Competition for Coasts: Benidorm Case Study Flashcards
Where is Benidorm?
It’s a town located in the province of Alicante on the Costa Blanca.
How densely populated is it?
Over 1500 people/ km2 resulting from its unique high rise developments.
What are it’s nicknames?
“Manhattan of Spain” or “Beniyork”.
What is Benidorm’s weather like?
3,400 hours of sunshine a year.
With whom is Benidorm most popular?
Benidorm is particularly popular with Flemish, British (1 million a year) and Dutch tourists.
What effect has the popularity amongst British for Benidorm had?
Whole areas of the town now reflect this with pubs and “authentic British menus” and Spanish or Valencian rarely heard.
What was the holidaying tendencies of the British in the 1950s?
1950s – only 3% of people in the UK went abroad on holiday BUT as wages rose and planes from WWII were converted to carry passengers, the first package holidays emerged.
What happened in 1957?
1957 – first package holiday from UK to Benidorm arrived.
What was Benidorm like up to 1957?
Small fishing town with a few thousand residents.
How did the popularity of Benidorm begin to grow?
It had two great beaches but just a few hotels but tourists loved the sunshine, peace and quiet and news spread fast.
Soon hotels and apartments were springing up everywhere to meet demand.
Another reason was the rise of air transport and the package holiday which opened up areas with better climates
This combined with the rise in disposable income for many people in the UK, meant that areas in the Mediterranean became popular.
When Alicante airport opened in 1967, this was the biggest contributing factor to Benidorm’s success as a holiday resort
How did the Spanish Government encourage the growth of Benidorm?
By giving grants to building contractors to build hotels and tourist facilities.
In 1954, a city building plan was established that ensured that every building would have an area of ‘leisure land’ so despite the high rise, there is still a surprising amount of greenery.
