#32 best destination in the world

 

Ses Salines, Majorca

• Small town on Mallorca, the largest island in the Balearic Islands
• Colonization of Mallorca is hypothesized to have occurred between 1300 and 1000 BC
• Mallorca became prevalent in 13th Century when the Moors and the Catalan people engaged in conflict over control of the territory with ultimately the Catalan people taking control
• Mallorca was prime location because of its position along the Silk Road trading route, and controlling this territory would present great trading opportunities

Museo del Prado

• Art museum largely considered to have one of the world’s finest collections of European art
• Art dates back to the 12th century to the 20th century
• Collection comprises drawings, paintings, prints, and sculptures

Beach of La Concha, San Sebastián

• Crescent shaped urban seaboard of the city of San Sebastián located at the Bay of La Concha
• Sandy beach and shallow substrate, in which the tide fluctuation greatly affects the area available for use

Sagrada Família, Barcelona

• Large unfinished Roman Catholic minor basilica in Barcelona, which began construction in 1882 and is estimated not to be completed until 2026
• Antoni Gaudí, who took over as chief architect, transformed the project with his architectural and engineering style, combining Gothic and curvilinear Art Nouveau forms
• Relying solely on private donations, the Sagrada Família’s construction progressed slowly and was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War
• In 1936, revolutionaries set fire to the crypt and broke their way into the workshop, partially destroying Gaudí’s original plans, drawings and plaster models, which led to 16 years work to piece together the fragments of the master model
• Some of the project’s greatest challenges remain, including the construction of ten more spires, each symbolizing an important Biblical figure in the New Testament

Plaza de España, Seville

• Plaza in a park, built in 1928
• Great example of Regionalism Architecture, mixing elements of Renaissance Revival and Moorish Revival styles

Teide, Tenerife

• Volcano on Tenerife in the Canary Islands
• Teide is the most visited natural wonder of Spain, the most visited national park in Spain and Europe
• Formed just 170,000 years ago due to volcanic activity following a catastrophic landslide
• Its most recent eruption occurred in 1909

Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid

• Spain’s national museum of 20th-century art, mainly dedicated to Spanish art
• The museum was officially inaugurated in 1990, and is named for Queen Sofía
• Highlights of the museum include collections of Spain’s two greatest 20th-century masters, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí
• The most famous masterpiece in the museum is Picasso’s 1937 painting Guernica
• One of the world’s largest museums for modern and contemporary art

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

• Museum of modern and contemporary art, located in Bilbao
• The museum was inaugurated in 1997 by King Juan Carlos I of Spain, with an exhibition of 250 contemporary works of art
• The museum was the building most frequently named as one of the most important works completed since 1980 in the 2010 World Architecture Survey among architecture experts

PortAventura World, Salou and Vila-seca

• Theme park which attracts around 3.5 million visitors per year, making it the most visited theme park in Spain
• The resort includes a second theme park, Ferrari Land, since 2017, and also includes PortAventura Caribe Aquatic Park, along with five hotels

Parque Warner Madrid

• Among its roller coasters, highlights include a first in Europe with its floorless trains, an inverted roller coaster, a wooden coaster, and a giant inverted boomerang with a steep vertical drop
• The park is divided into five themed areas: DC Super Heroes World, Hollywood Boulevard, Movie World Studios, Old West Territory and Cartoon Village

Alhambra, Granada

• Palace and fortress complex located in Granada, one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture, and one of the best-preserved palaces of the historic Islamic world, in addition to containing notable examples of Spanish Renaissance architecture
• The complex was begun in 1238 by Muhammad I Ibn al-Ahmar, the founder of the Emirate of Granada
• After the conclusion of the Christian Reconquista in 1492, the site became the Royal Court of Ferdinand and Isabella, where Christopher Columbus received royal endorsement for his expedition
• After being allowed to fall into disrepair for centuries, with its buildings occupied by squatters, the Alhambra was rediscovered, and the rediscoverers were first British intellectuals and then other American and northern European Romantic travelers