Nice reading. I'm off in 2.4wks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blimey!!!....Where am i going to go for my hols now that Benidorm has been Discovered!!!

Best Regards - Taggy

Where am i going to go for my hols now that Benidorm has been Discovered!!!

Yeh, just think all those Mirror readers descending on Benidorm
Interesting that he was amazed on the approach to Beni ...thinking he could have been in America....cos that is exactly what I thought on my very first visit. nothing and no-one had prepared me for that sight.

SanJi x

WELL i am another one who said they would not go to benni until this year and wow what a mistake its the best place i have been too cant waite until next year

the fatboy

I also said I would never go to Benidorm, but went in september and enjoyed it so much we are going again next year, the weather was fantastic so were the spanish people, walked it almost every day to the old town. all I can say is roll on next year beni here we come.
Margaret(madmum)

Fabulous article. I would say that 99% of people who still knock Benidorm have either never been there, or don't like having fun! It is a bit like the old joke, "I don't like Guiness" "Have you ever tried it?" "No, because I don't like it". I was first dragged to Beni in January 2003, (yes, I was one of the 99%!). Since then, I have been back six times, (so that is seven times in less than four years). Not only that, but I married the person I went with!!! Julie and I are off to Beni again next month. I have a big picture of the place on the wall in front of me, and it still takes my breath away when, as the writer said, you wend your way from Alicante, and all of a sudden, there it is. Awesome.

Dorm.
I am repeating myself here...sorry but for years upon years we would go anywhere but Benidorm and I didn't even like it the first time I clapped eyes on it.....then it just grew on me and I don't even notice the high rise buildings anymore, besides it hurts my neck now to look up and count the floors, that is something that we used to do at one time.

Now, I'll defend it until I'm blue in the face, If you think Benidorm is awesome, then the view from the cross will blow your mind.
I get a little annoyed when people try and compare Beni to some exotic Island in the Indian Ocean ....it is not an Island, it is a working Spanish cosmopolitan town, situated by the sea.....and like all towns, it has its problems, but the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages... I have Levante beach as a wallpaper on my computer and every morning when I boot my machine up, then I see Benidorm.
Off topic, sorry.....
I am having my kitchen tiled at the moment, the tiles are Spanish, made in Castellon by a firm called elbarco and the tiles are named Beni Arena.....now that has got to be spooky, cos I didn't know that until after I had chosen them.

Sanji x

Like you Sanji I have a lovely Panoramic view of Benidorm on my desktop and I never tire of seeing it when I go to my computer.
What puzzles me is why no other Spanish resort either mainland or the Islands have managed an all year round season like Benidorm has.
We go at the end of this month and we know that there will be more going on than at any other place has in the summer.
Sue

What puzzles me is why no other Spanish resort either mainland or the Islands have managed an all year round season like Benidorm has.

Hi Sue.
This is just my opinion and I may be talking a load of nonsense ....no change there she says

I think the main advantage of Benidorm is the micro-climate (protected by the mountain range) and if you look at a map of the coast of Spain, then you will see that the coastline sticks out between Alicante and Javea, and on the bit that sticks out.....Benidorm is nestled situated facing south and this is clearly an advantage when you consider that the Balearics (particularly Ibiza) are more or less on the same latitude, but they do not have the same temperatures in the winter months as Beni.

Beni has a long history of visitors, people from the interior of Spain took their holidays there, just as our parents would have took us to Blackpool, Cleethorpes or Skegness....long before the Brits discovered it on a mass scale.

The interior of Spain is a cold and mountainous place during the winter months and that is something that a lot of people forget whilst laid on the sunbed in the summer months, so for the people who lived in Madrid...then the warmth of Benidorm was very appealing....infact even today, you will find that a high percentage of the Spanish visitors who come to Benidorm come from Madrid...some staying the whole winter months to escape the freezing temperatures back home and the wealthy having second homes there.
We often smile to ourselves when we see the Spanish wrapped up in their winter coats walking on the promenade, and we have shorts and maybe a cardigan/jumper on...the fact is, it still feels blinking cold/freezing to them having to get accustomed to the extremes of the thermometer....

I think the foresight of Pedro Zaragoza promoting the resort at the time aviation became accessible to the masses gave the place a head start against its competitors"¦then the Brits moved in and the rest is history as they say.

The climate, the short flight from the UK, the vast entertainment coupled with good standards of hotels/apartments, fantastic sheltered beaches, the language barrier not such a problem and the diversity of the place"¦what more could a person want.?

Sanjiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Thanks again Sanji for a well thought out out reply to my query.
I would love to meet up with you one day but our dates never seem to co-incide. You seem to have aquired a vast amount of knowlege on all thing Spanish.
Regards Sue

Thanks again Sanji for a well thought out out reply to my query.
I would love to meet up with you one day but our dates never seem to co-incide. You seem to have aquired a vast amount of knowlege on all thing Spanish.
Regards Sue

Sue, if we are talking about Spain, then I am in my element and I'm sure one day our paths will cross

I'm gonna say something that I've never said before.
Have you ever felt like you were born in the wrong body?
When I go to Spain, I feel like I have gone/come home, the moment my feet touch the tarmac in the airport ....and when I come back to England, I literally yearn for the moment I go back to Espana.

When I divorced my 1st husband, I should have took my son and gone then....that is one of lifes regrets.
Now, David will not move out there, so I wrestle with my emotions because I know where I want to be, but I can't go without him.

Live your dream....it becomes harder as the years creep up on you.

SanJi x

Aw Sanji that is so sad I hope that your hubby will change his mind.

Good luck

Donna xxxxx

Hiya Donna and everyone
Apologies for being too emotional last night...I must have had a brainstorm
He's not going to change his mind, end of!
I nearly did get him there and if the sale of the house hadn't fallen through at the last minute, then who knows.?

Anyway, some things are meant to be in life and it seems that he was only going for my sake when the push came to the shove.
To make it work, then you both have to be committed.

I have a loving husband and two healthy sons...so I'll just spend his money on holidays instead and get my own back that way

It won't be long until Benidorm

Sanji x

I'll just spend his money on holidays instead and get my own back that way

Like your style Sanji :lol:, you go for it.

Its a shame for you but as you said you cant really do anything if your hubby doesnt want to. Its not the end of the world and im sure you will have many happy hols to the place you love.

Take care

Donna xx

Hi Sanji

Likeyou I was initially a reluctant Beni Babe!!! My parents used to visit about three times a year back in the 70's and loved every minute. Sadly my Dad is no longer with us, and one of my biggest regrets is that my husband and I did not visit Benidorm with my parents, although I have had many holidays since with my Mum, but unfortuntely she is not now allowed to fly so her Benidorm days are over - still I'm flying the flag for our family and have about 15 visits notched up to date (two already this year and one due before Christmas). My Mum often talks about how Benidorm was back in the 70's and 80's particularly about a bar called Max's (does anyone know anything about this bar in the old town??), and it is difficult for me to imagine only fields where there are now masses of hotels.
My answer to the critics would be "don't knock it until you've tried it"!!!

Hopefully we will spend a lot more time in the Benidorm area when we retire in a few years time - who knows we may even live there??

Hi.....you say your mother can no longer fly. Is there no way she can travel by coach? I know its a very long way, but if she can then you can still take her there maybe. Just a thought.

yasiou,

are you possibly referring to a place called chez max if so it used to be at the rincon end of the mediterraneo.there is now a stationery shop there but the chez max sign is still there.

the owner was a frenchman called max who looked a bit like mr magoo and had just as bad eyesight unfortunately he passed away 3 years ago

Yasiou,
your story could have been written by me. My mum and dad started going to Beni in 1969 and in the end were going three times a year. Sadly I always looked upon the idea of going with them as....no way jose...
Me and Mrs cat went to Benidorm for the first time in 2000 and have been back every year since. Sadly mum is no longer around, but I visit the hotel they went to every time I go back, just to have a drink to mum.

This reminds me of my mum"¦
My dad would never entertain the idea of flying"¦nobody on this earth would convince him to get on an aeroplane, so the farthest he ever went in his whole life was from Yorkshire to the Edinburgh Tattoo and down to Great Yarmouth.
My mum on the other hand couldn't wait to get on a plane and as you can imagine, it caused several disagreements between them.

Mum decided to get a job in the local Morphy Richards factory and here she met a group of women who organised a trip abroad An all women holiday.
The first holiday she went on, was to Benidorm, it would be around 1971/1973.
I can clearly see the donkey, the big sombrero hat and the wooden castanets that she came back with ..... I can still remember the stuffed donkeys going around the carousel at the airport....everyone brought one back.

We did manage to take her to Tenerife with us a few times before she passed away, but when she used to talk about the old days, she always brought the holiday in Benidorm into the conversation.
I think it was the only time she got away from dad and let her hair down .she must have rocked the town with the other women that week.

SanJi x