industries alive makes it something of an outdoor rural theme park.
Energy from hydraulic systems involving water mills, locks and wooden water-wheels, workshops churning out knives, wool and hand-made foodstuffs using entirely local produce are tourist attractions in their own right, set against a backdrop that reminds one of Switzerland, albeit far cheaper to visit.
Yeste (Albacete province, Castilla-La Mancha)
Right on the edge of the dramatic Sierra del Segura mountain range, Yeste's landscape is littered with river scenes – its watery surroundings include the Segura, Tus, Taibilla and Zumeta, making it a bit of a rural Venice once you step outside the main hub.
Within said hub, the ancient Moorish castle, perfectly conserved, as majestic as when it was home to powerful Arab dynasties and appears to be rising out of a mountain, is hauntingly beautiful when illuminated by night.
And among the many reasons why fans and regular trippers consider it could be in the running for Tourism Capital 2021 is the warm welcome they get when they first arrive – before, in fact, they even meet any of the inhabitants.
As you enter the village, you pass a sign that reads: “You've arrived in Yeste – you're home now.”
Traditional industries, home-cooked food, centuries-old customs and culture are the pride and joy of Yeste's residents, and whenever anyone travels there, they will be treated as one of the family before they've even unpacked.
Tourism Capital candidate it may be, but visitors to Yeste do not stay tourists for long – within hours, or less time even, they start to feel as though they had indeed just come back to a place they had grown up with and were meeting old friends again.
Related Topics
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