Benidorm is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

in the

province of Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a province of eastern Spain, in the southern part of the Valencian Community. It is the second most populated Valencian province. Likewise, the second and third biggest cities in the Valencian Community (Alica ...

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

, on the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

coast of Spain. Benidorm has been a tourist destination within Spain since 1925, when its port was extended and the first hotels were built, though it would not be until the 1950s that it became renowned as a summer destination for people coming from inland Spain, especially

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. Today it is known for its hotel industry, beaches, and skyscrapers and receives as many tourists from abroad as from Spain. According to the 2020 census, Benidorm has a permanent population of 70,450 inhabitants, making it the fifth-most populous town in the Alicante province and the ninth in

Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wi ...

History

It is thought there were settlements in the Benidorm area possibly as far back as 3000 BC, including evidence of

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

and

Punic The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of t ...

remains. However, settlements in the area were small and it was not until the arrival of the

Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinc ...

that the local population began to grow during the era of the Umayad dynasty. The Christian King

James I of Aragon James I the Conqueror ( es, Jaime el Conquistador, ca, Jaume el Conqueridor; 2 February 1208 – 27 July 1276) was King of Aragon and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1276; King of Majorca from 1231 to 1276; and Valencia from 1238 to 12 ...

reconquered the region in 1245 and Benidorm first officially became known in 1325, when Admiral Bernat de Sarrià of Polop awarded it a town charter as a way of removing the Moors and allowing Christians to inhabit the area. Strategically, the town was also used by Bernat de Sarrià to stop the rising power of Admiral

Roger of Lauria Roger of Lauria (''c''. 1245 – 17 January 1305) was a Neapolitan admiral in Aragonese service, who was the commander of the fleet of the Crown of Aragon during the War of the Sicilian Vespers. He was probably the most successful and tal ...

, lord of

Altea Altea (, ) is a city and municipality located in the Valencian Community, Spain, on the section of Mediterranean coast called the Costa Blanca. At present, the economy of Altea is based on tourism, which started to grow in the 1950s because of ...

, in the south of the

Kingdom of Valencia Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

. Benidorm's history for the next few centuries was plagued by attacks from the sea by Ottoman and

Barbary pirates The Barbary pirates, or Barbary corsairs or Ottoman corsairs, were Muslim pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Salé, Rabat, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli. This area was known in Europe ...

. The 17th century saw conditions improve for Benidorm and its people, most notably with the construction of an advanced irrigation system in 1666 to channel water to the region. By the 18th century Benidorm fishermen had become famous and sought after all over Spain and beyond.

Tuna A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae (mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max length: ...

was their main catch and they perfected the ancient

almadraba Almadraba (from Andalusi Arabic ''almaḍraba,'' meaning 'the place to strike, also derived into pt, Almadrava) is an elaborate and ancient technique for trapping and catching Atlantic bluefin tuna (''Thunnus thynnus'') originally used by the Ph ...

technique dating from Islamic times. The success of the fishing industry, together with improved local agriculture, helped to fuel a strong local economy. Coastal traffic increased too, bringing more wealth to the region with the town becoming a base for sea captains and the building of their vessels. In 1952 Benidorm's fishing industry went into decline; this was a factor in encouraging the town council to approve many new development plans aimed at the tourist market.

Local politics

After giving the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gov ...

majorities or pluralities in elections from the restoration of democracy in 1977, Benidorm has favoured the right wing People's Party (PP) since the general elections of 1993. The PP gained control of the local council at the 1995 local elections and won 14 of the 25 council seats in the 1999 and 2003 elections. The 2007 election gave them a one-seat majority over the PSOE, but disagreements in the PP group led to a motion of censure being passed against the PP mayor in September 2009. He was replaced by the socialist Agustín Navarro. In 2019, PP won the local elections, obtaining an absolute majority. As of the 2019 local elections, the political composition on the local council was the following:

Geography

The town is divided into five parts: ''Poniente'' (''Ponent'' or 'sun setting') and ''Levante'' (''Llevant'' or 'sun rising'), each fronted by a beach of the same name; the old town (also called ''El Castell''); ''La Cala'' situated to the west side of Poniente; and ''El Rincón de Loix'' (or ''El Racó de l'Oix'') situated to the east side of Levante. Between the two beaches lies a rocky promontory and the port. The old city occupies the promontory and the area immediately inland, while most of the hotels occupy the more recently developed sections inland from the two beaches. A few miles from shore is an uninhabited island known as

