People have long known Majorca for it's great holiday qualities - a friendly local people, a short flight from home, good food including if wanted the Mediterannean diet, and hotel accommodation as good as anywhere else in Europe.

But now it has another quality it can add to it's list of attributes for those wondering where to go on a family holiday - British tourists have just voted Spain as their top destination when it comes to safety.

Commenting on why Spain and her islands felt safe for UK holidaymakers, a spokesman for the country's tourist board said:

'About 15 million British tourists visit Spain each year. They know it really well - most have been coming for decades and nine in ten have been before, so they feel at home. Hospitals and airports are modern and it's just a two hours flight from Britain.'

Also commenting on the poll findings was the travel section of MSN, which said about Spain:

'The Spanish coastline and islands like Majorca provide miles of beaches from the rugged Costa Brava to the calmer Mediterranean. Inland are golf courses, walking trails and mountains while Barcelona, Madrid and Seville are great for city breaks.'

With the longest established tourist board in Europe, and tourists visiting for a century, the Mediterranean island of Majorca is a firm favourite for holidaymakers, with German and British tourists making up the vast majority of visitors.

Convenience is also a factor, one that is important for families with young children, as Majorca flights take two hours from most of the UK airports, and with plenty of budget airlines serving the island low cost flights are readily available.

When booking a trip there is a choice of conventional hotel based holidays, but there are alternatives, such as villas from bonded specialist companies, or renting direct from owners, with villas available throughout the island, most of which have their own pool. Search the internet for Majorca villa holidays to see the different available options.

Worth remembering though is that if you have children in your holiday group that a villa with a pool could potentially be more risky than a hotel pool, which by rights should have a properly trained attentive lifeguard - with the best will in the world young children like to explore, and an unguarded pool is a danger zone as last summer showed with some tragic cases of drowning.

There's a good number of towns and villages located across the island when you look at a Majorca map. Pollensa for example is a good well known area for villa holidays, and has some holiday based hotels too, and is ideal for families. Magaluf has a reputation - well deserved - as being a party town and is more suited to the under 30's travelling together as a group, and the same can be said for Palma Nova. For traditional Majorca Puerto de Soller has an excellent harbour and might be best for couples.

Whether you're travelling single, as a couple or as a family consider Majorca for a great holiday this year.