Marbella nominated for European Best Destination award: Don't forget to vote

COSTA del Sol 'glamour capital' Marbella is one of the nominees for next year's 'European Best Destination' – an award which is prestigious enough in itself but, in addition, includes multi-national advertising worth a small fortune.

If it gets the most votes, a promotional campaign including extensive coverage in top global media will be launched for Marbella free of charge.

Advertising outlets for features, photos and other PR will include Forbes magazine, Yahoo, Geo, and the glossies published by Condé Nast round the world – one of which is the legendary women's fashion-and-feature monthly, Marie-Claire.

In total, the publicity the winning destination will attract as part of the prize that comes with being 'number one' is estimated to be worth around €10 million.

Even a beautiful, sunny, coastal favourite soaked in history, stunning architecture, top-of-the-range boutiques, yacht marinas, beaches, trendy bars and great restaurants such as Marbella – which one tends to think needs advertising about as much as chocolate, Coca-Cola and McDonald's would – will always benefit from international, high-profile reminders to the general public that it is still here and waiting for you to come and enjoy it.

And as well as its undeniable popularity for catching the rays on the coast, a massive, far-reaching promotional campaign is also a chance to raise the profile of Marbella's 'other bits' – the picturesque historic quarter with its bright white terraced cottages, winding lanes, balconies overflowing with multi-coloured flowers, gold-coloured roofs, pockets of greenery, splendid views, excellent connections to dramatic countryside and to other landmark sites in the province of Málaga – the parts which make it more than simply a summer beach hang-out and encourage visitors year-round, keeping the tourism industry permanently alive.

But it has to win first, and as usual, the nomination list is extensive and features high-quality and hugely attractive parts of the continent, some of them household names, and others yet to be discovered.

Just getting a nomination is a huge status symbol, though, as it secures a place in the top 20 even before the final vote count and means an extensive mention on an oft-consulted travel site – one viewed by an average of six million potential holidaymakers every year.

Last year's winner was Braga, described as 'the Rome of northern Portugal', followed by Rome itself, and then Cavtat, said to be 'the Tuscany of Croatia', in a list peppered with established favourites such as Paris, Florence, the Greek Island of Kefalonia, Turkey's awe-inspiring natural rock formations at Kapadokya (Cappadocia), and France's Dordogne Valley.

Spain gained two entries in the top 20 – the Canary Islands as a whole at number 10, and Calpe (Alicante province) at number 17.

The Canaries were lauded for the region's exceptionally mild weather, with winters that almost never drop below 13ºC or 14ºC even in the early hours, and their unique, fascinating sub-tropical landscape.

Calpe, about an hour by road north of Alicante city and 20 minutes or so north of Benidorm, was highlighted as an established beach-break destination but with a touch of the traditional – the fresh fish market and its open-air restaurants, the result of an ages-old industry still very much alive, its 'architectural treasures' including 'magnificent churches and monuments', its Muralla Roja or 'Red City Wall' of historic lanes and pink-and-blue houses, and of course, the 300-metre-high rock out to sea.

The Costa Blanca's answer to Gibraltar and similar in shape, the Peñón de Ifach is joined to the mainland by a short strip which is walkable and from which hikers can continue upwards for splendid views and an outpost of countryside where they will probably spot several birds of prey.

According to Marbella's mayoress Ángeles Muñoz, merely being nominated for the annual European Best Destination award has led to an increase in tourism for candidates of between 13% and 40%.

“We're talking about a web portal based in Brussels, created in 2009 to promote European culture and travel in association with over 300 delegations across the continent and with the EDEN network set up by the European Commission,” Sra Muñoz reveals.

As yet, the full list of nominees for next year has not been released, but will be named on Europeanbestdestinations.com in plenty of time for the votes.

Those who want to to join in the election process can name their choice of winner between January 20 and February 10.

So far, it has not been revealed whether any other part of Spain has made the list, but if we don't give you the heads-up first, you'll be able to find out at the beginning of 2022 when the voting opens.