Aula· Spain, city by cityValencia
Benidorm
«Benidorm tiene muchos rascacielos y recibe millones de turistas cada año.»Benidorm has many skyscrapers and receives millions of tourists every year.
Benidorm is a city on the Alicante coast that until the 1950s was a fishing village, which mass tourism transformed into a skyline of skyscrapers. Today it is one of the densest concentrations of high-rise buildings in Europe, distributed around two large beaches separated by the headland where the original core stood.
Did you know
Skyscrapers just like in Manhattan.
Benidorm is the city with the highest number of skyscrapers per capita in the world after Manhattan and Dubai.
How they talk in Benidorm
The historical Valencian of the Marina Baixa coexists with a very international Castilian, influenced by the presence of foreign residents. «Platja», «carrer» and «Ajuntament» appear regularly in bilingual signage.
xe
Interjection that can express surprise, enthusiasm, joy, or irritation. Used as an autonomous exclamation or to call attention, with a value determined by the tone and the situation.
Everyday life in Benidorm
The sun on the «Playa de Levante»
The bay is turned so that the sun beats down all year round, and it is the reason why the city exists: in winter there are chairs on the beach and people in short sleeves. Many elderly Europeans spend the cold months here.
«Nos vemos en Levante.» — See you in Levante.
The «Balcón» as a meeting point
The white railing on the point divides the two beaches and is where people meet: «at the Balcón» needs no further explanation.
«Quedamos en el Balcón del Mediterráneo.» — Let's meet at the Balcón del Mediterráneo.
The «casc antic» under the towers
Among the skyscrapers, the casco antiguo remains, with low houses and the church with the blue dome. You can walk around it in ten minutes, and those who are from Benidorm spend the evening there instead of on the promenade.
«Subimos al casco antiguo.» — Let's go up to the old town.
What to eat in Benidorm
Arròs a banda
Rice cooked in fish broth and served on its own, with alioli; the fish arrives separately.
Putxero amb pilotes
Winter boiled meat with large bread and meat meatballs; the broth is drunk first, with vermicelli.
Bollitori
Fish, potatoes and vegetables boiled together and seasoned with oil and lemon: the fishermen's dish, simple on purpose.
Coca de llanda
Low cake baked in a tray, with oil and lemon, sprinkled with sugar. It is cut into squares and eaten with coffee.
Festivals in Benidorm
Escenificación del Hallazgo
in November
The discovery of the Virgen del Sufragio, which arrived on a boat with no one on board, is reenacted on the beach.
Festes Majors Patronals
the second week of November
The «peñas» parade in their uniforms and the patron saints go out to sea, under the skyscrapers.
What to see in Benidorm
Balcó del Mediterrani
The white terrace on the rocky point that divides the two beaches, where the castle used to be.
Casc Antic
The fishing village that existed before the skyscrapers: low houses, narrow streets, and the church with the blue dome.
Platja de Llevant
The large beach, with the wave-patterned promenade designed in 2009 and the skyscrapers in a row behind it.
Illa de Benidorm
The triangular islet in front of the bay, twenty minutes by boat, inhabited only by seagulls.
Where Benidorm comes from
The plan that invented mass tourism
1325
The carta puebla
Bernat de Sarrià founds the villa around the castle on the promontory.
16th–19th c.
The tuna fishery
The town lives off the almadraba, tuna fishing with fixed nets.
1956
The general plan
Mayor Zaragoza has a plan approved that provides for skyscrapers and greenery around them: it will be copied everywhere.
1960 → today
The towers
In twenty years, the fishing village becomes a front of high buildings.
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