Spain's 35 'most attractive towns' stage open days
Tuesday, October 6, 2015 @ 1:43 AM
A TOTAL of 35 municipalities in Spain celebrated National Most Attractive Town Day this week, opening museums, parks and monuments to the public free of charge and milking their tourism highlights for all they were worth.
Run by the Asociación de Pueblos Más Bonitos de España ('Most Attractive Towns in Spain Association'), the nationwide 'open day' was aimed at putting the country's undeniably unique and charming but underrated areas on the map, encouraging visitors from elsewhere in Spain and abroad to check them out, and calling for the Spanish tourist board, Turespaña – also known in English as Tour Spain – to promote them more.
The '35 most attractive' varied dramatically from each other in location, landscape, climate and salient points for visitors – some are already fairly well-known in their own regions, especially among regular foreign and national tourists and many expats, whilst others are practically unheard-of not only to holidaymakers from other countries, but even those from just a province away.
Better-known towns and villages in the top 35 include the whitewashed hilltop town of Mojácar, in the province of Almería on the south coast – although now a hotspot for holiday resorts, the town itself retains its rural and ancient charm – and Santillana del Mar in the northern coastal region of Cantabria, a quaint, cobbled village overflowing with the typically continental-style flower-filled balconies, and known as the 'town of three lies': it is neither holy (santa), nor flat (llana), nor does it have a sea (mar), but it is nonetheless a pretty, charming little town with plenty of authentic souvenir shops selling local delicacies.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com