Benidorm
Encyclopedia
Benidorm is a coastal town and municipality
Municipalities of Spain
The municipalities of Spain In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian , sing. municipi.*Galician or , sing. municipio/bisbarra.*Basque , sing. udalerria. are the basic level of Spanish local government...

 located in the comarca of Marina Baixa
Marina Baixa
Marina Baixa is a comarca in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is bordered by the comarques of Comtat on the northwest, Marina Alta on the northeast, Alacantí and Alcoià on the west and the Mediterranean Sea on the east....

, in the province of Alicante, Valencian community
Valencian Community
The Valencian Community is an autonomous community of Spain located in central and south-eastern Iberian Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Valencia...

, Spain, by the Western Mediterranean.

Prior to the 1960s, Benidorm was a small village. Today it stands out for its hotel industry, beaches and skyscrapers, built as a result of its tourist-oriented economy. According to the 2010 census, Benidorm has a permanent population of 71,198 inhabitants, ranking as the fifth most populous town in the Alicante province. It is one of the most important holiday resorts in Spain, with an area of 38.5 km² and a population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 of 1,848.8 inhab/km². Due to the unique skyline formed by its numerous tall hotels and apartment buildings it is sometimes referred to as the "Manhattan of Spain" or "Beniyork", which is unlike any other on the Costa Blanca
Costa Blanca
Costa Blanca refers to the over 200 kilometres of coastline belonging to the province of Alicante in Spain. The name "Costa Blanca" was devised as a promotional name used by BEA when they launched their air service between London and Valencia in 1957. It has a well-developed tourism industry...

 (White Coast). According to the Urban Age project, Benidorm has the most high-rise buildings per capita in the world. Benidorm itself is dwarfed by the 1406 m tall Puig Campana
Puig Campana
Puig Campana is a mountain forming part of the Prebaetic System in the southeast of Spain. With an altitude of , it is the second highest peak in the province of Alicante. Puig Campana is located in the municipality of Finestrat only from the Mediterranean coast...

, which is one of the most impressive mountains of the Costa Blanca.

History

It is believed there were settlements in the Benidorm area perhaps as far back as 3000BC including evidence of Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 and Punic remains. However, settlements in the area were small and it was not until the Moor
Moor
-Ethnicity:*Moors, several historic and modern populations from North Africa*Sri Lankan Moor, a minority ethnic group of Sri Lanka*Marakkar, a Muslim minority ethnic group of India-Places:...

s (from whom the town derived its Arabic origin name) arrived that the local population began to grow. The Christian King James I of Aragon
James I of Aragon
James I the Conqueror was the King of Aragon, Count of Barcelona, and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1276...

 re-conquered the region in 1245 and Benidorm first officially became known in 1325 when Admiral Bernat De Serria of Polop
Polop
The Barony of Polop is an ancient Spanish hereditary lordship in the Kingdom of Valencia under the Crown of Aragon , similar in some respects to the English feudal barony and the Scottish feudal lordship...

 awarded it a town charter as a way of removing the Moors and allowing Christians to inhabit the area. Benidorm’s history for the next few centuries was plagued by attacks from the sea by Turkish
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 and Barbary pirates
Barbary corsairs
The Barbary Corsairs, sometimes called Ottoman Corsairs or Barbary Pirates, were pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Tunis, Tripoli and Algiers. This area was known in Europe as the Barbary Coast, a term derived from the name of its Berber...

. The 17th century saw things 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
Tuna
Tuna is a salt water fish from the family Scombridae, mostly in the genus Thunnus. Tuna are fast swimmers, and some species are capable of speeds of . Unlike most fish, which have white flesh, the muscle tissue of tuna ranges from pink to dark red. The red coloration derives from myoglobin, an...

 was their main catch and they perfected the ancient almadraba
Almadraba
Almadraba tuna is tuna caught by an elaborate and age-old Andalusian technique of setting nets in a maze that leads to a central pool called "copo". In Sicily, the mazes of nets, and also the places where the nets are set are called Tonnara, and the overall method of capturing the fishes is called...

 technique passed down from the Arabs. 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; a factor in encouraging the town council to approve many new development plans aimed at the tourist market. Today the town is Europe and Spain’s biggest holiday resort and responsible for a significant chunk of Spain’s large tourist industry, with five million tourist arrivals per year.

Local politics

After giving the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in...

 majorities or pluralities in elections from the restoration of democracy in 1977, Benidorm has favoured the right wing People's Party
People's Party (Spain)
The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship...

