This Spanish city has been chosen as the best alternative capital in Europe (and it is not Barcelona)

When planning a vacation, it can be easy to default to a country’s capital as the entry point and, if it’s a city break, the hub of all tourism. If you go to Paris or London, you know you’re going to need a week, at least, to see everything.

In addition, it is common for it to be the capital the one offered by the airport with the best connections, which makes it the cheapest destination. And, as if all this were not enough, it is often the capital that appears the most in travel magazines, the one that has the most tourist guides, and so on.

It is difficult to deny that the capital of a country, certainly, an easy, comfortable and interesting place to travel to. But he’s not the only one. In fact, a capital is usually a microcosm that is located at the margin of the country in which it resides and is not the best showcase of culture and magic of its people and its history.

And there they wanted to influence those of Premier Inn, a travel magazine that has analyzed Google search data to reveal the most popular “alternative” capitals in the world. Pay attention that summer is coming.

The best alternative capital of Spain is in the south and has a port

The study has analyzed some 420 cities from 89 countries to see which ones pique the interest of travelers, and the results are surprising. At the top of the list, for example, is Malaga, in Spain, a country whose capital, Madrid, is already dwarfed by its more famous coastal neighbor, Barcelona.

But Barcelona is not the second city chosen, perhaps due to its reputation as a tourist center overflowing with tourists. Instead, Malaga’s beautiful beaches and free attractions like La Alcazaba and Gibralfaro Castle attract people from far away.

And it is that Malaga is the birthplace of Picasso and home to the Picasso Museum. According to the study data, Malaga is the most popular alternative capital for a city break, with 312,000 searches global annual “holidays in Malaga”.

The floating city of Venice takes the place of alternative capital in Italy. The American city of San Francisco ranks third in the rankingabove New York and Los Angeles. And the seaside city of Brighton was ranked as the UK’s alternative capital. You know, this summer to Malaga.