Benidorm Island Benidorm Island ( ca-valencia, L'illa de Benidorm, es, La isla de Benidorm) is a small island and nature reserve of Spain, off the Spanish Mediterranean coast. The island is near the holiday town of Benidorm, sitting approximately from the Spa ...

or Peacock Island (due to previously having a

peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera '' Pavo'' and '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female peafowl are r ...

enclosure) which provides a dramatic centrepiece to the seascape. In 1954 Pedro Zaragoza Orts, the then young Mayor of Benidorm, created the ''Plan General de Ordenación'' (city building plan) that ensured, via a complex construction formula, every building would have an area of leisure land, guaranteeing a future free of the excesses of cramped construction seen in other areas of Spain. It is the only city in Spain that still adheres to this rigid rule. Most of the streets in the city are named after places such as Avenida de Uruguay, Avenida del Mediterráneo, Calle Pekín, etc. Avenida del Mediterráneo is a wide avenue that crosses Levante and links the old town with Rincón. Avenida Europa crosses Levante at right angles linking the western city limits with the Levante beach. Benidorm is connected to the FGV railway line between

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in ...

(''Alacant'') and

Dénia Dénia ( es, Denia) is a historical coastal city in the province of Alicante, Spain, on the Costa Blanca halfway between Alicante and Valencia, and the capital and judicial seat of the ''comarca'' of Marina Alta. Denia's historical heritage ...

. The section to Alicante is now converted to tram operation and trams run at least every half an hour between Benidorm and Alicante (see

Alicante Tram The Alicante Tram, trademarked as Alicante Metropolitan TRAM ( ca-valencia, TRAM Metropolità d'Alacant}, es, TRAM Metropolitano de Alicante), operates in the Spanish city of Alicante ( Valencian Community) and its surrounding area. Like other ...

). Trains run hourly from Benidorm to Dénia (via towns of

and

Calp Calpe () or Calp () is a coastal municipality located in the ''comarca'' of Marina Alta, in the province of Alicante, Valencian Community, Spain, by the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of and a population density of . The city lies at the foot ...

), connecting with the trams at Benidorm station.

Climate

Benidorm has a

hot semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi- ...

( Köppen: ''BSh'') with mild winters and hot summers. The city receives slightly more than 300 mm in precipitation per year and the wettest season is the mid-late autumn, which prevents it from being classified as Mediterranean. It enjoys more than 2,800 hours of sunshine per year and the average annual temperature is around . The typical maximum temperatures during winter average around , while the typical lows average around . The temperature oscillation is small, being even smaller during summers, during the summer the maximum temperatures normally range from 28 to 32 °C while the lows range from 20 to 24 °C. In almost all of the summer months the average city minimum temperatures at night remain above 20 °C (68 °F), a phenomenon referred to as

tropical night A tropical night is a term used in many European countries to describe days when the temperature does not fall under during the night time. This definition is in use in countries including the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Spain, Sweden, ...

Tourism

Benidorm is popular with tourists from the UK, Ireland, Poland, Belgium and the Netherlands. Benidorm's initial growth in popularity can be attributed to the

package holiday A package tour, package vacation, or package holiday comprises transport and accommodation advertised and sold together by a vendor known as a tour operator. Other services may be provided such as a rental car, activities or outings during the ho ...

explosion, and continues year round, due to the night-life based around the central concentration of bars and clubs. The large number of free cabaret acts that start around 21:00 and continue into the early hours sets Benidorm apart from other similar cities. The author and ''

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unit ...

'' journalist

Giles Tremlett Giles E.H. Tremlett (born Plymouth, 1962) is a historian, author and journalist based in Madrid, Spain. Tremlett is author of five works of history and non-fiction that have been translated into half a dozen languages. He won the Elizabeth Lon ...

identified the city as the birthplace of package tourism in the book ''Ghosts of Spain: Travels Through a Country's Hidden Past'' and remarked that culturally the city contradicted conservative notions of National Catholicism that

General Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 193 ...

had espoused. The accessibility of Benidorm to a wider social strata made the town into an ever so easy target for highbrow sarcasm, as by

Jani Allan Jani Allan (born 11 September 1952) is a South African journalist, columnist, writer and broadcaster. She became one of the country's first media celebrities in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1980, Allan became a columnist for the centrist newspaper, ...