 (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 however disagreements in the PP group led to a motion of censure being passed against the PP mayor in September 2009 and he was replaced by the socialist Agustín Navarro.

As of the 2011 local elections, the political composition on the local council is:
Party Seats
11
11
3

Geography

The city is divided into five parts, Poniente (Ponent) and Levante (Llevant), 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
Benidorm Island
Benidorm Island is an islet located on the Spanish coast, off the holiday resort of Benidorm. Tourists to the area can take boat trips from the mainland to the island to visit the island's wildlife, notably its peacock population. Due to this it is colloquially known as Peacock Island. It is a...

 which provides a dramatic centrepiece to the seascape.

In 1954 Pedro Zaragoza Orts
Pedro Zaragoza
Pedro Zaragoza Orts was the mayor of Benidorm from 1950 to 1967. He is credited with helping turn the town into one of the most popular holiday resorts in Spain.-Biography:...

, 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 Mediterraneo, Calle Pekin etc. Avenida Del Mediterraneo is a wide avenue that crosses Levante and links the old town with Rincon. Avenida Europa crosses Levante at right angles linking the western city limits with the Levante beach. Climb to the top of the Serra Gelada, the promontory at the end of the Rincon de Loix, for a view of how green the city is and just how close it is to the mountains.

Climate

Benidorm has a special micro-climate all year round thanks to the mountains which surround the town. It enjoys some 3,400 hours of sunshine a year and an average annual temperature on the coast of 18°C (15°C in winter and 26°C in summer). Between December and March the temperature of the sea water is around 15°C..

Tourism

Benidorm is popular with tourists from the UK, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. Benidorm's initial growth in popularity can be attributed to the package holiday
Package holiday
A package holiday or package tour consists of transport and accommodation advertised and sold together by a vendor known as a tour operator. Other services may be provided like a rental car, activities or outings during the holiday. Transport can be via charter airline to a foreign country...

 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 set Benidorm apart from other similar resorts.
The author and Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

journalist Giles Tremlett
Giles Tremlett
Giles Tremlett is an author, journalist and broadcaster. He is the Madrid correspondent for the Guardian newspaper and a regular contributor to The Economist. He is also a current affairs commentator for Spain's state-owned TVE television and for the country's biggest radio station, Cadena SER.He...

 identified the resort as the birthplace of package tourism in the book Ghosts of Spain: Travels Through a Country's Hidden Past and remarked that culturally the resort contradicted conservative notions of National Catholicism that General Franco had espoused. The accessibility of Benidorm to a wider social strata was also detailed in 1990 by the columnist Jani Allan
Jani Allan
Jani Allan is a South African columnist and radio commentator. She became a household name as a columnist for the Sunday Times where she worked between 1979-90. She is also known for her alleged affair with an interviewee, the late right-wing political leader Eugène Terre'Blanche...

 describing in the Sunday Times "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 resort. However today the problem of drunkenness and lager louts has largely gone and Benidorm has become more mellowed. Many such people tend to visit other places like Ibiza or Malia. Now there is a very good police presence in the town which has greatly improved safety and provided for a good atmosphere. Nightlife is very popular and mainly involves cabaret acts and Tapas bars. The town is now very popular with families. Also, more and more elderly people from Northern Europe decide to stay here during the winter. 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
Candid Camera is a hidden camera/practical joke reality television series created and produced by Allen Funt, which initially began on radio as Candid Microphone June 28, 1947...

 program Benidorm Bastards
Benidorm Bastards
-The Format:Bendorm Bastards is a Belgian hidden camera comedy programme on the Flemish TV channel 2BE. All characters are amateur actors and senior citizens. The programme has a similar concept to Trigger Happy TV, of which a Belgian version was broadcast on the same channel...

(due to appear in the US as Betty White's Off Their Rockers)

Benidorm has three major beaches: Playa de Levante (val.
Valencian
Valencian is the traditional and official name of the Catalan language in the Valencian Community. There are dialectical differences from standard Catalan, and under the Valencian Statute of Autonomy, the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua has been established as its regulator...

 Platja de Llevant), Playa de Poniente (val.
Valencian
Valencian is the traditional and official name of the Catalan language in the Valencian Community. There are dialectical differences from standard Catalan, and under the Valencian Statute of Autonomy, the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua has been established as its regulator...

