Benidorm embraces its role

REVOLUTIONARY: TOURISM RESHAPED SOCIALLY CONSERVATIVE SPAIN'S IMAGE ABROAD

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POPULAR. People enjoy Levante Beach in Benidorm, which still champions the mass tourism it pioneered, bringing foreign currency to Franco's Spain half a century after the dictator's death.

(AFP)

Fifty years after General Francisco Franco's death, Benidorm still clings to the mass tourism model it pioneered under his dictatorship, even as protests against overtourism sweep other Spanish holiday hotspots.

Built on bikinis, skyscrapers and package holidays, the industry reshaped socially conservative Spain's image abroad and brought in much-needed foreign currency.

“There are no car factories here, no soap factories. What we have is a factory of hotels, restaurants and businesses that make our visitors happy,” said Angela Barcelo, 72, the owner of the Hotel Les Dunes in the Mediterranean beach resort.

Her grandmother opened it in 1957, when Spanish women needed their husband's permission to open a bank account.