Benidorm conjures images of raucous stag dos and all-inclusive excess – but there’s more to this seaside resort than meets the eye.
Beloved by British tourists, each summer brings fresh stories from the party central where a pint and breakfast cost less than a fiver. But delve deeper – and chat with British expats who call Benidorm home – and the reality behind Beniodorm’s wild reputation is revealed.
Michelle Baker, a Solihull native, has spent 40 years in Benidorm, raising five children with her Spanish husband.
She manages the popular Facebook page ‘Benidorm Forever’ and is a vocal advocate for the town she feels is misunderstood.
Offering an alternative view, she told the Daily Star that Benidorm caters to all tastes, noting her daughter’s fondness for the lively strip. However, Michelle highlighted a different side to the town – referring to it as the ‘Miami of Benidorm’ – where you’ll find stunning architecture and apartments with price tags starting at €400,000.
Recently addressing a particular crime tourists should be cautious of, Michelle remarked: “When you go somewhere like New York, like Florida or Las Vegas, you kind of know what you are getting yourself in for and your expectations are high. But when people talk about Benidorm they are almost embarrassed to admit they are coming here.”
“So when they get here and find it so fantastic they are like ‘oh right, that was better than I expected’. They get the Benidorm bug and they come back.”
She further addressed misconceptions about the area, stating: “I urge people to discover the other side of Benidorm, metaphorically and literally.”
“Go to Poniente Beach, go to the old town, it is absolutely beautiful and people are discovering that for themselves. A lot of people who visit here are grown up like me and they don’t want the hurdy-gurdy kind of area and they are discovering the nicer areas.”
“There are two beaches, the Levente Beach, essentially where the hotels and the nightlife are, and then the Poniente, which is much calmer and nicer, even though both are nice.”
However, she did admit that the smell in one part of the strip in the mornings was “offensive” and a “no man’s land”. She was referring to the daily clean-up crew that washes away the remnants of Brits’ boozy nights out.
Describing an early morning walk, she said: “Unfortunately you smell it the next morning and I am always saying ‘for god’s sake, can you not put some fairly liquid in that jetwash because it stinks’.
“When you jetwash sick, and I know I am getting graphic now, but you spread it all over the place, then the heat bakes it and the acrid smell is just vile.”
“But I am only talking about a section of 300 metres or less of pavement. It really is a no man’s land and I try to avoid that street like the plague. The bins have fallen and they probably have been sick in the bins as well, it is just a nasty, nasty street. In some parts of the strip the smell of vomit is quite offensive in the morning.”
