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THIS YEAR'S Travellers' Choice Awards for TripAdvisor's top 25 beaches worldwide have just been revealed – and, unsurprisingly, Spain is in it.
With more blue-flagged beaches than any other country on earth, missing Spanish shores off the '25 best' would have been almost embarrassing – but when consulting some of the tropical paradise enclaves that make up the remaining 24, it's clear this is an élite list and competition was tough.
In its preamble to the line-up, TripAdvisor says: “This year, travellers went searching for places that look just like the postcard – and boy, did these sunny destinations deliver.”
We wouldn't expect anything else from Spain, of course.
“Here's where they found the most 'wish you were here' vibes,” the site continues.
Spain beat the idyllic coastal enclaves of – in descending order – Manuel Antonio beach in Costa Rica; Playa Norte in eastern México's Isla Mujeres; Nungwi Beach in Tanzania; Magens Bay in St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands in the Caribbean, to the east of the island of Puerto Rico; Nissi Beach in Cyprus' party capital of Ayia Napa; Playa Bavaro, close to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic; Balos Lagoon in Kissamos, Greece; and the stunning turquoise-and-white Yonaha Maehama Beach in Miyakojima, Japan.
And it was only just pipped at the post by Poipu Beach Park in Poipu, Hawaii, which came in at number 16.
Spain's entry reached number 17 – Playa de Muro, in the village of Muro between Alcúdia Port and Can Picafort in the north-west of Mallorca.
Playa de Muro in a nutshell
Located along the less-touristy face of the largest of the Balearic Islands, the top review said: “[It] has a wonderful, sandy beach with a warm, clear turquoise sea. Ideal for children because of its gentle, shallow waters.”
TripAdvisor provides links to 30 hotels and 79 holiday lets.
A Mallorca lifestyle magazine describes it as 'a paradise beach with a Caribbean touch', with 5.2 kilometres of 'icing-sugar sand' which 'glistens like snow in the sun', which will 'make all your Christmas wishes come true'.
Even in July and August, although Christmas is probably the last thing anyone wants to think about when basking in the rays on a shore bathed by 'bright, crystalline turquoise-blue waters', as the Mallorca.com article describes it.
A secluded, unspoilt stretch, with natural dunes, enables visitors who want to escape the major tourist crowds to pretend they have the entire beach to themselves, and the Es Comú sector is even more wild and untouched, without even any sunbeds, bars or parking spaces – it is only reached on foot along the sands.
But those who want a bit of life and soul should head to the southernmost part of Playa de Muro, which stretches into the bustling, cheerful holiday town of Can Picafort – popular with tourists, this strip is known as Es Capellans, and has a chill-out bar and restaurant right on the beach itself.
From the port of Alcúdia to the dunes, the beach has full facilities in place throughout the long holiday season – lifeguards on duty from 10.00 to 18.00, free healthcare, children's playground apparatus, pedalo and banana-boat rides, sunbeds and parasols, and watersports centres.
Close by, the S'Albufera wetland nature reserve backs right onto Muro beach – 4,000 acres of shallow lagoons, home to around 270 species of birds, including flamencos and other wading birds – which is easily reached off the Can Picafort-Alcúdia road, and can be explored freely on bicycle or on foot, or via a guided tour on Saturdays.
Beaches Mallorca was up against
Topping the list was Grace Bay in Providenciales, in the Turks & Caicos islands, then Varadero beach in Varadero, Cuba; Turquoise Bay in Exmouth, Australia; Quarta Praia in Morro de São Paulo on Tinharé island, just south of Salvador de Bahia in Brazil; Eagle Beach on the Caribbean island of Aruba; Radhanagar Beach on Swaraj island in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, part of India; Baia do Sancho on Fernando de Noronha island, off Brazil's north-east coast; Trunk Bay Beach in the Virgin Islands National Park; Baia dos Golfinhos in Pipa, north-eastern Brazil; then completing the top 10 is the first European entry, Spiaggia dei Conigli on the Italian island of Lampedusa.
Cable Beach in Broome, Australia; Praia da Falesia in Olhos de Agua, Portugal; Hapuna Beach State Recreation Area in Puako, Hawaii; Siesta Beach in the Florida Keys; and Maho Bay Beach in Cruz Bay, St John, in the US Virgin Islands, make up the first 15.
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