alicante, the city of light

Alicante, the city of light “In my city, from the moment we are born, our eyes fill up with the blue from the sea.” Gabriel Miró.

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portada ingles:Maquetación 1 03/08/10 16:06 Página 1

Alicante. 38º 20’ N 0º 28’ O



Alicante Urbana 001_033_EN_SELVI:cdt 28/07/10 8:36 Página 1

Author: Pepe Serrano


Let yourself be seduced by acity of human dimensions

04 Alicante05 A Shot of Light08 A Sea that Sings13 Des del matxo del castell... [from the top of the castle]… Advances and

Vicissitudes16 The Call of Tourism17 Whispering Wind20 Itinerary 1. In Proportion with Stone. The Monumental Route22 Built Heritage 34 Itinerary 2. A City Within Reach. Charming Corners36 ...s’abaniquen les palmeres [fanning palm trees]42 Itinerary 3. Maritime Facade. A Stroll Looking out to Sea47 Cosmopolitan Light49 Multicolour Souk54 Much more than Rice58 A City Celebrating Tradition and Renewal59 A la llum de Les fogueres...[By the light of the bonfires]63 Pilgrim Light66 Itinerary 4. Alicante Art. The Museum Route74 Dazzled by Sport78 Night-time Light79 Alicante in Full Swing “The neighbourhood”84 Projecting the Light. Opening-up Frontiers85 Stars of Europe and the Mediterranean86 Projected Light. Our Own “Dream Factory”88 Itinerary 5. Beyond the Benacantil

Albufereta - El Cabo - San Juan - Tabarca90 La millor terreta del món [the best place in the world]94 The pretty island97 Epilogue98 Monuments, Museums and all that Alicante Offers the visitor99 Practical Information for the visitor


Alicante

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The coast sure and steadfast... Sailing, literally, between myth, legend andhistory, the original - and one might almost saymost direct - image of Alicante would end upbeing identified with its most obvious andnearest geographical feature. And of course themost liked by its people through the ages.And so, from merely being observed as anelement of the landscape, the white hill, thepowerful mass of white limestone on whichthe sunlight returns a blinding impressionbetween the blue of the sky and the sea,came to represent something more than anunquestionable icon. This ownership of light, asif emerging from within the mountain ratherthan a mere reflection of the sun, wouldeventually become refined in the imagination ofthe city to bequeath nothing less than the nameitself.The mythical Leukon Teijos where legend isconfused with history, the Akra Leuka coveted bythe Punics, the quiet Roman Lucentummentioned by Pliny II, the Lakant of the crescent

Did you know?The present name of Benacantil is no more than the

Arabic phonetic adaptation of the Latin word pinna

(rock) followed by the similarly Arabic form of the

place name Lakant. Bin-il-Cant is none other than the

“Alicante Outcrop”

A shot of light

A shot of Light… Likesomething hitting you straightbetween the eyes. Thissensation is what the sailors ofold must have felt on boardtheir ships as the WhiteMountain came into view in thedistance. Emerging from the sea horizon, intensely blue,what was to become a watchtower andfounding reference of the city appeared beforethe eyes of Greeks, Phoenicians and otherpeoples who ventured into the unknown west, aflash in the distance, and a reason for respite, aplace full of hope.

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ownership of both it and its fort, wouldeventually be given back to the city. During the1930s, an intense campaign of reforestationbegan on the Mount, the effects of which aremore visible today on the shady side than on thesunny one. The pines planted there, protectedfrom the relentless sun, ended up consolidatinga discrete forest both in terms of scope and

density. Whereas the sunny slope, the face ofBenacantil which receives the full midday sun,continues to offer its bare white limestone skinto the sea with a coded image that appears likethe DNA of the city’s name.The presence of the mountain has reached suchlevels that it even features in the city’s coat ofarms. Benacantil is shown surmounted by acastle and above some waves. The shield withthe letters "A", "L", "L" and "A" refer to the historical

moon, the Alacant of Alphonse X and James II,the Alicante that we all know: theunquestionable and definitive City of Light ...Mount Benacantil, as it is now known, is thegreat visual reference, in this case the naturallandmark, from which all scales are drawn andon which all gazes are focused at some time oranother.

Despite its modest dimensions, it is no morethan 166 meters high, the protectivesensation it exercises over the city, spread athis feet, is indeed remarkable. So notsurprisingly, looking out boldly and standingstrategically on the coastline at the centre of awide bay, since ancient times the promontoryhas had a defensive purpose and a supervisingmilitary component. Benacantil, seat ofsuccessive strongholds and defensive lines weshall deal with shortly, has been for this reason aprivileged witness, a silent protagonist, but notindifferent to what history has written about thecity. Sieges, wars, attacks and other conflictsmade Benacantil a belligerent mountain forcenturies, a condition that it was to lose in 1852when Alicante shook off the anachronisticcategory of stronghold, thus beginning the longprocess (of more than a century), through which

The skyline of Alicante has changed a lot since 1934 Alicante coat of arms

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many interesting views. All in all the mostaudacious are those which are contemplatedfrom Jaime II avenue, or from the Pipa plaza, ifwe go to the shaded part or from the Plaza delMar itself if we look up to see the south-southeast face.

names of the city: Akra-Leuka, Lucentum Lakantand Alicante. Finally, the diamond shape withbars is a reminder of when it belonged to theCrown of Aragon, while the Golden Fleece thatsurrounds the entire shield is the recognitionthat the Emperor Charles V wanted to give thecitizens of Alicante for their loyalty shown to theCrown during the revolt of the Brotherhoods.Benacantil, the old stone lion, presides but doesnot impose, governing without intimidating thecity it shelters between its ramparts. It goeswithout saying that the mountain offers

The views in Alicante are a complex and attractive interplay of proportions, viewing points and light

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and has notably conditioned the evolution of itssettlement.Everything has an origin. But let us leave it tothe city itself, and more specifically its urbanlayout, to recount some of the most decisivechapters of its long journey through thecenturies looking out to sea.Although there has been evidence of asettlement since the Bronze Age, the firstAlicante in history which we can consider assuch appears on a flat low area situatedbetween the San Julián or Grossa mountain

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Alicante in figures· Area: 201. 27 km2

· Founded: 324 BC. · Average temperature: 19.3º C· Hours of sun per year: 2,864· Rainy days: 20· City population: 331,750 inhabitants (INE 2008)· Location: 38°20’43’’N 0°28’59’’O

Telephone Numbers of interest:Tourist Info Alicante: 965 200 000City hall: 965 149 100

A Sea that Sings

While Benacantil is a definingelement of the city, it is no lessthe meeting point of itsseafront and what thatrepresents: the port.

Standing in the middle of the bay bounded tothe northeast by the cape of La Huerta and tothe southeast by Santa Pola, Alicante opens outonto the Mediterranean, the quintessential seaof cultures, that which is expressed, felt, recitedand sung through many and successive culturalheritages, languages, beliefs and ways of life. Alicante’s dialogue with the sea is so intensethat it is not possible to understand theidiosyncrasy of its people and the interest ofits visitors without the eye returning to theblue expanse.This continuous dialogue has in short forged thecity, predetermined its economic magnitude La porta Ferrissa. The city of Alicante rejected the Alcaraz pact (1243) and

Alphonse the Wise was forced to take up arms and occupy it.


widening of the Muslim medina, was alreadyaimed at being the main focus of a populationon which the scrutiny of the Christians in thenorth was beginning to intensify.Under the agreements signed between Castileand Aragon by which both crowns delimitedtheir respective areas of expansion, the MuslimAlicante, belonging at that time to the Kingdomof Murcia, remained under the scope and focusof the Castilians. This situation went from beinga tacit agreement to a real event when, on 4thDecember 1247, the troops of Prince Alphonse,the future Alphonse X, conquered the fort andoccupied the city. Following this conquest,Alicante came to be to Christian and somethingeven more decisive occurred: Castile obtainedthe best natural outlet from the plateau to theMediterranean. The privileges, authorities andexemptions granted to the Villa by Alphonsereflect the extraordinary strategic value of thearea. This situation, the consideration of Alicante

ranges and the Cape of La Huerta, that is, whatis now known as the Albufereta and morespecifically, in the location known as Tossal deManises which, according to the experts, iswhere the mythical Ibero-Roman Lucentumdeveloped. Similarly in what is today theBenalúa quarter, remains have also been foundof these distant stages of our history.Within the Roman world, the municipality ofLucentum was a discreet population that wouldprolong its peaceful days, despite the occasionalskirmish, until the end of the Roman rule andthe emergence of the Visigoth kingdom. Soonthe Latin Lucentum was to be transformedinto the Lakant medina, changing not only thelanguage and spelling of his name but thereligion, culture and even the site itself.The turbulent and warlike late mediaevalcenturies, would cause Alicante to leave theplains to seek refuge, enclosed by a city wall,between the buttresses of the fatherlyBenacantil. The remains of this small Muslimpopulation can be traced going down Villaviejastreet from the Basilica of Santa Maria, in theplaza where the main mosque would have beenand stopping at the intersection of this streetwith the High Street. There, in bygone times, theancient Porta Ferrissa [Ferrissa Gate], now nolonger there, opened up in the first city wall,the end of the early Alicante which followed thevoice of the muezzin.The growth during the period of the Taifa wouldhave reached as far as the present Rambla. TheMain Street, which can just be seen in this

Alicante is twinned with the cities of Alexandria (Egypt);

Carloforte (Italy), Herzliya (Israel), Leon (Nicaragua); Matanzas

(Cuba), Nice (France), Oran (Algeria), Riga (Latvia); Santa Ana (El

Salvador), Toyooka (Japan) and Wenzhou (China)

Did you know?...

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Vantage point in the Santa Cruz

quarter


hectolitres of wine, the famous Fondillón andAloque, were exported massively throughoutEurope and increasingly more agents andforeign merchants settled in the city amidst allthese comings and goings. Likewise, in 1801,the installation of the Tobacco Factory, the focussince then of industrial activity, was tocomplement the local economic dynamism.The entry into the nineteenth century in termsof the effects of major and profound changes,with the War of Independence, saw one of itsmost noteworthy events: Alicante equippeditself with another fortress, San Fernando. Onthe other hand, a new wall that would followthe avenues of Doctor Gadea and Alfonso elSabio protected the suburb of San Francisco,but not so that of San Anton nor the Raval Roig

historically outside the city walls, guardian ofthe memory of the old mediaeval Jewishquarter.During this century and in the heat of theTransformations of the liberal regime, severalevents took place which had an enormousimpact both on the urban fabric itself, and onthe future realisation of some ambitiousprojects. Outstanding among them theconstruction of the city as the provincial capitalin 1822, the expansion of the port, work onwhich began in 1847, and the demolition and

as a stronghold port and as the "natural" port ofCastile, was to emerge during other moments inits history.The site of the City hall reminds us of the timewhen Ferdinand II of Aragon, the Catholic king,raised the hitherto town of Alicante to citystatus, putting it on a par with the mostdynamic and populated cities of the Kingdomof Valencia. Dating back to 1490, Alicante hadabout 3,000 inhabitants. The Modern Age findsAlicante in demographic expansion. The wallthat ran along the Rambla has been exceededand two new suburbs are growing andconsolidating on the outskirts: San Anton, to thenorth, and San Francisco to the west.The War of Succession, resulting in the changeof dynasty to the benefit of the Bourbons, gave

new wings to the city’s possibilities for trade.Finally, in 1778, the ports of the Crown ofAragon lifted the ban on trade with theAmericas. And if this was not enough, in 1785Alicante obtained its own Sea Consulate tosettle its business affairs away from theguardianship of Valencia. No wonder Alicante was to become the thirdlargest Spanish port, after Barcelona andCadiz, in volume of goods traffic. Saltwort,from which soda was extracted, dried fruit andnuts, but mostly thousands and thousands of

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Entrance to the site of Lucentum in Tossal de Manises


Meanwhile, the throb of the cosmopolitan andliberal port city began to reach other ears. Theemergence of tourism came knocking at thedoor.The Ten Friends, the name of a philanthropiccompany of active and enterprising bourgeoisled in his time by an aristocrat, José CarlosAguilera Aguilera (1848-1900), the Marquis ofBenalúa, promoted the creation of a spaciousand functional new neighbourhood to the westof the San Blas cliff, approximately where thepresent Oscar Esplá Avenue runs, the streetbordering it along with the one to the northnamed after its founder, Aguilera.

The twentieth century enters with new andsignificant urban reforms and improvements.The port continues its growth, while theexpansion of the city is being consolidated andnew neighbourhoods (Carolinas,San Blas, El Pla, Florida) are interwoven to shapea city that already has more than 50,000inhabitants. Following the tragic hiatus of theSpanish Civil War, the city undergoes a slow butsteady process of rehabilitationand recovery.During the 1960s several things were noted.Little by little, the hitherto dominant role of the

final elimination of the retaining wall, a processbegun in 1854 and prolonged until 1878. Butcertainly the most decisive event was thearrival, in 1858, of the railway. The time hadcome for the expansion of a city in which theport trade, apart from prosperity and work,began to bring new trends, ideas and energies. Alicante was already home to some 30,000people and among its citizens - although thisphenomenon already came from a while back -many European names were being registered:Lacy, Fourcade, Shelly, Foglietti, O’Gormann,Bardin, Salvetti, Lamaignère, Maisonnave... Morethan a few of these new Alicante citizens,dedicated to the lucrative export of wines andthe equally profitable import of salted goods,would end up supplanting or at least mixingwith the former farming-based local rulingclasses, giving rise to what would come to beknown, with some sarcasm and a touch of envy,as the aristocràcia del bacallà [Cod Aristocracy].

