A pretty Spanish beach has been named as the ‘happiest’ in the world, and it is in a picturesque town with 300 days of sunshine a year, less than an hour’s drive to a major bustling city
The world’s ‘happiest’ beach brags golden sand, a bar filled promenade and is a short distance from a major Spanish city.
CV Villas has used AWS facial recognition software to analyse thousands of Instagram pictures of more than 100 beaches, and the beaches found with the most smiles have made it onto the chart for the world’s happiest beaches.
Topping the list as the “world’s happiest beach”, with a near perfect score of 98.42, is Sitges Beach in Spain. Sitges sits just outside of Barcelona, and features lovely sand and a great promenade full of restaurants and bars, according to Time Out.
Sitges features 17 beaches and benefits from 300 days of sunshine per year. The picturesque destination can also be easily tied in with a trip to Barcelona, which is only 50 minutes away via car or 36 minutes away via public transport.
In its own right, Sitges has an abundance of places to explore, including Sant Bartomeu i Santa Tecla Parish Church. Known as one of the most scenic viewpoints in the town, the church dates back to the 17th century and is commonly known as ‘La Punta’.
Visitors can aslo head to Carrer d’en Bosc, the oldest street in Sitges. The street, which flanks the city walls, has an irregular layout and arched doorways, dating back to medieval times and also features Palau del Rei Moro, a gothic building included in the Inventory for Architectural Heritage in Catalonia.
For history buffs, head to the Cau Ferrat Museum, declared a museum of national interest by the Government of Catalonia. The destination used to be the home of Santiago Rusiñol — a painter, poet, journalist, collector and playwright — but now boasts a myriad of artwork relating to the life of the artist. The museum also has two original El Greco paintings and three Picassos.
Also famous to the town is Malvasia wine, which is synonymous with Hospital Sant Joan Baptista winery, a key player in the preservation of the product. The Celler de l’Hospital, under the umbrella of the Sitges Hospital Foundation, offers tours to travellers and teaches them about the heritage of the wine as well as offering tastings.
The warmest time to visit Sitges is in August, when the average high is 30C. On the other hand, January is the coldest month to visit with an average high temperature of 15C.
Getting to the town is relatively easy — travellers can fly to Barcelona, and then either drive to the town with a hire car or jump on public transport from the city. If travelling to the town in a car, the road takes you along the coast and through many other Spanish towns and villages.
There is also a wide variety of place to stay in the town, from B&Bs to hotels.
