BAUNEI - Golden and volcanic, with rocks and Mediterranean scrub, pristine or equipped and lapped by turquoise and crystal clear waters: the body of the EU Commission for the promotion of European tourism - European Best Destinations - has chosen the 22 most beautiful beaches, selected in based on the votes of thousands of travelers from all over the world.
The first in the ranking is the beach with fine and soft sand of Porto Santo, a small island in the archipelago of Madeira, in Portugal, a golden beach that stretches without interruption for 9 kilometers.
But in the list of dream beaches there are also 7 Italian ones, from Sardinia to Puglia, from Tuscany to Campania.
Cala Goloritzé, in Sardinia, is in 4th place, immediately after playa de Bolonia in Cadiz and Seixal, again in Madeira.
The Sardinian beach of Baunei, in the southern part of the Gulf of Orosei, has been an Italian national monument since 1995 and it is easy to understand why: the small white pebbles of the lido are lapped by transparent water with colors ranging from turquoise to deep blue. .
The beach can be reached on foot via a shaded path or directly from the sea, but the entrance to this corner of paradise is subject to a fee (6 euros also for parking).
In seventh place in the standings, immediately after Cala Mitjaneta, a small paradise in Menorca, and Monolia on the Lichades archipelago, in the Greek gulf of Euboea, is the Baia delle Zagare, a symbolic beach of the Gargano.
The white pebble beach has high white cliffs behind it and two limestone stacks sculpted by the wind in front of it.
To access the beach you pass through a resort that is located sheer on the cliff, with an elevator that goes directly to the beach.
In 14th place another Italian beach: Cavoli, on the Island of Elba.
Before the Tuscan lido, the beaches of Elafonisis, an islet in the south-west of Crete, were classified;
Santa Giulia in Porto Vecchio, Corsica;
the unexpected Hel Peninsula in the Baltic Sea;
Porto Katsiki, on the Ionian island of Lefkada;
Calanque d'En Vau, south of France between Marseille and Cassis;
and Agios Konstantinos, on the Greek island of Astypalea.
The Tuscan beach of Cavoli is one of the most famous and popular beaches on the island of Elba: it is a sandy arch between large rocks and a crystalline sea in a small cove in the south-west of the island.
We remain on Elba with the beach classified in 17th position: it is the Sorgente beach, between those of Sansone and Acquaviva, along the northern coast of Porto Ferraio.
The beach,
made of small white and smooth pebbles, it is positioned immediately after the Spanish Cala Sa Boadella, in Lloret de Mar, a partly nudist beach.
Eighteenth in the ranking is Cala dei Gabbiani, in Sardinia, one of the many jewels of the coast of Baunei, on the Gulf of Orosei.
The cove is narrowed by very high rocky walls dotted with Mediterranean scrub and lapped by a transparent sea.
The French Grève Blanche, in Brittany, is the beach classified in 19th place while at the 20th there is another Sardinian beach: Cala Cipolla, one of the pearls of the Chia bay, in the south of the island.
The cove is hidden among the hills and is lapped by a clear sea with all shades of blue.
A destination for surfers and divers, it is also perfect for children due to the sandy and shallow seabed for many meters.
The last in the ranking is the beach of Cauco, on the Amalfi Coast: characterized by sand and gravel and lapped by a crystalline sea, it can only be reached by sea.
Before the lido campano there is the beach of Blanes, 4 kilometers of golden sand in Catalonia, and also in Spain the beach of Laga, in the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve of the Basque Country.
For more information: europeanbestdestinations.com (ANSA).