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East view of Alicante city, according to the

Atlante Español by Bernardo Espinalt.

Did you know?... Alicante, with more than 330,000 inhabitants

(INE: 2008), is the eleventh largest Spanish

city in terms of population.


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port as the economic driving force began togive way to tourism and the associated activitiesoffering the city the chance to become a semi-modern type, cosmopolitan and progressivemetropolis. The provincial capital continued to consolidateits services and administrative role whileequipping itself with the latest facilities, whetherindustrial (National Aluminium Company),infrastructure (the nearby airport of El Altet) oreducational (the CEU, Centre for UniversityStudies, the basis for the future University ofAlicante). New neighbourhoods (Virgen delRemedio, Las 1.000 Viviendas, Ciudad de Asís)for the population coming to the capital fromthe rest of the province and even fromneighbouring regions in search of a betterfuture, articulate the image of a city growing atthe same time as its inhabitants’ desires formodernization, which also enabled spaces forcivic, social and participatory life to be openedup.Hence the Transition, the constitution of ademocratic council and the establishment ofthe State of the Autonomies in Spain, wereexperienced in Alicante with great enthusiasm

and hope. Growth continued. Gran Vía, theBulevar del Pla, the Vía Parque and the new ringroads contributed to improved communicationsand accessibility between different areas of thecity, while the recent shopping centres createdon the urban outskirts determined the currentsocial leisure uses. Over recent years, Alicantehas been provided with new facilities and useswhich have diversified and amply completed itslist of resources. The four-fold crown, achievedby virtue of its bureaucratic andadministrative potential (OAMI) [Office forHarmonization in the Internal Market - EUTrademarks and Designs Registration Office],passion for sports (Starting point for theVolvo Ocean Race), commitment to cinemaand art as a driving force for development(City of Light) and more recently, its recentlyratified suitability for the call to interculturaldialogue (House of the Mediterranean), furtherbroaden the operational capacity of thisbasically service-oriented city and close off tothe south, completing the seafront, the zoneduse of spaces, from the beach of San Juan tothat of Saladar.

The disappeared Sea Consulate building, the opening of l'Altet airport, Postiguet beach, Monument to the Martyrs of Liberty and prints of the Railway and the Port


departure of 30,000 Moors expelled in 1609, orthe last chapter of the Spanish Civil War playedout precisely from this port, also forming part ofthe memory embedded in its stones. SantaBárbara castle has been owned, as explicitlyrecorded, “by Alicante and the people ofAlicante”, since 1929. But it was not until 50years later, that is, in 1979, that the DefenceMinistry handed over ownership of themountain housing it, Benacantil, to the City Hall.

ARCHITECTURE

Santa BárbaraCastle

Its three areas, built at different times and situated atdifferent levels, offer a repertoire of building elementsthat make its perimeter a fairly well preserved andcomplete catalogue of defensive architecture.

Some Facts:- Declared a National Historic-Artistic

Monument in 1961. Currently a BIC

[denoting an item of Cultural Interest].

- Its perimeter of over 2,200 meters makes

it one of the largest in Spain in extent.

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Des del matxo delCastell [From the top ofthe castle]Advances and vicissitudes

If Benacantil, with its constant presence over thecity is an inescapable visual landmark, the fortthat crowns it, Santa Bárbara castle, bringshistorical substance. Built over several centuries,Santa Bárbara castle is the repositary of thepassage through Alicante of Iberians,Carthaginians, Romans, Muslims, Castilians andAragonese; the siege by the French and English,and encounters - and even disagreementsbetween the Spanish themselves. The castle'shistory is long and eventful. What would thewalls not have seen throughout the centuries?.The constant comings and goings of merchantships, most of the time. But this was not alwaysso, there were times when ships did not bringsuch good intentions. This proved the case in1691, when a warring French fleet bombardedthe city, destroying almost ninety percent of it,during yet another episode in which the weakHabsburg monarchy was harassed by Louis XIV.Or when a rebel fleet from Cartagena followedsuit in 1873, amid a regional revolt. The dramatic


Old Town, and continuing through the streets of SanRafael arriving at the park of La Ereta. From there, allthe way uphill, the enthusiastic mountaineer’s urgeto get to the top more than compensates the effortsof the walk. For those who opt for a morecomfortable solution, like that provided by a car nodoubt, the road from Jaime II avenue reaches theentrance of the fortress situated on the shaded sideof Benacantil. Finally, access is completed throughthe tunnel and the elevator cut into the very bowelsof the rock in the mid-twentieth century. The door tothe long hallway leading to this faces Jovellanosstreet, opposite the Postiguet beach, making this avery convenient and pleasant path. Once in thePlaza de Armas, the feeling that we are in a militarysetting is complete. The Guards building, the loungeof Philip II and the old kitchens, along with access tothe various bastions go back to the best defencetechniques carried out under the Habsburgs.

However, the cultural and recreational usecurrently enjoyed by the installations, someturned into functional exhibition rooms orvenues for outdoor concerts, muffles the echoesof ancient warrior fervour. But much remains tobe seen of the castle and you must carry onclimbing if you want to reach the oldest part ofthe fortress, the mediaeval citadel, themagnificent and impregnable fortresscommented on by, among others, Alphonse X,

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Similarly, in 1961 it received the designation of aHistoric Artistic Monument, and only a few yearslater it was opened to public visits. But it is time togo “up there" to get a better idea of “down here".There are three ways of reaching Santa Bárbaracastle. The more intrepid can even do it on foot,starting from the Carmen plaza in the heart of the

Courtyard of Santa Bárbara castle

Did you know that the fortress was called Santa Bárbara in

homage to and memory of the date of the Muslim conquest,

which took place on 4th December - more precisely in 1247 - the

date when the Church celebrates the feast of the Christian

martyr?

Santa BárbaraCastle


the Wise (1221-1284), the celebrated chroniclerRamon Muntaner (1265-1336) or by localchroniclers Bendicho Vicente (1584-1642) andRafael Viravens (1836-1908).

In one corner, a discretely sized monumenthonours the memory of Nicolas Peris, thelast governor who had the fortress underCastilian sovereignty. The defence of thecastle, as useless as it was closed, against the

Did you know...?

harassment of the armies of James II and hisown heroic gesture, falling mortally wounded,sword in one hand and the keys to the castle inthe other, call to mind the romantic image of afigure reminiscent of the era. The mediaeval fortress occupied the highestpart of the castle, the core of what hastraditionally been known as the matxo. Turretsand canons are aimed, although peacefully now,serving as support and a photo call for thosewho want to enjoy spectacular views of boththe city and its port spread out at its feet; thenearby Sierra de San Julián, younger sister ofBenacantil; the spectacular bay open to theMediterranean and the circle of mountains(Maigmó, Cabeça d'Or, Aitana and PuigCampana...) and other mountain ranges markingoff the visual space of the "terreta" or homeland.On a clear day the panorama is a feast for theeyes: the silhouette of the island of Tabarcaoffshore from Cape Santa Pola.

Did youknow…?

During the 1930s, a Portuguese named Antonio

Conceirao, an active entrepreneur but rather out of

touch with reality, tried to give Benacantil and the

castle an amusement park and a funicular similar to

those at the Tibidabo in Barcelona. The project was

not given approval.

Alicante "belongs to" King James? Not the first, but the second. Although the Conqueror was

in Alicante and even attended Mass at St. Nicholas, it is in fact his grandson to which the city

pays homage. He definitively incorporated it into the Crown of Aragon in 1296, by deed and

law, in 1304. The avenue running round the north east face of Benacantil, an impressive

contemporary statue of the monarch on the roundabout of the avenue, as well as a high

school, well known for being a seedbed for local thespians, all bear his name.

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The call of tourism

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Whispering wind

The tourist orientation, one of the strengths thatexplain the dynamism of the city, does notactually come from nowadays.. Already AntonioJosé Cavanilles (1745-1804), in his Observations,was making known the modernity andcosmopolitan air of Alicante in the protection ofits commercial trade assets, as well as the largenumber of foreigners entering and leaving thecity for this purpose, or who went on to livethere permanently. However, to assess thisprocess fairly we would have to come to thenineteenth century and more specifically to ayear as crucial as1858, during which Alicantebecame the first seaport connecting with thecapital of Spain by rail. The efforts of progress,which at that time was carried by the wagonspaid for by José de Salamanca (1811-1883), whoencouraged the MZA (Madrid-Zaragoza-Alicante)line, were soon accompanied by othersymptoms of a modernity that began to

The old railway station

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generate interest in some of its most restlesssectors.

The fame of good weather assured for mostof the year, along with hygienist theorieswhich regarded as a healthy practice - andtherefore recommended - bathing in the sea,gradually became part of the mindset of thosefrom Madrid, and later for other Spaniards, aswas the idea of travelling to Alicante to enjoy it.And so the idea of the summer break also beganto travel on the rails that crossed La Mancha.These were the final years of the century whenthe trains became popularly known as the botijo(a pitcher with a drinking spout), so calledbecause during the long ride the occupantsoften held these popular receptacles out of thewindows of the wagons to cool their contents.The city and especially some of its most alertinhabitants were not on the fringe of thephenomenon. Thus, a prominent exponent ofthe local society of the time Mariano Roca deTogores (1812-1889), first Marquis of Molins,proudly admitted to his friend Breton de losHerreros that Alicante was undoubtedly the bestplace in the world, a popular slogan at the timewhich was to become a hallmark, perhaps themost widely used and popularised of popularimagery from Alicante. The slow butunstoppable rise of the city as a touristdestination would find in the bathing resorts ofPostiguet, delightful wooden constructions builtover the sea itself, another of its mostcharacteristic features. Although these


disappeared by the middle of the twentiethcentury, the evocative names of theseestablishments: Diana, Alianza, Almirante, LasDelicias... offering all kinds of services(restaurants, changing rooms, rest rooms, etc.),offered a special charm to the image of the BelleÉpoque Alicante.

Alicante would receive the twentieth centurycarving out for itself an image of a cosmopolitan

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Did you know Alicante enjoys a Mediterranean climate characterised by mild winters and warmsummers, the average annual temperature is between 11 ° C in January and 26 º C in August andrainfall is low (340 mm yearly average) and concentrated in spring and autumn.Climate

city derived from the intense activity of its portand its openness to international dynamics.Trends, ideas and attitudes came from otherlatitudes and, for that reason, particularlyinclined towards exchange and progress,supported Alicante’s commitment to having itsown brand of tourism, its own image.What was soon to be equated with the "SpanishNice," in part because of the strong traditionalFrench presence (traders and shippers), was totake further steps towards becoming a friendlyresidential city for both summer and winter too.The City Council did not remain on the fringe.The implementation of the Alicante ClimatePublicity Committee, in 1896; the promotionof the Winter Festivals, the origin of what waseventually to become the Alicante Carnival;the appearance in 1929 of the San JuanBonfires or the Prieto residential city project (sonamed in honour of the Minister of the Republicwho pushed it forward) are all examples of thisenterprising spirit.

Decades passed as the city continued to evolvein its services and infrastructure and increasinglymoved towards an activity that had long sincebeen taking the place of port traffic as the main


driving force of the economy. The arrival ofthousands of French settlers from Algeria, thefamous pieds-noirs [black feet], with theindependence of the former colony in 1962,would result in the development of new projectsand businesses. Today, the consolidation of theextensive offer of hotel, restaurant andcommercial establishments together with thecreation of a complete network of cultural andleisure facilities, have ended up making Alicante acity visitors can always enjoy and everyoneaccompanying them enjoys as well.

From the "jug train" of Spain ruled by Alphonseto the “House of Spring", a friendly expression ofWenceslao Fernández Flórez (1885-1964) in hisrole as a tourism theorist, passing through thelatest "Come whenever you like", the journey of

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the City of Light, of this pragmatic city in thetourism battle is, as can be seen from what hasbeen said so far, a constant catalyst to embark onthe adventure of getting to know it. So, let’s dojust that. The city and its many vantage points,resources and incentives are waiting for us...

The firsttourist

The first person to behave as a "tourist" in Alicante dates

right back to the thirteenth century. A woman and a Queen

no less. She was Violant, daughter of James I the Conqueror

and wife of King Alphonse X the Wise. Her long stay in

Alicante already forms a part of the city’s imagery. A whole

neighbourhood, the Pla del Bon Repos, recalls the

sovereign's constant pleasant retreats fleeing the harsh

climate of the plateau.

View of Alicante from the Ereta park


Inproportionwith stone

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The Monument Route

Itinerary 1

1 City Hall

Church of Santa Maria2

Co-Cathedral of San Nicolas3

Maisonnave Palace4

Agustina Convent5

Main Theatre6

Central Market7

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Castillo de

Santa Barbara

5

62

Playa del Postiguet

Pl. Puertadel Mar

Pl.Ayuntamiento

4

Rambla M

éndez Núñez

Lopez Torregrosa

Av. Alfonso X El Sabio

ArquitectoMiguel Lopez

Av. Juan Bautis

ta Lafora

General Rovira

Explanada de España

Teatro

Pl. del Puerto Viejo

Museo Pozosde Garrigós

Hermita deSan Roque

Gerona

César Alguezabal

T.C. Chápuli

San FernandoMedico Manero Moliá

Portal

del Elche

Castaños

Bazán

7

Poeta Campos Vasallos

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Historicism, Modernism, Rationalism, “Casticism”[the dominance of all things Spanish] to end upin the bold architecture of our day. The main attractions are concentrated for theconvenience of the visitor only a shortdistance apart. Alicante thus offers excellentopportunities for leisurely walks enjoying theheritage. The sustainability of the practice oftourism is all about control and knowing its ownstrength. We begin, therefore, heading for one ofthe plazas which, although it has not acquiredthe relevance of other parts of the city due totheir greater commercial use or because theyhave become a major communication hub, doesconcentrate all the representativeness and thehistorical burden of the building which gives itits name. That plaza and the monument itcontains form a whole: the Plaza delAyuntamiento [City Hall].

