La Vila Joiosa () is a coastal town and municipality 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 ...

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 with ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, by the

Mediterranean Sea 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 the ea ...

. The town is known to the locals simply as La Vila. It is the historic and administrative capital of the '' comarca'' of Marina Baixa and is located 32 km from the city of

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 t ...

, in the coastal area known as Costa Blanca (''White Coast''). La Vila Joiosa literally means ''Joyful Town'', although the inhabitants often abbreviate it to ''La Vila''. It has over three kilometers of beaches, including ''La Platja Centre'' (Central Beach), close to the city centre. The river Amadorio runs through ''La Vila''. The area is famous for its chocolate industry and tourism. One of the most popular tourist attractions is its

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

Catholic church of the Assumption, with a

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

altar piece. Another popular destination, the Royal Palm Casino (formerly Casino Costa Blanca), is now closed. The town's festival of '' Moros i Cristians'', celebrated at the end of July, was declared an International Tourist Interest Festival. Currently, this festivity commemorates a boat landing from the Berber pirates that was repelled by the population of the town.Archived a
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Notable people

Maisa Lloret María Isabel Lloret Ivorra (born 4 June 1971 in Villajoyosa, Alicante), better known as Maisa Lloret, is a retired Spanish rhythmic gymnast Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, ...

, rhythmic gymnast *

Marta Baldó Marta Baldó Marín (born 8 April 1979) is a Spanish rhythmic gymnast and Olympic Champion. She won a gold medal with the Spanish group at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. The team was formed by Marta, Estela Giménez, Nuria Cabanilla ...

, rhythmic gymnast and Olympic Champion (1996, Atlanta) *

José Catalá José Manuel Catalá Mazuecos (born 1 January 1985) is a Spanish footballer who plays for CD Gerena as a central defender or a left back. Club career Born in Villajoyosa, Province of Alicante, Valencian Community, Catalá emerged through lo ...

, footballer *

Felipe Orts Felipe Orts Lloret (born 1 April 1995) is a Spanish road and cyclo-cross cyclist, who currently rides for UCI ProTeam in road racing, and UCI Cyclo-cross team Teika–BH–GSport in cyclo-cross. He finished second at the men's under-23 event ...

, road and cyclo-cross cyclist

Twin towns

Vitré, Ille-et-Vilaine Vitré (; br, Gwitreg; gallo ''Vitræ'') is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France. Vitré, a sub-prefecture until 1926, is the seat of a canton of 17,798 inhabitants (2015). It lies on the edge of Brit ...

, France, since 1989 *

Quesada, Spain Quesada is a Spanish municipality in the province of Jaén. It is in the Alto Guadalquivir comarca and its inhabitants are called ''quesadenses'' or ''quesadeños''. It has an area of 328.7 km² and 5483 inhabitants according to the 2016 cens ...

, since 2006 *

Bullas Bullas () is a municipality and town in the Region of Murcia, southeast Spain, located 53 km from the provincial capital, Murcia. it is the highest municipality in the Region of Murcia after Moratalla. The surrounding area is noted for the ...

, Spain, since 2006

References

External links

Official website
Seaside resorts in Spain {{Valencia-geo-stub