More skyscrapers per resident than almost anywhere on Earth, two Blue Flag beaches, and the fishing village it used to be still visible in the old town.
Benidorm is a city of around 77,000 residents that’s earned the nickname “Beniyork” — it has more high-rise buildings per capita than almost any city in the world, including the Intempo tower, Europe’s tallest residential building. Its two main beaches, Levante and Poniente, are both Blue Flag, and its old town — “El Balcón del Mediterráneo” — is what’s left of the fishing village Benidorm was until the 1950s. It’s about 45km, roughly 40 minutes, from Alicante airport.
Until the 1950s, Benidorm was a fishing village of a few thousand people. What changed it was one mayor: Pedro Zaragoza Orts, elected in 1950, who bet the town’s future on tourism — including, in 1953, making Benidorm the first city in Spain to legally allow bikinis on the beach, reportedly convincing Franco’s government in person that foreign tourists wouldn’t holiday anywhere they had to cover up. Within a couple of decades, the fishing village had become a resort building upward instead of outward, hemmed in between the mountains and the sea — the reason Benidorm now has one of the highest concentrations of skyscrapers per resident anywhere in the world, including the Intempo tower, Europe’s tallest residential building.
The old fishing village didn’t disappear — it’s still there, on the headland between the two main beaches, known today as El Balcón del Mediterráneo (“The Balcony of the Mediterranean”) for the sea views from its viewpoint. From there, boat trips run out to Benidorm Island, and the Sierra Helada Natural Park starts right at the edge of town for anyone who wants the other side of Benidorm — cliffs and coastal trails, a few minutes from the high-rises.
Warm enough to swim, with the beaches and old town both noticeably calmer than peak summer.
Peak season in every sense — the city’s population can swell many times over. Book well ahead.
Sea stays warm, crowds thin fast after early September, and the nightlife keeps going regardless.
Check out our Festivity Calendar for this year in Benidorm — and stay up to date on everything happening in town. Benidorm also sits at the heart of the Costa Blanca’s summer festival corridor: the Iberia Festival still calls Benidorm home, and the wider region hosts 17 music festivals between May and August.
View Benidorm Calendar
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