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Did youknow...?

The towers of the City Hall, during the initial stage of the project, were both

crowned by wooden spires,, which a storm blew down just as building work was

about to be finished and rebuilding them has never been considered. However,

the towers, discreet but strong, even truncated, rise to a height of 35 metres.

Some Facts:- Listed as a National Historic-Artistic Monument since 1961.Currently a BIC [denoting an item ofCultural Interest].- Built between 1696 and 1780.

Built heritage

Alicante’s scant but balancedrepertoire of monumentsincludes a very interestingcatalogue of buildings andproperties, for those searchingfor emotions conveyed bybuilding in stone.

Without being excessive in number, the city’sarchitectural heritage is not unbalanced by thepossible abundance of religious buildings orcivilian ones or vice versa, neither can it be saidthat a particular style takes precedence overothers and eclipses them. Alicante’s monumentscover the most diverse types ranging frompalaces to churches and from castle to chapel,passing through convent, theatre, market andeven port sheds, while the styles cover achronological spectrum of forms, starting withGothic, and making interesting stops along theway, in Baroque, Academicism, Eclecticism,


This building, constructed between 1696 and1780, replaced the original city hall,destroyed during the bombing the city wassubjected to by the French in 1691. Thenames of the architects: Borja, Terol, Mingot,Soler and Chápuli, are linked inevitably to thismasterpiece of Alicante civil architecture. It isvery interesting for visitors to look for thevanishing points of different parts of themonument from the reference point which theimposing and ever-vigilant Benacantil represents.This game of framing a view gives a chance toshine for those who cannot conceive of lifewithout a good camera to hand. Once inside, wecome into the hallway, the only area of thebuilding that can be visited. From there we canlook at the bold stairwell, giving access to thethree floors of the building. The upper closure inthe form of a cupola, is a very original yetelegant solution that brings light to the insidewhile achieving a beautiful and decorative finishto the front façade as seen from the street. Animposing triptych by Gastón Castelló Bravo(1903-1986), a leading Alicante painter of the lastcentury, fills our eyes with images alluding to theconstruction of the building itself, accompaniedby allegorical shots of an Alicante suspended intime and memory. The City Hall also hosts an essential reference forSpanish geography. At the very beginning of thestaircase, namely at the height of the third step,a discreet plaque reminds us that Alicante is thepoint from which the topographical height ofthe whole national territory is measured, takingsea level as a reference. This choice, adopted infull during the Enlightenment movement, hadmuch to do with the mathematician andmariner from Alicante, Juan y Santacilia (1713-1773), who has a street named in his honour

City Hall

Alicante’s City Hall, one of the most elegant andsober public buildings of the Valencian Baroqueperiod, has indeed the civic and urban poisewhich speaks of a self-made city. The plaza oftoday, on which it stands and with which itforms a balanced ensemble, offers the scale anddimensions designed to enhance specifically itsvisual but above all its symbolic prominence asbefits the Casa de la Ciudad.Designed from the pattern of a rectangular blockflanked by two towers, rooted in the besttradition of the Mediterranean Gothic style,Alicante’s city hall is a prototype which in turnprovided the architects with the solutions for themansions and palaces that the local aristocracyprovided themselves with in the eighteenthcentury and even well into the nineteenth.

23

of


starting out from the city hall plaza.Although not open to the public, and thereforeonly able to be visited in exceptionalcircumstances, the top floors provide rooms andspaces (Blue Room, Chapel) where valuableworks of art are kept, curios and above allendless motifs and mementoes relating to the

most outstanding events of local history.Coming out, we return again to the empty andpeaceful plaza. An administrative and functionalplaza accustomed to people “passing through".The trend is only reversed, of course, during thelarge festive events (Bonfires, Santa Faz) and thento a lesser extent and more intimately, everySunday, when a lively market takes placeunder its porches, where you can findanything at an excellent price, from books tostamps, coins, comics, cards or records to themost unexpected piece of junk.Let's continue our walk along Jorge Juan Street.A few metres away, a solid stone stairway invitesus to go up. Here we gain access to one of themost evocative, beautiful and monumentalplazas of old Alicante, which takes its name fromits main building and is called Santa Maria.

A place of worship for defence

The Basilica of Santa Maria, while not exceptionalin size or architectural composition, isnevertheless one of those monuments that is asurprise when you come across it. Let us focuson the main gateway of the Baroque façade,

built by Manuel Violat and Pedro Juan Violatbetween 1721 and 1728, under the direction ofJuan Bautista Borja (1684-1756). Elegantlycomposed in its form and proportions in termsof total façade volume, it seems to have beenmade for nothing other than to stand outpleasantly and surprise visitors as they turn thecorner.

24


What was, in its day, the site of the Muslimmosque of Lakant, is today a church whichbasically maintains its Gothic structure - astructure otherwise common to theMediterranean Gothic: a single nave with openside chapels between the buttresses - uniteswithout any discord the additions that theRenaissance, Baroque and Rococo periodsinserted into its stone flanks.Except for the decorative nature of the maindoor, the building exudes a formal sobriety, adecorative rationality and succinctness alien tothe excesses that seem to have been exclusiveto Alicante architecture throughout the ages.Going further, and viewed as a whole, SantaMaría appears to be more a militaryconstruction than a church.And it was well for this place of worship and thecity itself at many times throughout its historythat Santa María maintained that dual role as aplace of worship and as an almostsupplementary element in the city’s defences.On the side of the church running alongJorge Juan street and the adjacent Paseíto deRamiro, the wall still shows the noble warwounds, in the form of shell-blasts, a legacyfrom the 1709 siege, this time by the English,which took place at the height of the SpanishWar of Succession.

25

Again, our eyes are

invited to leap in scale

and go from ground

level to the top of the

Basilica Tower and from

there to the matxa of

the castle, almost

unable to stop

ourselves. Alicante is

viewed from across the

sea but also, let us not

forget, from the top of

its urban peak.

Vanishing points


But let us go inside. Wider than it is high, SantaMaría offers a welcome feeling of peace andquiet. The Gothic nave, raised at the end of thefifteenth century, leads the eye towards apresbytery where an elegant rococo decorationgives shelter to a late-Gothic image of thechurch’s namesake. Other works of art worthseeing in this church, which is one of the best-loved by the men and women of Alicante, andalso the most-requested when it comes togetting married, are an elegant baptismal font inmarble worked in Genoa in the sixteenthcentury, a testimony to the frequent commercialmovement, extended to the realm of art, whichAlicante’s port experienced; an expressive anddaring representation of the Saints John, carvedon wood by Rodrigo de Osona (1440-1518) andan impressive yet delicate image of theImmaculate Virgin, carved by the great Valenciansculptor of the seventeen hundreds, José EsteveBonet (1741-1802). The basilica of Santa María

also boasts the classification of a Historic ArtisticNational Monument since1975 and has CulturalInterest status.

Sisters of the Blood

Continuing on our particular tour following theroute around the city’s monuments and works ofart, we have to go down Villavieja street andcontinue along Maldonado street. Barely ahundred metres on we will find the Quijanoplaza. This little square, evocative of the best ofAlicante’s essence in market gardening andseafaring, seems to be guarded by the hugemass of the convent of the Augustine ReverendMothers, also known as the Sisters of the Blood.Built in the eighteenth century as a Jesuit school,this is the only example still standing as atestimony to the network of convents (Carmelite,Dominican, Franciscan, Capuchin...) that thebaroque Alicante had. From its stocky compactvolume and its constructional purity, it respondsto the sober architectural line that defines thecity’s repertoire of monuments.Despite not being able to visit its rooms andabove all its secluded cloister, due to theconvent being subject to absolute cloister, it isworth noting that amongst its treasures is theVirgin of Solitude, the oldest carving that goesout on procession in Alicante’s Holy Week

Santa María was one of the hosts of the series The Light of

Images, more specifically the edition held in Alicante in 2006

and indeed it obtained Papal recognition as a basilica, partly

thanks to that event.

Did youknow...?

26


celebrations. The convent of the Nuns of theBlood has been recognised as a Historic ArtisticMonument since1982 and has Cultural Intereststatus.

The city’s first place of worship

Continuing along Carmen street as far as theplaza of the same name, and turning left to godown Abad Nájera street, the cupola of theimposing building serves as a guide. It is the co-cathedral of San Nicolás de Bari. So we set aboutgetting to know in greater depth about the city’sfirst place of worship. The main façade is a lesson in the bestRenaissance architecture to be found in theRegion of Valencia. The rigor of the Doric orderon the front and the serene attitude of theimage of the Virgin presiding over it, full ofmemories of the work by Michelangelo, is just aforetaste of what awaits the visitor inside. Nosooner has one entered than a sense ofspaciousness and calm is conveyed to us by abuilding which, in spite of its totally Herreranarchitecture [a Spanish Renaissance style named

after its chief practitioner, Juan de Herrera 1513-1593], is by no means heavy or occlusive. Thelightness of the pale sandstone with which it isbuilt, originating, as does nearly all that used inthe city’s monuments, from the San Julián sierra,provides an unusual sense of tranquillity. As ifthis were not enough, raising one’s eyes to thecupola, with its coffered structure in the style ofRome’s Pantheon, creates the sensation offloating in space, without any more support than

27


collegiate into a co-cathedral, an honour whichthe aforementioned has recently celebrated theJubilee of its 50 years and in whosecommemoration the Valencian governmentcollaborated, through the Light of the ImagesFoundation, in the refurbishment of the building,as well as in the restoration of its valuable artisticheritage. Well may it be said that San Nicolásshines now as never before. We can see forourselves. Turning left from the main door, thealtarpiece Ánimas, an excellent work by FrayNicolás Borrás (1530-1610) makes an impact onus with its strong use of colours.We look forward to the calm because theadjoining chapel of the Communion immersesthe visitor in our best and most genuine baroque.Begun in 1699 and finished in 1738 by JuanBautista Borja, this true masterpiece representsthe culmination of the sensitivity and aestheticideology of the Counter-Reformation. The

the sight of those looking from below. In effect,we find ourselves looking at a work that wasworthy of the social dynamic that promoted thecreation of a place worthy of worship anddevotion, very maritime, as befits a seafaring city,of the Bishop of Mira. It is no surprise that StNicholas was soon named as Alicante’spatron saint, as it could not be otherwise, andthat the dynamism of his parish church, inparallel with the city’s Renaissance expansion,would be to the prejudice of the doyenneamong Alicante’s churches, the mediaeval SantaMaría, displaced from the new centre of gravitythat was stretching out over the plain andtowards the west. Already by 1596, San Nicoláshad won hands down over Santa María,snatching from her, not without her putting up astrong resistance, the dignity of being appointedcollegiate. Finally, in 1959, the creation of theOrihuela-Alicante diocese in turn converted the

28


alabasters. We cannot continue on our waywithout looking at the side façade with its imageof the church’s namesake, similarly worked, as arethe Virgin of the main door and the chapel of theCommunion, by the aforementioned JuanBautista Borja. The popularly named Black Door,due to the colouring of the marble used in itsconstruction, is a harmonious compendium instone of the best classical style. Thecommemorative stone plaque dedicated to theHoly Face which is just at the side of the BlackDoor, delightful for its touch of popular devotion,as well as the inscriptions of the apse remindingus, taking leave of San Nicolás and all that thechurch and its saint represent for the city, that theplaces of worship are a living expression in stoneof the community’s faith, will and sentiment.

chapel’s altarpiece, carried out using rich marbles,goes back to the times of special economicboom experienced by the city during theseventeen hundreds. Continuing the tour of theplace of worship going in a clockwise direction,we come across such interesting works as theimage of Our Father Jesus, which is especiallyvenerated when it goes out on procession inHoly Week, or the baroque organ, a basicinstrument of the church’s musical chapel forwhich a good number of pieces of sacred musichave been composed over the centuries. Now inthe apse, the main chapel, dedicated to thenamesake of the church, presents a rich leafybaroque decoration carried out with amulticoloured tangle of plant motifs andcherubs. Over this chapel, the niche of the Virginhas, since 1921, held the image of the patronsaint of Alicante, the Virgin of the Remedy. In themiddle of the presbytery, the canopy ortabernacle, carved in Genoa at the end of theseventeenth century, delights the eyes with acolourful display of rich marbles, jaspers and

29

SanNicolás

Other points of interest in San Nicolás are the chapel of Christ of the

Good Death, with an impressive anonymous carving from the end

of the sixteenth or early seventeenth century, the sacristy, the

chapterhouse and the secluded cloister where the vegetation,

stonework, wrought iron railings, water and the ever-present light of

the city provide a setting for calmness and reflexion.

Some facts:- Classified since 1961 as a NationalHistoric Monument. Currentlyenjoys Cultural Interest status.- Built between 1616 and 1738.


