Benidorm Spain Costa Blanca

Spain

From the ship's deck, Benidorm emerges like a mirage: a forest of towers risen before the Mediterranean, so dense it is sometimes called Spain's Manhattan. Then, drawing near, you make out something else at the base of the skyscrapers: a rocky promontory topped with a blue dome, white houses huddled against one another, two long curves of blond sand. The old fishing village is still there, and it is what gives this resort its true soul.

An Arrival With Feet in the Water

Cruise ships calling here are generally modest in size and anchor off the bay, the transfer to the small port happening by tender. The crossing offers a gripping panorama over the wall of towers and the islet of Benidorm, a rocky triangle set in the middle of the waters. You disembark steps from the Elche Park, where palms shelter hundreds of pigeons and a few fiercely sought-after shaded benches.

The Balcony of the Mediterranean

From the landing, a few minutes' walk suffice to climb the Canfali promontory, where a fortress once stood. Nothing remains but a terrace with white balustrade, the Balcón del Mediterráneo, jutting over the waves like a prow. The view embraces at a single glance Levante Beach to the east, Poniente Beach to the west and the island offshore. It is the meeting point of the entire town: retired couples, families, morning strollers, all eventually lean on this railing. In clear weather, the view reaches to the peaks of the Sierra Helada, which closes the bay to the north like a stone curtain.

The Lanes of the Old Village

Behind the viewpoint, the old quarter lines its paved alleys around the Church of San Jaime y Santa Ana, built in the eighteenth century and recognisable by its blue tile domes. Souvenir shops sit alongside older businesses, and small squares keep a human scale that contrasts with the neighbouring skyscrapers. At aperitif hour, Calle Santo Domingo and adjacent streets, which residents call the Basque quarter, fill with people around the tapas counters: anchovies, grilled peppers, cool vermouth.

Two Beaches, Two Moods

Levante is the lively one: three kilometres of sand bordered by a promenade where bicycles, joggers and terraces share the space from morning to evening. Poniente, longer still, breathes more calmly, with its Spanish families and elegant curve that runs toward the mountains. Between the two, the small Mal Pas cove nestles beneath the promontory, steps from the landing. The water is clear and the setting astonishingly peaceful for a resort of this scale. Morning swimmers keep their rendezvous there before the heat, when the bay still belongs to gulls and pleasure boats.

The Island Offshore

If port-call time permits, speedboats leave regularly from the harbour toward the Benidorm islet. The crossing takes little time, and you discover a reserve where seabirds nest, with a few trails and depths appreciated by snorkellers. Seen from the island, the line of skyscrapers takes on the look of a cinema set placed between sea and mountains.

At the Moment of Re-boarding

Benidorm does not seek to resemble anyone. It embraces its towers, its energy, its excesses, and yet keeps, atop its rock, the memory of the village that saw it born. Returning to the ship, you find yourself thinking back to the blue dome of the church, the old ladies on the balcony facing the sea, and that light of the Levant that explains, better than all the figures, why all of Europe keeps its rendezvous here.