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IN PICS: The 15 beautiful small towns you should visit in Spain

The Local - [email protected] • 2 Jan, 2020 Updated Thu 2 Jan 2020 10:25 CEST

Each year the list of the Most Beautiful Towns in Spain swells it ranks and 2020 will see 15 more win a spot in the coveted association.

From white-washed hilltop villages in Andalusia to medieval walled towns in the foothills of the Pyrenees, a total of 94 locations have been awarded status as Los Pueblos más Bonitos de España

The idea to start the association, in 2011, came after the success of its French counterpart and first such group, Les plus beaux villages de la France.

"It is our goal to promote preferably rural and small towns," the association says on its website.

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Town halls can apply for their town to join the list, but only 20 percent make the grade, winning the right to publicize themselves as "one of Spain's prettiest towns".

To qualify, towns must have a population of under 15,000 and some kind of provable architectural or cultural heritage.

On January 1 another 15 towns will be accepted. Their names were announced last week at a ceremony in Zamora.

“We welcome these fifteen new municipalities, they will become part of our great family, beautiful villages that have passed a rigorous audit thanks to the work of generations of neighbors, who have cared for and protected the cultural heritage, architectural and landscape inherited,” said Francisco Mestre, president of the Association.

So here’s a look at the latest towns to make the grade.

Alcudia in Mallorca, Balearic Islands

Photo: Depositphotos