An urban fabric with a storyto tell

We continue our route along Labradores street,one of the essential focal points of theRenaissance and baroque city. There are stillsome of the mansions and palaces erected inthe boom years by those who were the drivingforce behind the boom, the proud members ofthe local farming and mercantile aristocracy.Sober and adhering to the aesthetic argumentproper to the seventeen hundreds in Alicante,various of these palaces have been restored forpublic use as cultural or civil facilities. That is thecase of the one that houses the Centro 14, aspace for youth activities and participation, theone that will house the City’s CulturalDepartment, or the Llorca-Maisonnave palace,currently the premises of the Municipal Archive,under whose basement lie, partly covered by aglazed surface, the perfectly documentedremains of bones and materials of a formerburial site from the late Roman era discoveredin 1989. In this mansion where Ramón deCampoamor (1817-1901) resided for the summerseasons, another who was in love with this landand above all its climate, documents are keptexplaining the city’s history covering achronological span from the eighteenth centuryto present times. Letters and royal privileges,original records of deeds, codes, laws, decrees,regulations, accounts books, censuses, maps,prints, photographs and endless documents ofthe most varied types, make this place, andfundamentally its peaceful study and research

30

Did you know that the intense commercial traffic of the port also

participated in the costs of building the Alicante theatre? One real

de vellón [a historic Spanish unit of money] for every quintal [a unit

of weight = 46kg] of cod and four reales for every box of sugar,

amongst other taxes, were levied to defray the costs of creating a

space for enjoying the dramatic arts in the Alicante of the eighteen

hundreds. The total cost rose to nearly 1,000,000 reales.

MainTheatre


room, a paradise for history-lovers. Crossing theRambla at the corner with Duque de Zaragozastreet, we come to the Ruperto Chapí plaza,attracted by the serene image offered by thebuilding of the Teatro Principal and, moreparticularly, its stocky portico of Etruscan stylecolumns. Fitting in perfectly with the Classicalstyle of the whole group, a contemporaryAgamemnon, a work by Carlos García Muela(1977), with its dense bronze corporeality,reinforces the echoes of the Mediterranean thatare breathed in each and every corner of thecity. Alicante’s Teatro Principal, built in just20 months, between 1846 and 1847, by thearchitect Emilio Jover (late 18th century to1854) was responding to the need for leisurefacilities that the nineteenth century Alicantebourgeoisie sought for itself. And one of themain forms of leisure was clearly theatre, alongwith music and, to a lesser extent, taking intoaccount its condition as a “provincial city”, theopera. Since then, Alicante’s Coliseum haswitnessed with great intensity the city’svicissitudes, reflecting the tastes and interests ofa public classed by those in the know asdemanding and, in passing, contributing to thefact that not a few enthusiasts – some ofwhom, in time, having achieved the categoryof professionals – ended up treading the

31

Did you know that the stage of the Teatro Principal has shone the

spotlight on performers of the calibre of Julián Romea, Julián

Gayarre, Pablo Sarasate, Margarita Xirgu, Arthur Rubinstein, Sergej

Diaghilev, Miguel Fleta, Conchita Piquer, María Guerrero, Celia

Gámez, Franz Johann, Lola Flores, José Tamayo, Nuria Espert,

Andrés Segovia, Teresa Berganza, Adolfo Marsillach, Els Joglars,

Dagoll Dagom, Lindsay Kemp and countless others?

“Stage lights”


boards themselves. That explains, for example,the fact that, since 1988, the now consolidatedAlicante Amateur Theatre Display has beenheld onstage. Likewise, since 1993, the TeatroPrincipal has acted as the headquarters for theDisplay of Spanish Theatre by ContemporaryAuthors, a festival which, organised by theMinistry of Culture, in conjunction with theAlicante Provincial Council, the capital’s CityCouncil, theatres of the Regional Government,the charitable activities of the health insurancecompany Caja de Ahorros Mediterráneo (CAM)and the SGAE [General Assosication of Authorsand Publishers], recognises the city’scommitment to all creative and avant-gardemovements. Alongside the theatre, a smallplanted area marks the memory dedicated byAlicante’s people in the form of a bust totheir fellow citizen, Ruperto Chapí (1851-1909), author of very well-known zarzuelas[Spanish operetta] and an exponent parexcellence of the spirit and essence of the mosttypically and purely Spanish Madrid. Wecontinue going up Constitución avenue, not

32

without first admiring the interplay ofvolumes, colours and styles offering us twobuildings placed opposite each other: the Casade Socorro and the former Cine Ideal. The puretraditional Spanishness of the former togetherwith the adaptation of the latter to a local ArtDeco, offers a particularly evocative snapshot ofthe Alicante of the 1920s and ’30s. A stone’sthrow away, the outline of an unusual buildinggreets us from its airy ironwork structure and

Did youknow...?

the 100 numbers of the ONCE [Spanish National Organisation for the Blind] lottery many years ago were “christened” by the Alicante populace withsonorous nicknames in very pure traditional Spanish. It is not unusual in the vicinity of the Market to hear lottery ticket sellers singing out “I still have Elgalán, el navili, la mala nit, el clavell, les mamelles, el lleó, la torre, la negra, Alacant, els gallecs...!” [roughly equivalent to “handsome, ship, bad night,carnation, breasts, lion, tower, black woman, Alicante, Galicians…”]


the use of the decorative trencadís of amodernist memory. That building is none otherthan the Central Market, built between 1921and 1924, and which constitutes one of themost relevant testimonies to Modernism in thecity. The Market, also known as “la plaza”, bywide sectors of the populace, is surprising fromthe very moment we recognise in its forms thewide-ranging command of resources and theno less complete knowledge of the history ofarchitecture of its author, Juan Vidal Ramos(1888-1975). Appearances are deceptive.Looking at the spacious basilica-like nave andthe adjacent building crowned by a hugecupola, a faithful imitation of an Italianbaptistery, anyone would say that we werelooking at what could well be termed “Our

Lady of the Fresh Produce Supplies”. But no, thisis not a church, but a market, and neither is itjust any market but rather one thatcorresponds to the Spanish and still moreMediterranean tradition. That is to say, acomplete and multicoloured conglomerationof fresh produce, a sheer delight for all thesenses, above all, a hurly-burly of bustlingactivity and life...The plaza of the Market, at its rear, opens upairy and cheerful offering the colourful view ofthe flower stalls. Seated on one of its bronzebenches, the figure of the painter GastónCastelló, also made in that noble metal bronze,serenely contemplating the light that he sooften depicted in his works.

33


Acitywithinreach

34


Charming Corners

Itinerary 2

1 Elche Gateway

Esplanade2

Plaza Gabriel Miró3

Plaza Hernán Cortés4

Plaza La Montañeta5

Plaza Calvo Sotelo6

Av. Doctor Gadea (Witches’ House)7

Canalejas park8

Plaza Canalejas9

Av. Federico Soto

Av. Alfonso X el Sabio

9

Rambla M

éndez Núñez

2

5

6

7

8

4

3

Álvarez Sereix

San Francisco

Canalejas San Fernando

1

Navas

Teatro

Bazán

Pl.Ruperto

Chapi

Gerona

Pl. de LosLuceros

Segura

BelandoPablo Iglesias

García M

orato

San Vicente

Mercado

Central

Av. Maisonnave

General O’Donnell

Alemania

Arzobispo Loaces

Pl. San

Cristóbal

S. Tomás

T.C. Chápuli


Pl.Ayuntamiento

Mayor

Pl.Santísima

Paz

S. Nicolás

San FernandoPl. P

uerta

de la Mar

Gral. Rovira

35


...s’abaniquen lespalmeres [fanningpalm trees]We now take a stroll throughthe spaces especially designedfor that. As happened on theRoute of Monuments, the city’s“human” dimensions offerexcellent opportunities to enjoya leisurely and carefree stroll,whether on your own, as acouple, with friends or as afamily.

36

One soon realises that the palm trees seen all overAlicante, are much more than just a tree. Morethan ornamental or complementary to the moreor less traditional landscape, the tree that is atotem of the city has become an urban icon, acomplete allegory of Mediterranean life. So muchso that there is no great avenue, walkway, orleisure area that is not garlanded with palmtrees, these legendary trees whose resistanceto aridity constitutes a tribute to the veryinstinct for survival and overcoming adversity withwhich the Alicante people has had to confront lifein a difficult terrain. So it is not strange thatAlicante should have associated its self-imagewith this botanical species much-loved forornamenting and decorating its public spaces.Hence, too, at the height of the Hogueras [bonfirefestivities], the men and women of Alicanteexcitedly chant: A la llum de les Fogueres,s’abaniquen les palmeres… [By the light of thebonfires, fanning palm trees sway…]Any stroll around has to begin somewhere, andthe most logical, one might even say the mostgenerally accepted place is the Explanada deEspaña [the seafront promenade], undoubtedlythe most representative image of Alicante, animmediate reference point in the subconscious ofall who visit for the first time, and of those whohave seen it on some occasion and think – andwith good reason – of returning to visit it again.The Explanada de España, one of the mostfamous promenades of the country to which italludes, points out in its very name thecircumstances that gave rise to its appearanceand, like nearly everything in this city, have to dowith the sea, always so nearby. In the earlynineteenth century, the growing port activityrequired a greater area for berthing, loading andunloading ships than the existing docks offeredup to then. The need for a supplementary dock ofgreater capacity determined the demolishing ofthe stretch of seawall running along the coastline


and the consequent levelling of the rubble into aplatform which was at first referred to as ElMalecón [the seafront promenade].As the decades passed, part of the Malecón,which from halfway through the century waslined with ornamental borders of trees andshrubs, gradually started to attract the attention oflocal society to end up becoming, known by thenas Paseo de los Mártires, one of the city’s mostemblematic leisure spaces. However, it was notuntil 1929 that ownership of the lands wastransferred to the City Council by the port, whichhad hitherto been the owner. The Explanada’sappearance as it is known today is the result of

EXPLANADA

Did youknow…?

the former name, Paseo de los Mártires, is a reference to the

executions that took place there in 1844. On 8th March that year,

Col. Pantaleón Boné, together with a group of loyal followers, were

executed for rising up against the government. The title of “Freedom

Martyrs” was the recognition with which the liberal Spanish wished

to rehabilitate their memory.

Some facts:The Explanada de Españacovers an area of 10,000square metres made up ofover 6,000,000 mosaiccobbles in three differentcolours of marble: black,cream and “Alicante red”.

the remodelling undertaken in 1955. The paving, carried out in marble mosaiccobbles, and above all its design, a clearallusion to the waves of the sea, forms a typicalimage, the favourite snapshot or picture postcardwhen it comes to communicating with a far offrelative or a friend who has been in Alicante. Thatimage is completed if we include in thebackground, the fountain of the Puerta del Marplaza, the former hotel Palas, refurbished to housethe Chamber of Commerce, and the first twobuildings of the Explanada proper: the Carbonelland Lamaignere buildings, excellent examples ofeclectic architecture and a reflection of the

37


trading potential achieved by the localbourgeoisie. The Explanada, an urbanthoroughfare par excellence, completes its leisureoffer with plenty of cafés and bars selling thefavourite local speciality soft drink “horchata”[tiger-nut milk], ice-cream parlours and teashops,all in convivial neighbourliness with pubs, veteranrestaurants of typical Alicante cooking – some ofthem tota la vida [lifelong] – other morefunctional establishments of international cuisineand the upcoming fast-food franchises. In anothersphere, the historic Alicante Casino, situatedhalfway along the esplanade, retains, despite itsmany refurbishments, the feel and features of theAlicante of yesteryear. In short, strolling alongthe Explanada de España, or just “laExplanada” as it is more commonly called,represents a whole exercise of “being inAlicante” in the first instance... And, it goeswithout saying, a must for every tourist. So wecontinue on our way. Alicante has various plazasand little gardens or squares which, above all insummer, act as real oases of calm and freshness inthe midst of the urban melee. All of them have, intheir turn, much to tell us about the history of thecity, its inhabitants and the characters that havemarked out the local modus vivendi. Let us takethem one by one.

38

Did youknow...?

The pompous style of the Carbonell building reflects the idea of itsproponent and owner, Enrique Carbonell, of humiliating theneighbouring building, the former Hotel Palas, in revenge for an oldaffront committed by the hotel’s management. Others assure that theoffence came from the other neighbours, the Lamaigneres. So muchfor that. A grudge between rival neighbours has turned into a curiousurban legend …

Very close to the Explanada and accessing it bythe Rambla, another thoroughfare of reference,the Portal de Elche is reached. A limited butpleasant enough space, occupying the site wherethe gateway of the city walls stood, throughwhich passed all those who, whether on foot ordriving, were heading for the city of Misteri. Itsfour parterres are planted with a powerful mass ofvegetation consisting of palm trees, fig trees andother species, growing around a central kiosk,evoking in its form and setting the most affableMediterranean lifestyle. That is exactly how theartist Manuel Baeza Gómez (1911-1986) came toportray it in the form of a gigantic mosaic on thesurface of the skyscraper in front of us. Continuingalong Manero Mollá street, or that of SanFrancisco with plenty of good restaurants withspeedy service, we come to perhaps one of theprettiest plazas in this part of the city, its nameplate recalling Alicante’s most celebrated writer:

Did you know that the Portal de Elche was the area outside the city walls

where the condemned were executed? Fortunately, in our times, capital

punishment has given way to lively conversation over an aperitif or a

refreshing drink.

