|
Benidorm is a Valencian coastal town and municipality located in the comarca of Marina Baixa, in the province of Alicante, Spain, by the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of 38.5 km² and a population density of 1,593.56 inhab/km². It is sometimes referred to as the "Manhattan of Spain" or "Beniyork" due to the unique skyline formed by its numerous tall hotels and apartment buildings, quite unlike anything else on the Costa Blanca. Benidorm itself is dwarfed nearby by its 1406m tall Puig Campana, one of the most impressive mountains of the Costa Blanca. The city is divided into two halves, called Poniente and Levante,
each fronted by a beach of the same name. Between the two beaches lies
a rocky promontory. The old city occupies this promontory and the area
immediately inland, while most of the hotels occupy the more recently
developed sections behind the two beaches. A few miles from shore is an
uninhabited island which provides a dramatic centerpiece 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, and if you climb
to the top of the Sierra Helada, the promontory at the end of the
Rincon de Loix, you get a stunning view of how green the city is and
just how close it is to the mountains.
Benidorm has a special micro-climate
all year round thanks to the mountains which surround the village.
Benidorm enjoys 3,400 hours of sunshine a year, and the average annual
temperature on the coast is 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. Until the tourist industry began in the 1960s, Benidorm was a small village. Today it stands out for its hotel industry, beaches and skyscrapers, which were built as a result of its tourist-oriented economy. Benidorm has three major beaches: Llevant, Ponent and Mal Pas; all of them have a blue flag, the maximum quality standard recognised by the European Union. The Gran Hotel Bali, a 4-star hotel located in this city since 2002, is a 186 meters tall building which stood as the tallest skyskraper in Spain for five years, until it was surpassed by the CTBA towers in Madrid.
Benidorm has always been popular with working class British tourists. However in recent years attempts have been made to attract a more upmarket clients.
Benidorm is one of the most international towns in Europe and has the highest immigrant population of any town in Spain. Population - 66 857 inhabitants
Land area - 38.5 km2
Altitude - 15 m International airport - 51 km
Altea - 10 km
Calpe - 21 km
Alicante - 41 km
Valencia - 126 km
Madrid - 451 km
Barcelona - 481 km
|
|
|
