Michelle Obama loved by locals on Spain vacation

NEW YORK - Michelle Obama might have been criticised for her luxurious vacation in Spain, but the truth is-the locals of her holiday destination adore her.

The US First Lady and daughter Sasha, 9, were greeted by smiling crowds chanting “Obama” and “guapa,” which means beautiful, as they spent the first full day of their adventure touring a cathedral in the city of Granada.

The duo was cheered again when they tried to beat the Andalusian heat by hitting one of Granada’s popular ice cream parlours.

The mother and daughter - and their entourage of pals, aides and Secret Service agents - are spending five days in the sunny homeland of bullfighting and Picasso.

However, President Obama and older daughter Malia stayed behind in the U.S.

The Obama delegation - many of them staffers and agents - booked half of the five-star Hotel Villa Padierna, a luxury hotel on the outskirts of the swanky resort city of Marbella, where rooms go for anywhere from 341 to 6,500 dollars-a-night. (ANI)