From gallows to meeting point


Gabriel Miró Ferrer (1879-1930). And certainly,being unanimously regarded as the bestinterpreter of nature in all of Spanishliterature, what better homage could he havethan to see his name accompanied by exuberantvegetation of truly explosive proportions. Justapproaching the spectacular hundred-year-old figtrees, araucaria or “monkey-puzzle” trees, elms,plane trees, palm trees and other species, isenough to see for yourself.

In the middle of the plaza, a fountain crowned bya work made in 1918 by Vicente Bañuls Aracil(1866-1934), representative jointly with his son,Daniel Bañuls Martínez (1905-1947), of the bestAlicante sculpture between the two centuries,completes the charm of this spot. The figure,representing a graceful maiden pouring waterfrom a pitcher, is a hymn to the sea, air and light,

all evocations of a Mediterranean that in GabrielMiró’s words acquire a rare quality and depth. Toone side of the plaza, and discretely, very much inkeeping with the writer’s own nature, a simplebust erected in his honour in 1935, ends byrecalling to us the attribution of the birth of theauthor of “Años y leguas”.Not only the centrepiece of the plaza, with itsdense accompaniment of trees and shrubs anddecorative complement, reminds us that we areat the centre of the most bourgeois andprovincial capital Alicante. Some of its buildings,like that of the Post Office, finished in 1920 in avery typically Spanish style, or the building thatcurrently houses the College of Architects, take usback to the airs and appearances of the era inwhich the plaza received the name of Isabel II. Thehours, after all, no longer pass as slowly as inbygone times. Restaurants, terraces, pubs, shopsand other leisure outlets invite passers-by to relaxaccompanied by such good sensations. On theother hand, and by municipal request, the plaza isbeing revitalised by the organisation of differentcultural and activities for people to take part in.

In this plaza, in 1898, the symbolic ceremony was held to

inaugurate the pipeline bringing the waters from the rich

aquifers of the outlying town of Sax. The city, chronically

exposed to aridity, finally had a regular and abundant

supply of drinking water.

Did youknow…?

An illustriousman ofAlicante

“On that morning, our clear andsimple city was all communicatedand joyous with the sea.” (Gabriel Miró)

39The first name of this urban space was Plaza de las Barcas because the sea

reached as far as here


We now continue our walk, leaving behind theSan Francisco neighbourhood, entering the BarrioNuevo along Castaños street, where Gabriel Mirówas born. A former and celebrated thoroughfarefor traditional commerce, Castaños street hasundergone a profound process of transformationin which pedestrianisation and the slow butcontinual replacement of the traditional shops byspecialist stores, restaurants and drinks outlets areits most evident results. At the corner withTeniente Álvarez Soto street we must turn left.Without stopping at any time to pass throughpedestrian areas, festooned with terraces andshops of all kinds, we soon come to HernánCortés plaza, also known as Plaza Nueva, anotherhaven of peace in the midst of the urban bustle.From any of the terraces set out for the purpose,

Very close to the Gabriel Miró plaza, in Pascual Blascostreet, stands the building housing the “Sindicatura deGreuges” [similar to the Public Auditor’s Office], the onlyinstitution of the Autonomous Government that has itshead office in Alicante.

Sindicaturade Greuges

40

there is a motive and perfect excuse for exercisingthe typically Mediterranean friendliness andleisure. Meanwhile, the fishes in an aquariuminstalled in the plaza itself, totally self-absorbed,watch the passing hours.A tall bell-tower with an octagonal base, sofrequent in Mediterranean Gothic, indicates to usthe next point to which we are heading. However,the bell-tower is not mediaeval. It is part of achurch, which in turn accompanies otherbuildings, all put up post war, when the whole ofthe hill that had been there and was known as LaMontañeta, was cut away and the area proceededto be urbanised. Now in the plaza of the samename, positioning ourselves with the sea behindus and looking clockwise, we can see the buildingcommonly known as Public Works offices; theCivil Government, the present Subdelegation ofthe Government; the aforementioned churchdedicated to Our Lady of Grace and, finally, theTreasury building. The homogeneity in volume,use of colour and style of all these buildings,built between 1945-1951 in a textbook“renaissance”, provide a certain charm to thisplaza, we could say of stage props, where theadministrative air and the feel of a capital city thatgave rise to it are still felt.We will not stop but move on to the adjoiningplaza, nowadays named Calvo Sotelo, in whoseenvirons the former Franciscan convent used to


stand. Its romantic air seems to be of an Alicantefrom another era and it gives way to the avenuesand thoroughfares of the expansion where thecontemporary shines in all its splendour. Turningleft we come onto the Doctor Gadea promenade,where the sea awaits us in the background. Goingdown the avenue that recalls the medical doctorand mayor, José Gadea Pro (1861-1928), underwhose orders important urban improvementswere made, we come to one of the boldest andfinest testimonies to Modernism in the city. It isthe building traditionally known as “theWitches’ House” due to its Nordic gothic-horror feel. At present it houses the RegionalGovernment’s offices in the city.So we reach Canalejas, the doyen of Alicante’s cityparks. Situated on former port lands used for thewarehousing of merchandise, the city did not findit quick or easy to take on its ownership for theuse and enjoyment of its dwellers. Already on itsperimeter, the dense vaults of vegetation thatmark the centenarian fig trees arranged in perfectformation all along the park, predispose it forenjoying some silence and shade in the midst ofthe clamours coming from the surroundings ofthe marina and neighbouring leisure areas.Amongst the buildings of interest that give ontoits frontage, the former School of Commercestands out, now the centre of cultural activitieswhich the University of Alicante has in the city.The point at which the park meets the Explanadais resolved in the form of a clear roundabout. Atthe centre of this stands a monument to José de

Canalejas (1854-1912), government minister andrepresentative for Alicante, whom the City Councilwished to recognise with this memorial, for hisdedication to the city and to the province. Thework, of some stature and with plenty ofallegorical details, shields and slogans, as iscommon on this type of monument, wasundertaken by Vicente Bañuls between 1914 and1916. Behind him, the Casa Alberola, its lookoutcrowned with a graceful little cupola, contributesto the bourgeois and relaxed air of the image.

In the Canalejas park itself, a simple monument, made in 1947 by Daniel Bañuls, recalls the fact thatCarlos Arniches Barrera (1866-1943), celebrated for his sainetes and zarzuelas set in Madrid, was in factfrom Alicante. It never ceases to be a curious fact that the most inspired chroniclers and narrators of themost typically Spanish quarters of Madrid, their night-time open-air street festivals and typical dances,were originally from these lands.

Did youknow…?

A small plaque nearby recalls that

Francisco Javier de Balmis (1753-1819), a

world reference in medicine in the age

of Illustration, for his work of widespread

publicity of the smallpox vaccination in

the former Spanish colonies of the

Americas.

Did youknow…?

41


Maritimefaçade

42


A stroll looking out to sea

Itinerary 3

1 Panoramis centre

Club Regatas2

Exhibition hall. Fish Market3

Canalejas4

Tomás y Valiente promenade5

Plaza Puerta del Mar6

Port leisure area7

Gómiz promenade (Cara del Moro)8

Postiguet beach - El Cocó9

9

6

7

8


CascoHistórico

5

4

1

3

2

Parq

ue C

anal

ejas

Jovellanos

Parque de la Ereta

Centro

Av. Doctor GadeaPaseo Conde Vallellano

Rambla M

éndez Núñez

Pl. Calvo

Sotelo

Pl.Elche

Pl.AyuntamientoPl.

Nueva

S. Francisco

Av. Maisonnave

Barón de Finestrat

Gerona

T.C. Chápuli

Canalejas San Fernando

Bilbao

Colón

EnsancheDiputación

Ab. El-Hamet

Alemania

París

Portugal

Italia

Arzobispo LoacesArzobispo Loaces

Reyes Católicos

43


Let’s take a look atthe maritimefaçade

A stroll inviting one to bathethe eyes in light, to let oneselfbe seduced by the call of thegulls and to breathe in the saltwafting from the sea

Leaving behind the modern and functionalleisure complex of the Royal Regatta Club, wewill come to the Tomás y Valiente promenade.Meanwhile, we can take a relaxed stroll with the

44

view of hundreds of yachts bobbing alongsideother craft moored at the pontoons of themarina.

Opposite the stairway of honour at the Queen’sdock, almost where it meets the Puerta del Mar,a figure of Icarus (Esperanza d’Ors, 1999),windsurfing board under his arm, comes intoview floating over the same expanse of wateras the legends, albeit modern ones, that havebeen made of our city, its uses and customs.Our stroll might continue through thespectacular leisure area created within the docks.Whether we wish to enjoy an excellent lunch, or

opt to take part in its lively nightlife, or even tryour luck at the splendid new Casino, there is nodoubt that this leisure area boasts a goodnumber of options, any of which is more thantempting.But an outing in Alicante comme il faut cannotend without paying homage to the Postiguet,the city’s beach par excellence and one of Spain’smost famous urban beaches. Constructed at theend of the 1960s and dedicated to Manuel

Icarus also does watersports at Alicante.

Before Isaac Peral and Narcís Monturiol, Cosme García Sáiz, a

mechanic by profession, carried out in the waters of this very port

the first underwater navigating experiment recorded in Spain. The

submarine prototype, 3 metres long, 1.5 metres in breadth and

nearly 1.6 metres in height, was successfully launched in Alicante

on 3rd August 1860, as recorded in the official document

conserved in the Naval Historic Archives.

Firstsubmarine


Gómiz Orts (1825-1902), another famous andwell-loved nineteenth century mayor, the Gómizpromenade snakes its way between sand, artisticsculptures, also made in sand, and the bathers,offering passers-by the possibility of enjoyingspacious and peaceful terraces. The excellentand above all relaxing views over theMediterranean, apart... From the midway zone ofthe prom, if we raise our eyes above the level ofthe Paseíto de Ramiro, from which part of thebasement of the old city wall juts out, we willsee, beaming out in all its splendour, the famoussmiling Moor’s Face, the likeness of the profile ofa human face on El Benacantil, which is anotherof the unquestionable icons of the city. Needlessto say this curious natural rock formation hascaught the imagination of poets and artists ofevery era, creed and culture, giving rise to asuccession of legends about powerful kalifs,braves horsemen and enchanted princessesleaping into the abyss for love. A castle withoutlegends is quite simply, not a castle... The

Postiguet merges with the neighbouring beachof El Cocó where another allegorical figuregreets us, this time made by Vicente Ferrero who,from its title Mirando (1999), is perhaps invitingus to do likewise, resting our eyes and relaxingour ears in the face of what we have before us: avast expanse of white and blue, colurs veryproper for these parts. Very close by, the old –dating from 1914 – and beloved Marina station,local headquarters of the region’s railways, bringsus memories of when the trenet ran betweenAlicante and Denia, forbear of the present daymodern and comfortable tram, in those daystaking nearly a day to cover the distance. We continue our promenade. La Ereta park,equipped with a variety of leisure facilities,amongst them terraces, café, exhibition hall,solarium, is one of the most recent and mostinnovative in design on the city’s constantlygrowing list of recreational spaces. It wasdesigned and carried out between 1993 and2003 by the well-known architects and townplanners Marc Bigarnet and Frédéric Bonnet.Acting as a kind of “lock” to negotiate the steepdifference in level between the old town centreand Santa Bárbara castle, La Ereta, an ancientspot of which there is no need to burn themidnight oil much to know the origin of itsname [it means “erect, straight, vertical”], enablesspectacular views of the city and the part of thebay which harbours it to be viewed fromdifferent levels. There are other leisure areas butto reach them a vehicle is needed, or publictransport, as they are relatively further away fromthe communications centre of the city. Amongthe various options, we could start with thenearest: El Tossal. The other great hill on Alicantesoil is a spacious green zone which has beengiven various uses, both historically andnowadays, of which the most notable are: sports,which we will speak about in due course,educational (various institutes are found on its

45

The name of Postiguet goes back to the little gateway or wicket that

the old city wall had, in its day, alongside the Portal Nou, the spot

where Vígen del Socorro street starts nowadays.

Did youknow ...?


slopes, among them the doyen of the city, the“Jorge Juan” school, the Professional MusicConservatory and the Tourist Centre of theregional government), along with those that aremerely for recreation.But from among all the “dwellers” of the hill thereis one that stands out for reasons of its antiquity

and class, but above all for its quiet role in thecity’s daily goings on. San Fernando castle is, infact, a more discreet fortress by comparison withits powerful big sister, that of Santa Bárbara.Hurriedly built during the French war tosupplement the city’s fortifications, the fact thatNapoleon’s forces gave up attacking Alicante,together with the technical deficiencies in itsexecution which soon showed up, betrayed theuselessness of the effort and resourcesemployed. But, we must be positive: since thenAlicante has had not just one castle, buttwo...Lacking all strategic value, and contrary to whathappened with Santa Bárbara, the military classwashed its hands of the hill and the castle, bothpassing into private hands. It was not until thetwentieth century that, at the request of anactive councillor, the medical doctor AntonioRico Cabot (1866-1927), the City Councilacquired the hill so as to turn it into an urbanpark, providing the city with a second green

4646

lung. Other urban recreational spaces thatAlicante’s populace has at its disposal, but needthe use of a car or public transport to visit them,are: Lo Morant park, a vast complex situated tothe northeast of the city; the Palmeral [palmgrove], to the south,

taking the N-332 highway towards Elx, and themost recent of all, Juan Pablo II park, set in anarea of strong urban expansion to the west of it.All these spaces have sports equipment, culturalfacilities and recreation installations of all kinds,but most especially those aimed at enjoying as afamily. At all of them, moreover, different cultural,recreational and participative activities are heldthroughout the year.