in the ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'' in 1990: "These days you just have to look at the numbers of wide-bodied jets bearing wide-bodied holidaymakers to Benidorm to realise that package holidays and airborne cattle trucks make fun in the sun accessible to everyone." In the 1980s Benidorm developed a reputation for British drunken lager louts and violent binge drinking. This did not happen all year round but mainly in the summer months of July and August. During the 1980s families were put off visiting the city. However today the problem of drunkenness and lager louts has largely gone and Benidorm has mellowed. Now there is a good police presence in the town which has greatly improved safety and provided for a good atmosphere. Nightlife is popular and mainly involves cabaret acts and tapas bars. The town is now very popular with families. Also, many elderly people from northern Europe pass the winter there. This made 'Benidorm' into something of a synonym for elderly people in those countries, as can be seen in the Flemish

candid camera ''Candid Camera'' is a popular and long-running American hidden camera reality television series. Versions of the show appeared on television from 1948 until 2014. Originally created and produced by Allen Funt, it often featured practical jokes ...

programme ''

Benidorm Bastards ''Benidorm Bastards'' is a Belgian comedy television series. Format ''Benidorm Bastards'' is a Belgian hidden camera comedy programme on the Flanders, Flemish TV channel 2BE (TV channel), 2BE. All characters are amateur actors and Old age, se ...

''. Benidorm has three major beaches: ''Playa de Levante'' (

Valencian Valencian () or Valencian language () is the official, historical and traditional name used in the Valencian Community (Spain), and unofficially in the El Carche comarca in Murcia (Spain), to refer to the Romance language also known as Catal ...

: ''Platja de Llevant''), ''Playa de Poniente'' (Valencian: ''Platja de Ponent'') and ''Playa de Mal Pas'' (Valencian: ''Platja del Mal Pas''); all of them have had a blue flag since 1987, the maximum quality standard recognised by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

. The

Gran Hotel Bali Gran Hotel Bali is a 4-star hotel located in Benidorm, province of Alicante, Spain. It is, at 186 metres high (210 metres including the mast), 52 storey skyscraper and the tallest building on Europe's Mediterranean coast. It was the tallest bu ...

, a

four-star hotel Hotel ratings are often used to classify hotels according to their quality. From the initial purpose of informing travellers on basic facilities that can be expected, the objectives of hotel rating have expanded into a focus on the hotel experie ...

located in this city since 2002, is a 186-metre-tall building which stood as the tallest skyscraper in Spain for five years, until it was surpassed by the CTBA towers in

and Intempo building, also in Benidorm. Intempo building is currently the fifth tallest of Spain and the tallest building in the

Events and attractions

Each summer, since 1959 to 2000, the city celebrated the

Benidorm International Song Festival The Benidorm International Song Festival ( es, Festival Internacional de la Canción de Benidorm), until 2004 simply Benidorm Song Festival ( es, Festival de la Canción de Benidorm, links=no), was an annual song contest held in the city of Benidor ...

, a song contest where international or Spanish celebrities such as

Julio Iglesias Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva (; born 23 September 1943) is a Spanish singer, songwriter and former professional footballer. Iglesias is recognized as the most commercially successful Spanish singer in the world and one of the top record ...

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual ...

or the

Dúo Dinámico Dúo Dinámico (''Dynamic Duo'' in English) is a Spanish musical duo, which was very popular in Spain in the 1960s. It is formed by Manuel de la Calva and Ramón Arcusa, singers, songwriters, record producers and actors. They were the main precu ...

became famous. Loosely based on the song festival,

RTVE The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española, S.A. (; ), known as Radiotelevisión Española or RTVE, is the state-owned public corporation that assumed in 2007 the indirect management of the Spanish public radio and television service kno ...

signed, in 2021, a four-year contract with the city of Benidorm to hold the preselection to determine the Spanish entry for the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

, naming the event

Benidorm Fest Benidorm Fest is a Spanish song contest organised by the public communication company (RTVE) in collaboration with the to determine 's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, beginning with 2022. It is held in Benidorm, Valencian Community, at ...

. Since 2010, in July, Benidorm celebrates an

indie music Independent music (also commonly known as indie music or simply indie) is music that is produced independently from commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, a process that may include an autonomous, do-it-yourself approach to recording a ...

festival, with national and international music groups, called "Benidorm Low Festival". In 2019, a counterpart of

Primavera Sound Primavera Sound (commonly referred to as simply Primavera) is an annual music festival held in Parc del Fòrum in Barcelona, Spain that takes place between the end of May and beginning of June. The first edition took place in 2001 in Poble Espanyo ...

