In the current economic climate, destinations increasingly attempt to differentiate themselves. Brand personality (BP) is a useful tool for understanding differentiation in terms of identity and image perceptions. The authors are unaware of any prior study that develops and analyses to what extent Jennifer Aaker's BP scale is reliable and valid in destination branding. This paper studies UK visitors to two specific Spanish destinations: Granada and Torremolinos. The study concludes that the BP model is second‐order. The results help to more adequately establish the personality trait dimensions that create favourable evaluations of tourism destinations. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.