La Ereta park and San Fernando castle, two places with unbeatable views of the city


47

conceived by the architect Juan Antonio GarcíaSolera (Alicante, 1924), encompasses a largemultipurpose building with a big symphonicconcert hall seating 1,500 people, a chamberconcert hall for 400, as well as numerousconference halls, rehearsal rooms, dressingrooms, restaurant, warehouses and otherdependencies. Meanwhile, another great drivingforce of tourism, the organising of congressesand conventions, will exceed expectationsregarding the equipping of a suitable centre, notonly for its specific needs, but also at the properlevel the city demands, when the works arefinished on what will be the new AlicanteCongress Centre. Going out towards Valenciaalong the coast, in the area known as La Cantera,just at the foot of San Julián, the Congress Centrewhich the city is commited to, the work ofSalvador Pérez Arroyo (Madrid, 1945), sets outfrom a futuristic and immensely functionalconcept of the services it expects to offer,

Cosmopolitan Light

We continue discovering facetsof this city based on its qualityof light.Alicante, as all know, is a consolidated goal ofbeach and sun tourism, although throughoutrecent years and at the request of variousinstances – basically from the regionalgovernment, the Provincial Council and the CityCouncil - an important proccess of expansion,promotion and specialisation is being carriedout, based around other activities and formsof leisure.Three important cultural infrastructures areparticipating in this process, which will end upplacing the city in an even more advantageousposition as a tourist attraction. On theCampoamor promenade, the auditorium project

The Congress Centre of Alicante's Medical School, a pioneer centre in the city's bid for conference tourism


without neglecting, however, either the comfortof its users, or the level of effective and respectfulsafeguarding of the surrounding environment.While these two facilities are brand new, the thirdis based on a building that constitutes the oldestand most esteemed of Alicante’s monumentalheritage: the Royal Tobacco Factory, another ofthe focal points that spurred on the Alicanteeconomy in the eighteen hundreds and whichkept going, although with some ups and downs,until very very recent times. The factory, situatedto the north of the very intimate San Antónneighbourhood, was in its turn occupying analready existing building of obligatory referencewhen it comes to delving into the recesses of thecity’s history. We are referring to the House ofMercy, built in the middle of the eighteenthcentury as a centre for helping the most needyand a residence for the Bishop of Orihuela on hisoccasional trips to Alicante. Over this greatcomplex, nowadays deprived of its industrialfunction, a vast plan is a foot for conversionand setting up as a cultural centre, which willcomplete the network of spaces intended forthat end, at the same time as providing anotable dynamism to that part of the city.And now to conclude this section, for those whoare lovers of the dramatic arts in their widest andmost varied types, the Teatre Arniches, situatedon Aguilera avenue, offers a correct counterpartto the regular programme of the Teatro Principal,constituting a platform for the more daring andinnovative proposals. Some of the performancesin the already well-known Alicante Music Festival,held in collaboration with the Ministry of Cultureand the Valencian Institute of Music, or theAlicante International Puppet Festival, betterknown as Festitelles, take place in this modernand functional hall.

48


Multicolour souk

Having arrived at this point,how about going shopping?The proposal is more thantempting and the offer is evenmore so, coming from a citythat is growing in its facet mostexposed to foreign contact:commerce.

As has already been commented in othersections, Alicante’s dimensions make everythingwithin easy reach, plus the practical andcoherent articulation of its main streets, allparallel or at rightangles to the sea, makingshopping an excellent reason for enjoyingthe city, planning your time comfortably,without getting lost but being able to lose,indeed, a few digits on the credit card balance.On the other hand, commerce in Alicante doesnot suffer the effects of seasonality. In the firstplace, due to the city’s own demand, but aboveall, the fact that the province as a whole and thecapital itself receive tourism all the year round(foreign package tours, bus tours for the elderly),making Alicante a particularly attractive place forshopping.

La Rambla

So, we start our journey along what was fordecades the commercial thoroughfare parexcellence: La Rambla. Despite nowadays nothaving the thrust it had in past times - even soits hotel establishments and bank branches givean image of activity and dynamism that hasnothing to envy in other parts of the city - theexcellent position of La Rambla as a crossroads

of communication between Alfonso X el Sabioavenue and the Explanada, and its condition asthe gateway to enter the leisure area of thehistoric centre, “the Neighbourhood”, makes it aninteresting yet sound urban value. So sound thatthe central ceremonies of the Bonfire festivities,Holy Week or the carnivals, cannot beunderstood without the use of the Rambla aswhat it has always been and continues being, ahuge and lively urban hall. Situated almost at thepoint where López Torregrosa street branchesoff, at the foot of a pompously baptized in the1960s Provincial Tower, the monument Alicante ala Constitución (1986), a work by the sculptor andceramic artist Arcadi Blasco (1928-), appears as asilent but firm testimony to the adherence of theAlicante people to democratic values. We must

49


not leave the Rambla without hopping across tothe nearby street that recalls the distinguishedAlicante juror Rafael Altamira y Crevea (1866-1951), so distinguished that he went so far as toform part of the International Court of Justice ofthe Hague at such a delicate moment in historyas the period between the wars. The air oftraditional commerce in typical produce andantiques coexists nowadays with numerous topclass establishments dedicated to the cateringtrade. We continue our foray into the Alicantemost determined to remain with us, that whichwe wear, in the form of clothing and accessories,or that will remind us of our visit in the form ofgifts, souvenirs and typical objects. And we willdo so along one of the thoroughfares with moststyle, self-confidence and personality of all-timeAlicante and today. The avenue Alfonso X elSabio, undoubltedly the most senyoreta ofAlicante’s thoroughfares, supplying products ofall types to either the merely curious or thedetermined buyer. Fashion, footwear, accessories,typical products, artistic ceramics, delicatessen,

Arcadi Blasco is to Alicante public sculpture of recent decades what the Bañuls were for it up to the

middle of the last century. Along with this monument, lovingly nicknamed “El Portal de Belén”, other

works by Blasco are scattered around different points in the city. The most emblematic of them are

Monument to the Holy Face (1989), at the entrance to the hamlet of the same name, and Homage to

Miguel Hernández (1991), a tribute which Alicante, the city where he died, pays to the poet and

playwright from Oriheula, but also decidedly universal.

Did youknow…?

50

objects for home decoration or a variety,amongst other hundreds of incentives, makeAlfonso X el Sabio and its adjacent streets, on theleft (Constitución, Castaños, Bazán, CésarElguezábal, Navas, Ángel Lozano, Pascual Pérez,Teatro, Gerona,...) and on the right (GarcíaMorato, Campos Vasallo, Pablo Iglesias, Belando,Segura, Poeta Quintana...), a powerful andirresistible appeal.So we come to a point in the city’s layout that isfull of light, light for its spaciousness and light initself for its established and clearly symbolicnature. We find ourselves in what is, without adoubt, Alicante’s Grand-Place, its open-airmeeting place par excellence: the Plaza de losLuceros. This huge circular plaza, a landmark inAlicante’s urban expansion, concentrates all theelements that constitute the expression of thisMediterranean city’s character: palm trees,gardens, terraces to sit out and chat with friendsover a drink... And the fountain, the element that gives thisspace its leading role, with its slender lines


by way of an obelisc, albeit somewhatsinuous, constitutes another of therecogniseable symbols of Alacante.The fountain, finished in 1930 by Daniel Bañuls, isa homage – in spite of what the title Levantemight seem to indicate – to all those symbols souniversally recognised: water, the fertility thatgoes with it, fruits, sensuality – treated indeedchastely, in the form of innocent children – thevigor of the horses, stars... Despite certaincontroversies deriving from the origin of thename of the plaza, which has also becomeknown by popular knowledge as plaça delsCavalls [plaza of the horses] could well be proudof its beautiful and attractive name. All the moreso in the City of Light. For now that it is fixed,Luceros [brights stars, as in star of Venus] is like agreat star placed at the centre of the city, a starwhose greater beams, the four great avenuesstarting out from it, shed light on the character,significance and historic motives that have madeAlicante what it is. We shall see. The axis which isformed by Alfonso X el Sabio avenue, which wehave just left behind, points to the northeast,towards Santa Bárbara castle, therefore to themilitary character of a stronghold that Alicantehad for centuries and was the germ of itsidentity and definitive populating. Continuing tothe southeast, Federico Soto avenue stretches asfar as the sea, to the port, the first driving forceof the economy. Next, looking to the southwest,Estación avenue, with its axis pointing to theterminus of the Renfe railway, evokes the arrivalen masse of tourism, another of the drivingforces that mark out the city. Finally, the avenuethat runs northwest, General Marvá, headsstraight for the Tossal and the flight of steps upto the Jorge Juan Higher Institute, that is,evoking the condition of administrative andservices capital. As we see, a symbolic star, butvery informative.

The noisy Maisonnave avenue and the spectacular façade of the Provincial Council building

51


of Alicante Celebrities” offers a good informativeguide to the local and provincial “glories” of alleras and conditions. There, on a discreet butexpressive relief in stone entitled Homage to Miguel Hernández (1957), a workby the Alicante sculptor José (“Pepe”)Gutiérrez Carbonell (1924-2002), reminds usonce again of the author of El rayo que nocesa [a book of poems, his most importantwork].We continue. Going down the Soto promenade,which recalls Federico Soto Mollá (1873-1926)the mayor who, amongst other things, orderedthe dismantling of La Montañeta, the array ofshops continues with a varied offer. All thisserves as a portico to what is, undoubtedly, thegreat commercial thoroughfare of the city: theavenue dedicated to the memory of EleuterioMaisonnave Cutayar (1840-1890), outstandingmayor of the city and Government Ministerduring the first Republic.

From his pedestal, the statue of the tribune, oneof the crowning works of the sculptor VicenteBañuls, shows us the way, looking down theavenue dedicated to him.A few steps that will have to be taken moreslowly if we are to take in such a welter ofshopwindows. Boutiques, shoeshops, cafés,patisseries, franchises, fabric shops, householdelectrical goods, perfumes and toiletries, andmany more outlets of all types of articles, followin quick succession all along a thoroughfare that

On a more humdrum note, it is still worthpointing out that as the heart of Alicante, whichit is and feels, Luceros hosts some of the civic,festive or cultural events that are most thrillingto the heart of its populace. From the mascletaes[firecrackers] at the Bonfires festivities or thecelebrations when the local sports teams win amatch or an important recognition, the horsesand their child-riders on the fountain could tellus much... Hopping over to Estación avenue, wewill be able to admire the building that housesthe Provincial Council. Finished in 1931, it is awork signed by the selfsame Juan Vidal Ramos,author of the Central Market and of so manyother buildings in Alicante from the first third ofthe twentieth century. Its pompous style – butnot, for all that, lacking in grace – with its neo-baroque decorative features, provides this almostVersaille-esque structure with the stylecorresponding to its official and representativevocation. Backing onto the building, the “Garden

Did you know that in addition, the streets of a wholeneighbourhood are dedicated to stars and constellations? It isthe very typically Alicante neighbourhood of La Florida, whoseinhabitants have the good fortune of living in streets with suchbeautiful names as those of Andromeda, Centaurus, Pegassus,Hercules, Cassiopeia, Southern Cross… Lights in the City ofLight.

Luceros, theStar...

52


hours old!, shoes, clothes, household linens,kitchenware, decorative objects, tools, animals,plants... It turns out to be very stimulating, asmuch for the senses as, and very particularly, forthe grateful pocket, to attend on market days,especially on a Saturday, and let yourself beseduced by that special way of understandingcommercial dealings that we fortunately enjoy inthe Mediterranean. A cultural form in itself.

