Spanish beach city named one of the world's most desirable holiday destinations

A beach city in Spain’s Costa del Sol has been named one of the most desirable holiday destinations in the world.

Malaga, a gorgeous city in Spain, was one of several locations that travellers searched the most for - and it took the top spot.

The search data was gathered in a new study by Premier Inn to find the destinations tourists are looking at most. The team excluded capital cities to find the world’s best “alternative capitals”.

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Malaga took the top spot on the list with nearly 500,000 annual searches on Google, according to Premier Inn.

While Malaga is a top destination on its own, many tourists fly there to travel to one of the nearby Costa del Sol beach resorts.

The Costa del Sol coastline is regarded as one of Spain’s most beautiful beach regions and is very popular with Irish holidaymakers.

Marbella is less than an hour's drive from Malaga and other holiday favourites Fuengirola and Benalmadena are even closer.

Venice was the second most searched destination and it’s not hard to see why so many tourists are drawn to the canal city.

This year, the city plans to introduce a new fee for daytrippers who will be charged to visit the Italian hotspot.

Tourists who stay overnight already pay a tourist tax and Venice is trying to combat overtourism.

San Francisco took the third spot and was the most searched for holiday destination in the USA.

Turkey’s Antalya came in fourth place and is a leading beach destination for British tourists in the summer.

Although flights to Turkey usually cost more than to Spain or Portugal, tourists will usually find everyday essentials such as food and drink to be much cheaper.

Brighton took the fifth spot and the highest position in the UK after London. The seaside destination has a lively nightlife scene and some of the country’s best fish and chips.

Hurghada, Perth, Porto, Antwerp and Rio de Janeiro also made the list, providing plenty of holiday inspiration for 2023.

Here are the top ten world’s best 'alternative capitals':

1. Malaga, Spain
2. Venice, Italy
3. San Francisco, USA
4. Antalya, Turkey
5. Brighton, UK
6. Perth, Australia
7. Hurghada, Egypt
8. Porto, Portugal
9. Antwerp, Belgium
10. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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