 Platja de Ponent) and Platja del Mal Pas; all of them have a blue flag
Blue Flag beach
The Blue Flag is a certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education that a beach or marina meets its stringent standards.The Blue Flag is a trademark owned by FEE which is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation consisting of 65 organisations in 60 member countries in Europe,...

 since 1987, the maximum quality standard recognized by the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

. The Gran Hotel Bali
Gran Hotel Bali
Gran Hotel Bali is a 4-star hotel located in Benidorm, province of Alicante, Spain. It is, with 186 metres height , the tallest hotel in Europe and one of the tallest skyscrapers in Europe...

, a four-star
Star (classification)
Stars are often used as symbols for classification purposes. They are used by reviewers for ranking things such as movies, TV shows, restaurants, and hotels. For example, one to five stars is commonly employed to categorize hotels.-Restaurant ratings:...

 hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...

 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
CTBA
Cuatro Torres Business Area is a business district located in the Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid , on the former Ciudad Deportiva of Real Madrid. The area contains the tallest skyscrapers in Madrid and Spain...

 towers in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

, it is however the tallest hotel in Europe.

Events and attractions

Each summer, since 1959 to 2000, the city celebrated the Benidorm International Song Festival
Benidorm International Song Festival
The Benidorm International Song Festival or Festival Internacional de la Canción de Benidorm is an annual song contest which takes place each summer, since 1959, in the city of Benidorm, Spain. The contest, based on the Italian Sanremo Music Festival, was born to promote Benidorm and the Spanish...

, a song contest where international or Spanish celebrities
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...

 like Julio Iglesias
Julio Iglesias
Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva , better known simply as Julio Iglesias, is a Spanish singer who has sold over 300 million records worldwide in 14 languages and released 77 albums. According to Sony Music Entertainment, he is one of the top 15 best selling music artists in history,...

, Raphael
Raphael (singer)
For the French singer Raphael see Raphaël HarocheMiguel Rafael Martos Sánchez , often simply referred to as Raphael, is a worldwide acclaimed Spanish singer and television, film and theatre actor...

 or the Dúo Dinámico
Dúo Dinámico
Dúo Dinámico is a Spanish musical duo, which was very popular in Spain and Latin America in the 1960s. It is formed by Manuel de la Calva and Ramón Arcusa, singers, songwriters, record producers and actors. They were the main precursors of pop music in Spain....

 became famous.

Since 2010, In July, Benidorm celebrates an Indie Music Festival, with national and international music groups, called "Benidorm Low Cost Festival".

In 2011, Benidorm hosted the start of the Vuelta a España
2011 Vuelta a España
The 2011 Vuelta a España was held from 20 August to 11 September. The race began in Benidorm with a team time trial and ended, as is traditional, in Madrid. The 2011 Vuelta was the 66th edition of the race and was the first Vuelta in 33 years that visited the Basque Country...

, one of cyclings three grand tours.

Benidorm boasts four family-oriented theme parks: Terra Mítica
Terra Mítica
Terra Mítica is a theme park located in Benidorm, Spain. The park is divided into 5 themed zones: Egypt, Greece, Rome, Iberia, and the Islands . The park was opened in 2000.In 2004-2006 the park went through a bankruptcy process...

 and Terra Natura
Terra Natura
Terra Natura are two zoo theme parks and aqua parks located near Benidorm and Murcia, in the Costa Blanca, Spain.Many different species can be viewed at Terra Natura, including Elephants, Tigers, Monkeys, Lions, Buffalo, Rhinoceros and other animals.Terra Natura Animal Park is a new generation...

 are inland from the city, at the foot of the mountain and Aqualandia
Aqualandia
Aqualandia is a waterpark, located in Benidorm in the Costa Blanca, Spain. It is twinned with the marine animal park Mundomar, which is immediately next door to Aqualandia, and shares the same free car park.Water is sourced directly from the sea....

 and Mundomar
Mundomar
Mundomar is a marine animal park located in Benidorm, in Costa Blanca, Spain. It is twinned with the water park Aqualandia, which is directly adjacent to it, and shares the same car park...

 are located on the outskirts of the city on the Llevant side. In addition to large shopping and commercial areas.

Ethnicity

Benidorm is one of the most international towns in Europe and has a high immigrant population. The population in 2010 was 71,198.

Ethnicity makeup top 10
CountrySpain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

Population 46,346 5,235 2,828 1,367 1,316 1,178 1,136 1,066 820 779
Percentage 65.2% 7.4% 4.0% 1.9% 1.9% 1.7% 1.6% 1.5% 1.2% 1.1%

Population growth

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