My one and only visit to Benidorm was in 1969. We drove down from the UK in our little sportscar , we were heading for Torremolinos but had taken so long getting to what was originally going to be a couple of nights stop over we decided to stay in Bendidorm . Not many motorways back then and we had stopped in Andorra then Barcelona and had a few days on the coast near Salou. We were camping and I've no idea how we managed to get everything into the car though I took very few clothes with me, spending most of the day in just a bikini. There seemed already to be quite a lot of hotels in the resort as package holidays to this area of Spain were becoming popular. The campground though was just across the road from the sea at the far end of the Levante beach. I've never been back, I guess from the recent pictures I've seen it has changed tremendously.
Quite interesting article published a couple of years ago about the resort http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3172423/How-Benidorm-s-beaches-packed-Brits-1906s.html



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Hi Rosiepeardrop
Judith there was recently a daytime programme on TV called Bargain Brits in the Sun based on expats living on campsites in Benidorm.

You can catch up here:- http://www.channel5.com/show/full-version-bargain-loving-brits-in-the-sun/

Yes I watched it, Thanks

Thanks Glynis.

I love skyscrapers and they say beauty is in the eyes of the beholder or summat like that, and it's how an individual looks at something and their own mind interprets what they see.
When I look at Benidorm's skyline from the Cross, IMO it's just as impressive as Hong Kong's, Sydney's or New York's, and some architects who went on to become famous, they 'cut their teeth' designing skyscrapers in Benidorm during the high-rise boom years!...Beni has problems financially and at ground level, but so does other places.

Most people look at Benidorm and think it's a miss mash of concrete, but in fact it still has the same urban plan in place as it had when the first skyscraper was conceived, which ensures that every Skyscraper will have some 'green area' around it, otherwise it would be packed in together, 'wall to wall'.

Benidorm is officially classed as being eco-friendly and in 50/60 years, although it has obviously expanded, it hasn't expanded and encroached too far into the surrounding countryside, in comparison to the sprawling concrete urbanisations built in other parts of Spain, where they were losing land at a rate of three football pitches a day to construction without any infrastructure in place such as a water supply...in a country where in places, water is like liquid gold.

You can see from my video that I made a few years ago, when we took a walk up/down to the cross, how much Benidorm hasn't really sprawled back into the countryside when you consider we're talking about 60 years.

Another jewel is the Sierra Helada national park, literally at the end of Levante beach. We've spent many happy hours walking in the mountains, smelling wild rosemary and lavender, and it's so peaceful, yet the bustle of Benidorm is in view.

Aww thanks for the videos Sanji 👍 Great to see them.

You're welcome Glynis.
I forgot to mention about the Cross video.
It looks like you're filming the same thing over and over again, but when you walk up/ down to the Cross, at certain points the road takes you further away from Benidorm as you wind around the mountain, and at other times it feels like you're hovering over the nearby skyscrapers, so whilst it is the same subject to film, the aspect is quite different depending on the height you're filming from.

Sanji x

How long does it take to walk up to the cross?

It depends how fit you are, it's an uphill hike all the way.
I think it used to take us about an hour going up, obviously a lot quicker coming down.
Don't think we could do it uphill these days.

Sanji x

Pass 😂

Some postcards to buy on t'inernet .

http://www.todocoleccion.net/postales-comunidad-valenciana/tarjeta-postal-benidorm-hotel-titanic-alicante~x20588692

https://www.delcampe.net/en_US/collectables/postcards/spain-unclassified-6/hotel-britannia-benidorm-283604965.html

http://www.todocoleccion.net/postales-hoteles-balnearios/hotel-britannia-benidorm-espana-foto-rueck~x51650173

http://www.todocoleccion.net/app/buscador?from=top&bu=Hotel+Britannia++Benidorm+

https://www.flickr.com/photos/joe90bem/3688173922

Sanji x

Thanks Sanji 👍

I stayed there in 1973 great little hotel, l remember you could see an open air cinema close by and just behind an hotel with Olympic size pool

Can't believe someone as actually seen this hotel thanks for that