Costa Blanca

The holiday coast is one of the most popular in Spain

Categories: Costa Blanca Autonomous Community of Valencia Spain

The Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts of mainland Spain have an excellent reputation among holidaymakers as recreational destinations. One of the most popular and well-known holiday coasts in Spain is the Costa Blanca, the "White Coast". This coastal region stretches for about 200 km between the Costa del Azahar ("Orange Blossom Coast") in the north and the Costa Cálida ("Warm Coast") in the south. The northernmost place of the Costa Blanca is the 40.000 inhabitants city Dénia, which can look back on a Roman past.
© steftach / Fotolia

The southernmost town of the White Coast is the small town of Pilar de la Horadada (20,000 inhabitants). Administratively, the region is part of the province of Alicante in south-eastern Spain, which is very popular with many Madrileneans because of its relative proximity to the Spanish capital some 350 kilometres away. The largest city of the province, which belongs to the Autonomous Community of Valencia, is the coastal metropolis of Alicante with 350,000 inhabitants. Here you can enjoy culture and scene life in the alleys of the winding old town El Barrio.

Probably the best known Costa Blanca town in terms of tourism is Benidorm (65,000 inhabitants), about 50 km south of Alicante. Benidorm stands for the tourism boom on the Spanish south-east coast, which began in the 1950s. Not least because of the many high-rise buildings designed to meet the needs of mass tourism, the former fishing village became a centre of Spanish tourism within a few years.

Since the 1980s, the development and concepts in Benidorm and the other Costa Blanca holiday resorts have been increasingly oriented towards the changed demands of the holidaymaker clientele, some of whom are no longer addressed by large-scale facilities. Since then, more emphasis has been placed on smaller holiday resorts and houses as well as a wide range of entertainment, cultural and recreational activities. These include a large number of golf courses and amusement parks such as the Terra Mytica theme park in Benidorm and the city of Elche, famous for its cultural history museums and palm gardens.

In the fishing town of Santa Pola it is worth taking a stroll along the harbour and visiting the fishing museum Scenically, the Costa Blanca is characterized by miles of white sand beaches and bizarre cliffs as well as pine forests and mountain valleys. The area is spoiled by a mild Mediterranean climate. Practically every day the sun shines. Even on the approximately 50 rainy days a year, the sky rarely stays cloudy all day.

The air and water temperatures are especially pleasant in spring and autumn. In the middle of summer, however, hot winds blowing from North Africa can make the thermometer show 40 degrees and more. The main focus of a holiday on the White Coast is, of course, for most people seeking relaxation, extensive sunbathing and swimming and splashing around in the sea. Guardamar del Segura is one of the many resorts in the region that are ideal for these desires.
© marcin jucha / Fotolia

This place, which is bordering on Elche and is mainly visited by Spaniards, Germans and Scandinavians, has a chain of sandy beaches that is more than ten kilometres long. Guardamar is known for its eight square kilometres of pine and palm forest Pinada de Guardamar and for its excellent parks. Another popular resort on the White Coast is Torrevieja, an El Dorado for water sports enthusiasts. Here, sports and fun enthusiasts can set sail from the largest marina in the Mediterranean, go kite surfing or try their hand at jet skiing.