Benidorm The City Which Never Sleeps
Benidorm, Spain is in the Costa Blanca area in southern Spain south of Altea. Its name is Arabic, coming from the time when the Muslims controlled the area. Like many of the neighboring areas, Benidorm has been in the control of the Phoenicians, the Romans, the Arabs and finally the Catholic kings. This city has always been a widely varied population and today has the largest population of immigrants in Europe. There are many visual reminders from each of these periods in the town's history. But this is not why most people come to this area of Spain. The beaches, amusement parks, the bars, dancing, and summer long party atmosphere all bring millions of visitors to Benidorm every year.
The city has two separate sections, the Poniente and Levante. The Playa de Poniente is the most popular of the beaches, and is very large, inviting many families. The Playa De Lavante is a smaller, quieter, topless beach that is frequented typically by the young adult visitors to the region. The city is bordered on its north by mountains, and therefore the north winds are buffered away from the city and the microclimate found here is very pleasant year round.
Benidorm has grown a great deal in the last 40 years, from a small village to a town with many sky scraping hotels and buildings. The tallest hotel in Europe, the Gran Hotel Bali, is located in Benidorm. This four star hotel is comprised of four buildings each over 186 meters, or 600 feet tall. There are so many British visitors to Benidorm that there are several pubs and restaurants advertising "authentic" British menus. Belgium visitors are in such abundance that Benidorm is also nicknamed the 11th Belgian province.
There are several family-oriented theme parks in Benidorm that bring in tourists as well. Aqualandia is the largest water park in all of Europe and has several water slides, pools and lazy rivers. The Terra Mitica is a theme park with 5 ancient civilizations highlighted in 5 sections across the park, the Greek, Greek Islands, Roman, Egyptian, and Iberians. There are civilization specific restaurants, souvenir shops and amusement park rides located here.
Terra Natura is a natural habitat zoo, with several animals from lions to monkeys to a beautiful collection of native birds. The Mundomar Park is a marine life park. Mundomar has several aquariums, one that gives guests an opportunity to see dolphins from under the water. It also has seals, sea lions, parrots, and penguin on display.
The city of Benidorm also celebrates the Benidorm International Song Festival every summer. Many celebrity singers have become famous in Spain at this festival.
