{"id":7624,"date":"2025-06-15T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-15T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/costablanca-magazin.com\/?p=7624"},"modified":"2026-03-18T09:36:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T08:36:07","slug":"benidorm-where-history-meets-high-rise-buildings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/costablanca-magazin.com\/en\/freizeit\/aktivitaeten-und-ausfluege\/benidorm-wo-geschichte-auf-hochhaeuser-trifft\/","title":{"rendered":"Benidorm - where history meets skyscrapers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Benidorm - Where history meets\nmeets skyscrapers<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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700 years, two beaches, millions of guests:\nHow the former fishing village\ndeveloped into a vertical metropolis - without\nwithout losing its soul.<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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When you look across the Pla\u00e7a del Castell in the morning, where the blue of the Mediterranean flirts with the skyline, it becomes clear that Benidorm is not like any other place. This city - or rather, this village with a metropolitan feel - stands for change, contradiction and willpower like almost no other place in the Marina Baixa.<\/p>\n

A medieval start <\/strong>with maritime roots<\/strong>
The history of Benidorm officially began on 8 May 1325, when a certain Admiral Bernat de Sarri\u00e0 signed the Carta Pobla - a document that granted the settlement at the foot of Punta Canfali city rights. Today, an artistic book bench on the Paseo de Col\u00f3n commemorates this historic moment. A monument - yes, but also a symbol of the fact that history is not a museum piece here, but part of everyday life.<\/p>\n

Between nets and fog: <\/strong>The legacy of the fishermen<\/strong>
What today gleams in concrete and glass used to have salty skin and rough hands. Generations of fishermen defined life in Benidorm - especially in the 18th and 19th centuries. The so-called almadraba, an elaborate method of tuna fishing, was the livelihood of many families. Fish were still caught on a large scale off the coast until 1952. Some Benidormers set sail as captains, others made a name for themselves as privateers - with a royal licence and the courage to confront others.
If you walk through the alleyways of the old town today, you can still feel the breath of the old seafarers - and hear about sea adventures in some bars that are better than any Netflix series.<\/p>\n

Two beaches, one idea: <\/strong>Everything for a sea view<\/strong>
Benidorm would not be Benidorm without its coastline. Over five kilometres of the finest sandy beach divide the city - to the east is Playa de Levante, vibrant, lively and urban. To the west is Playa de Poniente, quieter, more informal, with over three kilometres of golden sand. In between is the small Cala del Mal Pas - an insider tip for those who prefer a more intimate setting. More sea is hardly possible.<\/p>\n

Residents, guests, buildings - <\/strong>everything grows vertically<\/strong>
Around 75,000 people now live in Benidorm all year round. But that's only half the truth. In 2024, the city counted more than 2.8 million tourists - with over 15 million overnight stays. Most of these come from the UK, followed by national tourism from Madrid, the Basque Country and Arag\u00f3n.
How do you fit so many people into a limited space? With the courage to be tall. More than 300 high-rise buildings - some over 150 metres high - characterise the skyline. Not by chance, but by design: the legendary general development plan of 1956 laid the foundations for a vertical city with open spaces, light, air and above all: space for everyone.<\/p>\n

City with a statement - between digitalisation and monument preservation<\/strong>
If you think it's all about deckchairs and happy hour, you're wrong.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Benidorm is investing heavily in digital infrastructure, smart urban planning and sustainable water management - topics that others are still debating, while at the same time celebrating the city's 700th anniversary in 2025 with concerts, theatre plays, stamps, exhibitions - and a bank that looks like a book.
The local flavour also remains visible: in the Pla\u00e7a de Sant Jaume, the medieval Carta Pobla is re-enacted by amateur actors, accompanied by traditional instruments - and one hundred percent in Valencian local colour.<\/p>\n

Loved, hated, misunderstood: <\/strong>The Benidorm paradox<\/strong>
There are few places on the Spanish Mediterranean coast that polarise as much as Benidorm. For some, it is an overcrowded concrete juggernaut, the epitome of mass tourism with too much glass, noise and English on the menus. For others, it is the exact opposite: lively, colourful, inclusive - a city where anything is possible. Between these extremes lies the reality, and anyone who gets involved soon realises: Benidorm has charm. Sometimes hidden away in the alleyways of the old town, sometimes out in the open on the quiet promenade of Poniente or over a coffee in a family-run chiringuito away from the main avenues.
Benidorm is not subtle - but it is honest. And that is a rare commodity.<\/p>\n

The lesson of Benidorm? Flexibility<\/strong>
Benidorm is many things: a monument to modern tourism, a laboratory for the urban future, a prime example of how to constantly reinvent itself. But above all, it is a place that has never stopped being a village - even if today it looks like a miniature version of Manhattan with a sea view.
And that is precisely why Benidorm is not just any place in the Marina Baixa. It's a chapter in itself. Or rather: a whole book.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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- Population: about 43,000
- Proportion of international residents: approximately 30 %
- Area: approx. 66 km\u00b2
- Most famous landmark: the Castillo de D\u00e9nia
- Favourite beaches: Les Marines with fine sand, Las Rotas with rocky coastline
- Awards: several beaches have been awarded the Blue Flag for high water quality and good infrastructure
- Traditions and festivals: Bous a la Mar in July and Moros y Cristianos in August
- Special features: D\u00e9nia has been part of the UNESCO Creative Cities of Gastronomy network since 2015, has a ferry harbour with connections to the Balearic Islands and is located right next to the Montg\u00f3 Natural Park<\/p>\n

Weekly market: every Monday (Explanada de Torrecremada) and Friday (Calle Magallanes)<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\"costablanca<\/div><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t
Activities and excursions<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tAltea - Between history, art and Mediterranean light\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Benidorm - where history meets skyscrapers 700 years, two beaches, millions of visitors: how the former fishing village developed into a vertical metropolis - without its<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7117,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_header_footer","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[64,920,613,915,921],"class_list":["post-7624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aktivitaeten-und-ausfluege","tag-benidorm","tag-benidorm-geschichte-und-kultur","tag-costa-blanca-2","tag-mi-pueblo","tag-stadtentwicklung-benidorm"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/costablanca-magazin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/costablanca-magazin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/costablanca-magazin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/costablanca-magazin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/costablanca-magazin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7624"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/costablanca-magazin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11310,"href":"https:\/\/costablanca-magazin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7624\/revisions\/11310"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/costablanca-magazin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/costablanca-magazin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/costablanca-magazin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/costablanca-magazin.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}