53

is marked at each of its ends by the triangles ofsome well-known big stores, inviting us to buy,or at least to browse. The same as happens onAlfonso X el Sabio, Maisonnave avenue’sinfluence stretches to the adjacent streets of thearea which constituted the great expansion ofthe city. Alemania, Portugal, Pintor Aparicio,Churruca, Italia, Pintor Lorenzo Casanova, ReyesCatólicos and Arquitecto Morell to the south ofthe avenue, and General O’Donnell, GeneralLacy, Serrano, Poeta Vila y Blanco and PintorCabrera to the north, more or less complete thedense network of commercial streets. Arriving atthe Glorieta de la Estrella, a centrepiece presidedover by the group sculpture by Eusebio SempereComo una estrella [Like a star] (1978), turning leftwe face a spacious avenue recalling the mostunrivalled of the composers this land hasproduced: Óscar Esplá Triay (1886-1976). On bothsides, specialist shops of all kinds accompany thetourist on a shopping spree until giving apresentiment of the sea, once again nearby. As iscommon nowadays, the phenomenon of hugeshopping centres where shops and departmentstores alternate with cinemas, restaurants,amusement arcades, play areas and otherfacilities, has not passed Alicante by. As alsohappens, given their size, various of thesecentres have opened up on the outskirts andalong the main access roads into the city. Butnot all commerce in Alicante obeys theconventional establishment model. There is asmaller, more direct, intimate, and above alltraditional model. This is none other than thestreet market – de tota la vida. The life-longstreet market has been located on theCampoamor promeade for years, althoughthe installation of the Auditorium there hasobliged the vendors to move to Teuladastreet, just behind the Tossal sports area. Herewe will find “nearly” everything: fruits andvegetables not just a few days but only a few


Muchmorethan rice

54


Without reaching such levels of admiration for rice,

it may indeed be stated that there are many, many

rices. Starting with the fact that there are no “sacred”

or monolithic formulas for preparing them, and still

less unanimity regarding which ingredients are

considered as satisfying the canons or not, a brief

sample might begin with the “Alicante-style” paella,

in which you will find ñora [a small round red hot

pepper], capsicums, peas and garlic and whose

basic identifying mark is the combination of meats,

fundamentally chicken, with fish (tuna, swordfish...),

crustaceans (lobster, shrimps...) and moluscs

(mussels, cuttlefish, squid...); going on to the seafood

paella and reaching solutions equally very tasty and

typical of Alicante like the rices with cod, tuna,

Moray eel, squid or vegetables. The caldero rice

[taking its name from the cauldron in which it is

prepared], a whole “sea stew”, constituting in itself

alone a complete meal, for it constists of rice stewed

over a substantial base of fish (monkfish, conger eel,

flathead mullet, John Dory...), followed by this same

fish served as the second course and accompanied

usually by a substantial and fragrant all i oli [dressing

of garlic and olive oil also known as “aioli”]. Other

rices also much appreciated and asked for are the

arroz “a banda”, in which the rice is cooked with the

fish but served apart (hence its name, meaning

“apart” or “on the side”); arròs de senyoret, an

“enriched” version of the previous one, as it includes

morsels like peeled shrimps, prawns, mussels...; arròs

negre [black rice], cooked with squid in its ink, of

course; rice with spinach and anchovies; rice with

red mullet; rice with rabbit; rice with “pata” [trotter],

made with veal, deli-sausage and chick peas... With

their presence being overwhelming, the culinary

offer does not end with rices, but rather they open

up the way to other equally tempting fields. Fried

fish which, as the canons decree, must be “from the

bay” i.e. the bay of Alicante, red mullet, carp, seabass

either baked whole in salt or opened and roasted on

a bed of onions, bell peppers, aubergines etc.,

grouper or a dish called suquet prepared with

55

Alicantine’s cuisine involves aculinary blend, a melting-pot ofcultures and their ownidentities.

With so much walking around, it is normal for the

stomach sooner or later to require attention.

Alicante also offers itself in this sense more than

generously, both in the range of establishments on

offer, with hundreds of restaurants, bars, rice-houses,

tascas [taverns or cheap bars], pizza-houses and

grills distributed through the busier parts of the city,

and for the extensive and excellent variety offered

on their menus. As the top quality tourist place that

it is, there are options, never better said, for all tastes.

All the variables of Spanish (Basque, Galician,

Castilian, Andalucian, etc.) and international

(German, French, Italian, Maghrib [North African],

Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Argentine, Colombian,

etc.) cuisine, as well as the latest trends, chef’s

signature dishes, vegetarian or the universally

known franchises, can all be enjoyed in Alicante. But

now, who can resist the varieties and above all the

delicious proposals that Alicante’s own cooking

offers? In the kitchen, Alicante boasts yet another

demonstration of her condition as a land of

welcome, a melting-pot of cultures, which does not

mean that it has not managed to create its own

personality. In fact, there is a cuina alacantina, a

specific way of understanding the fact and the

culture of the diet of which rice is not just the

staple but the star ingredient, although not the

only one. And note the detail: “rice”, rather than

“paella”. In fact, the thousand and one ways of

resolving the combination of this grain with

proteins, fats and other carbohydrates, is as vast as

are the varied cultural influences that have left their

stamp on the city. It has even been said that in

Alicante a different rice can be enjoyed on each of

the 365 days in the year. In an amusing tale, the self-

assured Wenceslao Fernández Flórez tells that he

made a narrow escape from such an onslaught.


56

The centripetal force of the capital with regard to

the province and in turn the bordering regions, as a

result of phenomena like the migration of the 1960s

and ’70s, or tourism without going further,

popularised in the local culinary culture such dishes

as the olleta [stew], arròs amb costra [“rice with a

crust”, cooked with egg to form a crispy edge],

fideuà [with noodles] or the gazpachos [another kind

of stew, not the famous Andalucian cold soup of

tomatoes and peppers], while being from

elsewhere, in Alicante they have been adopted and

made their own. The same could be said for a dish

inherited from the pieds-noirs [“black-foots”,

immigrants from Algeria] and which is so specific to

the francophonie: couscous. All of this, it must be

understood, washed down with some of the bold

and increasingly successful wines of the Alicante

Denominación de Origen [D.O. – the officially

controlled designation of origin].

There are certain “gems” of the local cuisine that

scorpion fish, along with the chapter on seafoods,

with the red shrimp as an emblem, define, amongst

other specialities, the cuisine of a city allied to the

sea. After all, the puchero [a hearty stew] cannot be

forgotten, sometimes served with pilota [balls of

maize], or the potajes [stews], as dishes from inland.

Did you know that “historic” wines from Alicante like the Fondillónor Aloque were highly regarded by monarchs like Philip II or LuisXIV and they even appear extolled by writers like Shakespeare,Dumas, Defoe and Dostoyevski? However, the vines thatproduced that legendary Alicante Fondillón were destroyed bythe phylloxera in the early twentieth century, so today it is just aglorious memory.

Legendarywines


57

almond cakes]. About the nougats of Alicante and

Jijona there is nothing that can be said that has not

already been said. However, and although they can

be found in numerous establishments, those who

have a sixth sense tuned especially in the direction

of this mix of honey and almonds, it will certainly

lead them straight to Mayor street and the environs

of the Central Market. The section on Alicante

cuisine cannot be ended without commenting on a

variety of foods as specific as varied in their types:

savoury titbits, el salat, as they are known more

generically. But to appreciate the titbits in all their

splendour – before sinking your teeth into them, of

course – it is very recommendable to go to the best

possible site: the Central Market. There, certain stalls

display perfectly lined up arrays of mojama [dried

salted tuna strips], roe, tonyina de sorra [cured tuna

flank], along with mújoles [salted dried mullet],

capellanes [“poor cod” another kind of fish], melvas

[frigate and bullet mackerel, in the tuna family],

sardines and other specialities whose colouring,

aroma and fresh healthy appearance constitute a

feast for all the senses. We conclude the section on

local food and drink mentioning some of the

popular refreshing drinks, like the horchata [tiger-

nut milk], frappees of lemon or coffee, the much-

requested aigua civà or barley water, as well as the

outcome of mixing them in different combinations,

a practice very typical of Alicante. And to top it off,

in the form of a liqueur, a cantueso [made from

Spanish lavendar], an anís de la terreta [aniseed

flavoured] or a mistela [fortified wine]. Enjoy!

Coca de molletes, a typical Alicante pastry

nobody should miss if they wish to claim – and

better still to boast about - having eaten in Alicante.

So you should order coca amb tonyina [tuna

pastry], tasted unanimously as the icon of the

Bonfires festivites, which it is, although it can be

enjoyed all the year round, as also the coca de

molletes [pastry with crumbs], made of a savoury

pastry dough baked and covered with tiny delicious

crumbs of rubbed-in fat and flour. Continuing with

the cakes, pastries and desserts section, the coca

“boba” would have to be pointed out, dates or

rotllets d’anís [aniseed cookies in a ring shape],

along with toñas and monas for Easter [little


A festive citybetween traditionand renewal

58


A la llum de LesFogueres… [by thelight of theBonfires]

We start to take a closer look atanother Alicante – of the manythere are in the same one –more festive and jovial, takingus back to its traditionalfestivitiesThis city, as one might expect, is and is felt to beone that enjoys festivity on all sides. The festiveevents in Alicante are very varied although all ofthem, whether religious or secular, have onepeculiar characteristic in common: the balancebetween tradition and modernity, respect for whatis paseed down from one generation to anotherwithout entering into conflict with the dynamismand openness to what is new. Perhaps that iswhere the success and the strength of thefestivities lies. When speaking of Alicante’s festiveevents one must start with the most emblematic,which unites most wills and on the days when ittakes place totally transforms the city: Las

Hogueras [Bonfires], the famous Fogueres de Sant

Joan [Bonfires of St John], the city’s official festivityand, needless to say, an inescapable reference forAlicante identity. Despite the fact that secularlythe people of Alicante followed the popularMediterranean tradition of lighting bonfiresfor St John’s day, June 24th, it was not until1928 that the festival began to catch on andshow signs of being the phenomenon that withtime it has become. It was a man from Cadizresident in Alicante, José María Py, who, metaphorically speaking, lit the touchpaper… LesFogueres, ephemeral monuments dedicated to

caricaturing, satirising or portraying personages,situations or contexts, constitute the focal pointaround which the festivities turn. While they sharemuch in common with the Valencian Fallas, theHogueras have, during the course of their by nowlong trajectory, managed to develop their ownpersonality full of specific nuances. Indeed,

59


invites both locals and strangers to enjoy and letthemselves be carried along by their unavoidableand totally leading role. However, ceremonies likethe Proclamation, the Cavalcade of the “Ninots”[figures that are paraded and burnt], the Entranceof the Bands, the Floral Offering to the Virgin ofthe Remedy, the International Folk Parade and thecompetitions of mascletaes [firecrackers] andfireworks, are those that are most supported andawaken most interest for their eye-catchingdisplays, levels of participation and the excitementat the cacophony they set off. But the Bonfireswould not be what they are without thecommittees that keep them going, nor would thefestivities, of course, be visible without the stalls,their operational centres by day and above all bynight, taking over the streets. Foguerers and

barraquers, bonfire-stokers and stall-holdersworking side-by-side for the festivity and whocould better represent them, the Bellea del Foc [Fire

60

regarding what both festivities of fire intimatelyagree on, year after year, is that everyone has agreat time. And in Alicante, they do it big-time…!From 21st June when La Plantà takes place - theofficial moment when the celebrations start off -to the night of la Cremà [the burning] at midnighton 24th, the city immerses itself in a whirlwind ofactivities of a very broad spectrum. Open-airdances, informal musical parades through town,other parades, official religious ceremonies,bullfights, musical performances and sonorousfirework displays, amongst other eventscoordinated by the Management Committee,cover the hours of those intense days duringwhich the món foguerer [main bonfire-stoker]

Thehymn

The hymn Les Fogueres de Sant Joan was composed in

1929 by Luis Torregrosa, director of the Municipal Band,

with words by José Ferrandiz. Every man woman and

child of Alicante knows it from the cradle. “By the light of

the bonfires …”

Some facts:- Officially recognised as one of the Festivities ofInternational Tourist Interest.- Performing artists from Alicante, as wellknown asEmilio Varela, Manuel Baeza and, above all, GastónCastelló, experienced the Fogueres at first hand andhave left their mark by involving themselves in oneway or another with them.

FOGUERES DE SANT JOAN

Along with La Cremà, the practice of the Banyà has been instituted. In it, the

public, and more especially the youngsters, call the attention of the

firefighters for them to aim the jets of water from their hoses. A good way of

combating the mid-summer heat and the anticipation before the imminent

explosion of fire and noise.

La Banyà


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monumental dance hall where the first call ofSpring is heard and felt pulsing in the veins. Theseare not the only forms of diversion. The carnivalalso provides ceremonies orientated to the littleones, as well as for stimulating new artists whocarry out different installations and proposals ofurban art, what are now known as “urbanarchaeologies”, around the most emblematic partsof the city.

Mediterranean Holy Week Moving through the Alicante festival calendar asthe months and seasons go by, we come to HolyWeek. Although it does not have the packaging orlure of other Spanish celebrations of the Passion,the series of events with which Alicantecommemorates and recalls the death andresurrection of Christ enjoys certain characteristicsthat give it a specific stamp and confer on it anobvious attraction. Amongst these is theparticipation. Holy Week in Alicante is done withthe honour of being one of, or rather the first of,those which contributes the greatest number ofparticipants in Spain, by religious brotherhoods[specially formed in the spirit of penitence anddevotion but also with ancient historic traditionsand symbolic outfits in the processions], includingthe anonymous participation [due to the disguiseof the costumes] of many women. Devotion andthe spirit of experiencing intense emotions is whatleads brotherhoods like that of the Last Supper totake out into the procession another nationalrecord: the largest “throne” in Spain, clearlyrepresenting the moment when Christ institutedthe Eucharist. Other processions eagerly followedby the people of Alicante and worth seeing are:the Christ called El Morenet, carried by the “Men of

Beauty], elected from among the winners of eachcommittee, achieving in this way, year after year,the reiteration of a miracle. A miracle that takes its

culminating shape at the stroke of midnight onthe 24th, as it becomes the 25th, when amonumental firework palm tree set off from ElBenacantil marks the start of what will be,according to the rules, the offering in the form offire and noise made to the Festivity and the life ofthe City of Light.

The “Rambladrome”There are more festivities, of course. And one thathas most quickly become established during thecourse of recent decades is the carnival. Despite itssecular tradition, the Alicante carnival, prohibitedduring Franco’s regime, was once morerestored in the mid 1970s by those whofrequented the historic centre as yet anotherreaction – recreational and peaceful, but at theend of the day nevertheless a reaction –against the regime. Already, to the rhythm of theTransition and with the democratisation ofmunicipal life, the carnival continued toconsolidate itself without abandoning its origins in“el Barrio” [the Neighbourhood], a traditionallyBohemian and open-minded area as a continuumto the airs of modernity. During the carnival, whichdepends for its date on the phases of the moon,the Rambla, converted by carnival-goers into the“Ramblódromo” [which could be rendered as“Rambladrome” in English], becomes, especially onthe Saturday of the carnival, the best possiblecatwalk on which to show off the most daring andeye-catching disguises, as well as being a

During the Nit de la Plantà, at the stalls the tradition demands tasting coca amb tonyina[savoury pastry with tuna] along with the first of the early figs of summer, the popular bacores.


brotherhood responsible for the procession, thatof the Holy Cross, the circle is completed. And verysatisfactorily too.