, Primavera Weekender, premiered at Magic Robin Hood Camp. In 2011, Benidorm hosted the start of the

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the ...

, one of cycling's three

grand tours In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour is one of the three major European professional cycling stage races: Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a España. Collectively they are termed the ''Grand Tours'', and all three races are similar in ...

. Benidorm is home to annual

open water swimming Open water swimming is a swimming discipline which takes place in outdoor bodies of water such as open oceans, lakes, and rivers. The beginning of the modern age of open water swimming is sometimes taken to be May 3, 1810, when Lord Byron swa ...

competition of Oceanman series. Benidorm boasts three family-oriented theme parks:

Terra Mítica Terra Mítica () is a theme park located in Benidorm, Comunitat Valenciana, Spain. The park is divided into five themed zones: Egypt, Greece, Rome, Iberia, and the Islands (of the Mediterranean). The park opened in 2000. In 2001, a year after p ...

is inland from the city, at the foot of the mountain, and Aqualandia and Mundomar are located on the outskirts of the city on the Levante side. Benidorm offers activities for all ages. With all the family attractions available, Benidorm has been described as one of the most family-oriented holiday destinations in Spain and Europe. In addition to large shopping and commercial areas. An episode of the hit British sitcom ''

Only Fools and Horses ''Only Fools and Horses....'' is a British television sitcom created and written by John Sullivan (writer), John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom from 1981 to 1991, with sixteen sporadic Christmas ...

'' was set in Benidorm. The episode was called " It Never Rains...". A TV series called ''

Benidorm Benidorm is a town and municipality in the province of Alicante, Valencian Community, Valencia, on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. Benidorm has been a tourist destination within Spain since 1925, when its port was extended and the first hotel ...

'' has aired on ITV (with replays on

ITV2 ITV2 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the five analogue terrestrial stations, ...

) in the UK. Actors include

Jake Canuso Jake Canuso is a Swiss actor, who is known for his role in the ITV comedy series ''Benidorm'', in which he played the Solana barman Mateo Castellanos from 2007 until 2018. He also played Tony Peroni in the TV comedy series ''Scarborough'' alo ...

Steve Pemberton Steven James Pemberton (born 1 September 1967) is a British actor, comedian, director and writer. He is best known as a member of '' The League of Gentlemen'' with Reece Shearsmith, Mark Gatiss, and Jeremy Dyson. Pemberton and Shearsmith also c ...

Sheila Reid Sheila Reid (born 21 December 1937) is a Scottish actress, known for playing Madge Harvey in the ITV sitcom ''Benidorm'' (2007–2016). An original member of the Royal National Theatre in 1963, she played Bianca in the National's 1965 film ve ...

and comedian

Johnny Vegas Michael Joseph Pennington (born 5 September 1970), better known as Johnny Vegas, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He is known for his thick Lancashire accent, husky voice, overweight appearance, angry comedic rants, and us ...

. Airing of the tenth series began in February 2018. In 2020 a Spanish comedy series of the same name starring Antonio Pagudo and María Almudéver premiered on

Atresplayer Premium Atresplayer Premium (often stylized as ATRESplayer Premium) is a Spanish paid subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service of Atresmedia. History and description It was launched in Spain on 8 September 2019. The first origin ...

. File:Benidorm Exercise.JPG, Early morning exercise (organised by the local council). File:Benidorm Singing.JPG, Late morning community singing, in Spanish (organised by the local council). File:Benidorm Playground.JPG, Exercise equipment. File:Isla Benidorm.jpg,

viewed from a beach of the city. File:Playa Poniente, Benidorm, Spain.jpg, Poniente beach in Benidorm when the sun sets. File:Benidorm iglesia 04.JPG, San Jaume church

Demographics

Nationality

Benidorm is one of the most culturally diverse cities in Europe with a high immigrant population. The population in 2010 was 71,198. These figures are for those registered as formal ''residents'' and not long-term visitors.Instituto Nacional de Estadistica
,

Population growth

Education

The École française Pablo Picasso, an annex of the Lycée Français d'Alicante, a French international school, is located in Benidorm.Les données de la zone Europe Ibérique
."

AEFE The Agency for French Education Abroad, or Agency for French Teaching Abroad, (french: Agence pour l'enseignement français à l'étranger; abbreviation: AEFE), is a national public agency under the administration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ...

. Retrieved 7 May 2015.

Notelist

References

External links

* *
Benidorm City Council
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