Granada Beats Out Sevilla As Most Beautiful City In Spain

In previous years, the iconic and beautiful Sevilla has always come out number one city with more than 80,000 residents in the Top Twelve listing. This year, Sevilla was beaten to second place by Granada. With the incredible Alhambra and more historic buildings, the city thoroughly deserves the award. The most beautiful city in Spain was picked by an online poll run by the account of Relatando Historia on X (formerly Twitter).

Granada is ‘the most beautiful city in Spain’

A poll was run on X (formerly Twitter) by Relatando Historia, setting the social media network on fire in the last few weeks. In the poll, their followers voted for the Top Twelve City, giving it a good range of choices.

CONCURSO CIUDAD MÁS BONITA DE TWITTER.

GRAN FINAL (ciudades españolas con más de 80.000 habitantes).

¿Qué ciudad es más bonita para ti?

— RelatandoHistoria (@relatandohisto1) August 13, 2023

Anyone who has visited Spain knows that the country has many beautiful, historic and iconic cities to choose from. Meanwhile, in this year’s poll, Granada came up above Sevilla for the top award, pushing Sevilla down to number two. However, these were not the only cities in Andalucía to feature in the top Twelve, as four cities were featured this year.

Relatando Historia poll

The X (Twitter) account for the publication Relatando Historia has more than 160,000 followers and when it came to the final, numbers were close between Granada and Sevilla. However, in the end, it was the beautiful city that hosts the iconic Alhambra Palace that came out tops. While it was close, Granada snagged 52.7 percent of the votes, with Sevilla having 47.3 percent

According to the poll, the following represents the final ranking of beautiful cities in Spain:

1. Granada, Andalucía
2. Seville, Andalucía
3. Cadiz. Andalucía
4. Donostia-San Sebastián, Basque Country
5. Salamanca, Castile y León
6. Zaragoza, Aragon
7. Gijón/ Xixón, Asturias
8. Vitoria-Gasteiz/Gasteiz
9. León/Llión, Castile y León
10. Oviedo/Uviéu, Asturias
11. Burgos, Castile y León
12. Jaén, Andalucía

About Granada

Granada nestles in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Andalucía in southern Spain. Its main claim to fame is the incredible examples of medieval architecture dating from the Moorish occupation. Meanwhile, the top site is the Alhambra, a sprawling hilltop fortress complex. The site includes royal palaces, beautiful patios and reflecting pools from the Nasrid dynasty, as well as the fountains and orchards of the Generalife gardens.

One remarkable aspect of the Alhambra complex is the way the architecture was put together. Even back then, it got very hot in Granada in the summer months, so the architects designed the buildings with very thick walls. They also included air vents to keep the air moving, while cooling the building within. Even now with climate change, the Alhambra is a comfortable and cool place to visit.

However, besides the amazing historical sites, the city has much to offer in the way of museums and art galleries. Granada also boasts many excellent restaurants, serving local Spanish cuisine and international dishes. Meanwhile, in winter, many skiers head to the Sierra Nevada for its beautiful slopes.

Make a point to visit Granada (and Sevilla for that matter) on your next visit to Andalucía in southern Spain. However, also keep the other cities in the Top Twelve in mind for future vacations in this wonderfully Instagrammable country. You can also read more articles about Spain here.