Historical Benidorm

Benidorm has existed since 1325 when it gained it´s town charter from Admiral Bernat De Serria at Polop castle which was then part of the kingdom of Valencia.  The giving of town charters was carried out until the 17th century as a way of removing the Moors and allowing Christians to inhabit the area.

The first settlements in the area can be found at Montbenidorm a hill that you can see at the far end of the Poniente beach.  Here there are burial grounds and remains of an Iberian settlement that dates back to the first century B.C.  Archaeologists discovered remains of fishing nets here firmly tying Benidorm to the sea even then.  A figure of Tanith who is a Phoenician goddess of fertility and the heavens was also unearthed here as were remains of Roman settlements nearby.

Originally called Alonis, Benidorm fell under the influence of Greek and Phoenician culture between the tenth and sixth centuries BC. The Iberian civilisation followed, and then the Romans and the Visigoths. In the eighth century, the area fell under Moslem domination, and Alonis was renamed ‘Benihardim’, meaning ‘the sons of Darhim’. This is the origin of the present name.

Benidorm Nowadays

Until the tourist industry began in the 1960s, Benidorm was a small village. Today it stands out for its hotel industry, beaches and skyscrapers, which were built as a result of its tourist-oriented economy. Benidorm has three major beaches: Levante, Poniente and Mal Pas; all of them have a blue flag, the maximum quality standard recognised by the European Union. Previously the tallest building in Spain, the Gran Hotel Bali is a 4-star hotel standing 186 meters high, is located in this city.

In 1954 Pedro Zaragoza Orts, the then young Mayor of Benidorm, created the Plan General de Ordenación (city building plan) that ensured, via a complex construction formula, every building would have an area of ‘leisure’ land, guaranteeing a future free of the excesses of cramped construction seen in other areas of Spain. It is the only city in Spain that still adheres to this rigid rule, and if you climb to the top of the Sierra Helada, the promontory at the end of the Rincon de Loix, you get a stunning view of how green the city is and just how close it is to the mountains.