BEN' THERE, LOVE THAT!

Benidorm, mainland Spain's third bigggest tourist destination, is welcoming visitors with open arms

- BY JIM GALLAGHER

THERE have been numerous anti-tourist demonstrations in Spain in the last couple of years but one place you will not find them is Benidorm.

The ever-popular sunspot relies almost entirely on visitors and is as welcoming today as it has ever been.

There are no industries to speak of and most of the Costa Blanca town's 70,000 population are involved in the tourist trade.

Last year Benidorm welcomed nearly three million visitors who booked 15.7 million overnight stays, making it mainland Spain's third biggest tourist destination after Madrid and Barcelona.

At the peak of summer the town’s population swells to 400,000 but there is room for everyone thanks to forward-thinking town planners decades ago.

Back in the 1950s and 1960s this onetime small tuna-fishing village made the conscious decision to build up rather than out and it became a high-rise resort.

Building height restrictions in force in other parts of Spain were abolished in 1961 and the resullt today is Benidorm’ famous dramatic high skyline. Not for nothing is Benidorm known as the New York of the Mediterranean.

The Gran Hotel Bali at 186 metres was the tallest skyscraper in Spain for five years and the city has the country’s tallest residential block, the famous 47-floor, 187m-high Intempo building shaped like a giant M. New hotels, some with rooftop infinity pools, are still going up.

Benidorm, often thought of as a party town, was the very first resort many Irish holidaymakers went to when foreign travel began to take hold in the 70s and 80s.

For regulars, it is still very much a party destination with countless bars and restaurants along the 2km Levante beach, packed day and night.

But for those seeking quieter times, the less crowded and more sedate 3km Playa de Poniente is where many Spanish tourists go and is lined with some excellent seafood restaurants.