Endless festive rivalryIn another order of things, it remains to makereference to the festivities of the Moors andChristians, which in our city particularly have aflavour and smell of the neighbourhood.Although this type of festivity, so closelyassociated on the other hand with ouridiosyncrasy, in various neighbourhoods andoutlying villages (Altozano, Villafranqueza,Rebolledo), the Moors and Christians in Alicantego back, by tradition and packaging, to a veryfondly esteemed district in the city and veryjealous of its firm personality shaped throughdecades from the memory of its railway activity,on which it was founded. That district is San Blasand certainly its festivities for the patron saint,which are held during the second week of June,just before the great gathering of the Bonfires,are a full display of feeling and even pride inbeing “of the neighbourhood”. The AugustFestivities, celebrated in honour of the city’spatron saint, the Virgin of the Remedy, withmusical performances in the port area as thechief attraction, constitute an added offer ofevents in the month when the city has its

the Sea” on the Monday of Holy Week, the Christ ofthe Sea, which is held on the Tuesday of HolyWeek, or the Silence, which takes place well intothe night of Maundy Thursday. But if there is aprocession that attracts the interest of thousandsof Alicante people and has gained a very wellearned hallmark as a tourist attraction, it is the onesetting out from the wayside chapel of Santa Cruzon the Wednesday of Holy Week, making its way,crowded and excited, through the backstreets ofthe neighbourhood that takes its name. Seeing the thrones and images carried onshoulders through sometimes very narrowspaces is particularly moving. If to that we addthe 100% Mediterranean scenery of the setting,the public emotion and fortitude of the

A ProcessionalMuseum

For those whose interest is the purely artistic aspect, it is worth

remembering that Holy Week in Alicante brings out in procession

valuable carvings by such recognised artists as Francisco Salzillo,

Nicolás de Bussy or Antonio Castillo Lastrucci.

Holy Week in Alicante has

been declared by the Region

of Valencia as being a

Festivity of Tourist Interest.

HOLY WEEK

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summer break. Finally, and now on a lesser scalewith regard to its ability and scope for gatheringcrowds, but no less deeply felt by its leadingplayers for all that, we would have to mentionthe typical May Crosses festivities, in the SantaCruz neighbourhood, or the festivities of the SanRoque neighbourhood in mid-August, whichapart from honouring the co-patron saint ofAlicante, immerse this typical and peaceful sectorof the historic centre in the close microclimate ofthe most intimate and emotive of Mediterraneanfestivities. The same could be said of thefestivities for San Antonio Abad [St Anthony theAbbot], a date that brings to the neighbourhoodof San Antón the magic and age-old flavour ofthe processions with a long tradition. A flavourwhich nevertheless ends up being enjoyed withthe candies and knickknacks that stalls offer inthe popular Porrate de San Antón [traditionallybartering pigs for other animals] organised forthat purpose and to which, until very recenttimes, the smell of dried tobacco from the formerfactory gave it an extra touch of sensory stimulus.

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Pilgrim LightThere is one day on Alicante’s festive calendar thatdeserves a chapter apart, given its symbolicrelevance, its historic burden and, above all, itsstrong popular roots. That day, marked by asolemn religious ceremony preceeded by animpressive romería [pilgrimage procession to awayside chapel], is the one known in theimagination of the men and women ofAlicante as the day of the Holy Face [alsoknown in English as the Veil of Veronica].Going on the pilgrimage procession to thewayside chapel of the Holy Face, similarly


64

behind the high altar of the church, plunges thepious, the pilgrim or the mere visitor into anintense baroque atmosphere in which the leadingrole is played entirely by the paintings of theValencian artist Juan Conchillos (1641-1711)relating the prodigies and vicissitudes of theDivine Face. The venerated piece of cloth rests inthe vaulted niche presiding over the group,protected by a reliquary-cabinet whose visiblepart presents Christ’s face depicted according tothe rules of the Byzantine style.That face, reproduced to saciety and recognisablein the most unexpected places in the city, is whatthose who congregate, animatedly and punctuallyat precisely eight in the morning before the maindoor of San Nicolás on the second Thursday afterEaster, have their hopes set on seeing.The procession, which by then has addedhundreds of people, rosemary and walking cane inhand, reaches the City Hall where the municipalauthorities join the ecclesiastical ones. From thereit continues along Jorge Juan street and then thePaseíto de Ramiro until it reaches Virgen delSocorro street, the central axis of Raval Roig, fromwhose promenade-vantage point somespectacular views can be gained over thePostiguet. A little further on and we come, alongDénia avenue, to the highway N-332 going to

popularly known as “the Pilgrim”, is another of thegreat landmarks and points of reference for a citythat proudly displays its condition as custodian of,according to tradition, one of the pieces of cloththat Veronica used to wipe the face of Christon the way to Calvary.The relic has been in Alicante since the fifteenthcentury when, between legend and history, it wasentrusted to Mosén Pedro Mena at the hands ofan Italian cardinal. Tradition also tells that in a yearof atrocious drought, the Holy Face was taken outin the belief that it would act as intercessor onhigh and thus achieve the coveted water.Supernatural acts, collected and transmitted sincethen, like the tears streaming down the divineface, the miraculous levitation of the parish priestcarrying it, along with the eventual outburst of thelonged-for downpour, almost run in the genes ofthe Alicante people. The monastery where it iskept, situated some 7 kilometres from the city, is adiscreet but elegant architectural complex ofgood baroque lines designed by José Terol. Themost relevant part of it, the niche of the relic, just

64


Santa Faz is the second most attended pilgrimage toa wayside chapel in Spain, only being exceeded by ElRocío.

Valencia. Half way along it is time to get one’sstrength back. This is the moment for the popularparadeta at which tons of rotllets d’aiguardent[liqueur pastries] and hundreds of litres ofmistela [fortified wine] are handed outabsolutely free to a congregation of thousandsand thousands of people. Some nineteenthcentury villas and mansions can still be seen fromthe highway, living testimonies to the formernobility families that lorded it over the AlicanteHuerta [the surrounding fertile plain]. Havingarrived at the plaza of the hamlet that surroundsthe monastery, everyone holds their breath at thevery moment when the four keys, two of the TownCouncil and the other two of the community ofPoor Clare nuns who manage it, are introduced allat the same moment into the corresponding locksof the vaulted niche where the relic lies and areopened according to a protocol as ritual as it isconsolidated by the tradition. When the relic israised up before the multitude, it produces thatstrange but intense combination of feelings thatgives way to that blend of faith, tradition, memoryand sense of belonging to a certain culture andland. Once the mass is over, the pilgrims, whohave been joined by people from theneighbouring villages (San Juan, Mutxamel),scatter through the surrounding fields in search ofan appropriate place to prepare the food andmake ready, amidst laughter, games, chants andjokes, completing a day of festivity usuallyaccompanied by gentle spring sunshine. There isstill time before starting off on the return, to buysome souvenirs at one of the hundreds of stallsthat are set up during the days before and afterthis great day out for the people of Alicante, aspecial day, a day of festivity that can leave no-oneindifferent, regardless of the kind of person theyare, their way of thinking or behaving.

Did you know...?

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Art fromLucentum

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Museum Route

Itinerary 4

1 MUBAG [Gravina Museum of Fine Arts]

MACA [Alicante Museum of Contemorary Art]2

Alicante Water Museum [Garrigós water holes]3

Crib Museum4

Fogueres Museum5

Bullfighting Museum6

MARQ [Alicante Provincial

Archaeological Museum]

7

Castillo de

Santa Bárbara

R. Méndez Núñez

1

3

2

7

45

6 Cuesta de la Fábrica

San Vicente

Díaz M

oreu

MonteBenacantil

Pintor Murillo

Padre Mariana

Pintor Velázquez

Juan de Herrera

Cald

erón

de

la B

arca

Vicente Inglada

Av. Alfonso X El Sabio

BazánPl.

Ruperto

Chapi

Sta. Bárbara

Espronceda

Adolfo Blanch

Pl.de Toros

Pl.España

Agost

San Carlos

Dr.Sapena

Vázquez de Mella

Traf

alga

r

Pozo

Paraiso

Gloria

Av. J

aim

e II

General Elizaicín

Barcelona

Pl. Doctor

Gómez Ulloa

Canónigo Manuel Penalva

Doña Violante

Virg

en d

el S

ocor

ro

Valero Bermejo

Virgen del S

ocorro

Av. D

énia

San Fernando

Pl.

Ayuntamiento

Gravina

Mayor

Pl.

Santísima

Faz

Fray Juan Rico

S. José

Virgen de Belén

Pl. delCarmen

Pl.Quijano Maldonado

Arquitecto M.LópezPl. San

Cristóbal

General Rovira

Bendicto

Pl. Puertadel Mar


Hermanos L

ópez Osa

ba

Espoz y Mina

Pl. de laMisericordia

Av. Juan Bautis

ta La Fora

Paseo de Gómis

T.C. Chápuli

Paseo Conde Vallellano

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Alicante’s museums make upanother interesting urbanroute, particularly attractive forthose who take cultural leisureconsumption as a basis for theirtourist experience. Varied,modern, functional, accessibleand, above all, veryeducational, Alicante’smuseums are an openinvitation. Let us get to knowthem.

Very close to the City Hall, the MUBAG, GravinaMuseum of Fine Arts, stands in the street fromwhich it takes its name, occupying the formerpalace where Antonio Valcárcel Pío de Saboya yMoura, Count of Lumiares (1748-1808) probablylived and spent long hours of study, one of thefirst interested in discovering and tracing ourpast. The dimensions of the building along withits decorative sobriety give a fairly approximateidea of the dynamism and taste prevailingamong the aristocracy of Alicante active in the

eighteen hundreds. The palace was given an in-depth make-over by the Provincial Council,which now owns it, to house the museum nowtaking advantage of its excellent locationbetween the historic centre and the sea. Alsostarting out from the Council’s artisticcollections, the MUBAG’s exhibits are centredon the brilliant results that the practise of theFine Arts has provided for the city and itsprovincial scope.Throughout its three floors, the interplay ofworks, which above all includes paintings, buthas no lack of sculptures, engravings or displaysof different decorative arts, thus offers a coherentand above all pleasing view of Alicante art fromthe late Middle Ages – with the impressiveCrucifixion by Rodrigo de Osona as a landmark –to the final decades of the last century.Alicante painting of the nineteenth and earlytwentieth centuries is especially well representedin the Musem. Signatures like those of AntonioGisbert, Joaquín Agrasot, Lorenzo Casanova,Emilio Sala, Fernando Cabrera or Andrés Buforn,amongst many others of note, figure on variousoutstanding works that faithfully reproduce the


prevailing styles and the themes most in vogueat the time, from portraits to landscapes andfrom the historic picture to genre painting.Already well into the twentieth century, esteemfor the terreta [homeland] and the sense ofbelonging to it mark the discourse of artists likeEmilio Varela, Gastón Castelló, Manuel GonzálezSantana, José Perezgil, Manuel Baeza or XavierSoler, who reflect, above all in their landscapes,full of light and Mediterraneanity, the echo of atimeless and on-going Alicante. The MUBAG is one of the centres which theRegion of Valencia’s Museum Consortium hasavailable for undertaking interestingtemporary exhibitions. In this task anotherparticipant is the Fish Market or Exchangebuilding, undertaken between 1917 and 1921 ina graceful neo-Arabic style. Converted by theCity Council for exhibition use, the layout of thehuge main hall provides a good supplement tothe general leisure offer in the most dynamicarea of the marina.Leaving the MUBAG we turn out onto Jorge Juanstreet and go up to Santa María plaza. This servesto remind us that, in the future, as part of aproject thought up by Màrius Bevià, the Basilicawill have two new museums that will house theinteresting history of the building itself, as well asthe no less important collection of sacred art,historic documents and archaeological pieces itguards.On the same plaza, the MACA, Alicante Museumof Contemporary Art, comes into view as anemblem of the perfect dialogue between the

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traditional architecture represented by LaAsegurada, former grain store, and the boldercontemporary architecture expressed in thenextdoor building by the architects SolMadridejos and Juan Carlos Sancho. The MACAstarts out as a new museum encompassing anillustrious precedent, the Collection of TwentiethCentury Art which, donated to the city byEusebio Sempere Juan (1923-1985) in 1976,represented the appearance in the State contextof one of the first centres dedicated specificallyto contemporary art. The “Sempere” musuem, asit was popularly known during the years itoccupied La Asegurada, has now beenintegrated into the MACA, providing the fermentand above all the prestige of the list of artistsrepresented in it: Picasso, Dalí, Juan Gris, JulioGonzález, Braque, Kandinsky, Giacometti, Miró,Calder, Delaunay, Chagall, Bacon, Rauschenberg,Tápies, Millares, Canogar, Serrano, Saura, Chillida,Genovés, Alfaro, Equipo Crónica,... The insertionof the Juana Francés legacy into the exhibition,along with the legacy of works by Semperehimself, apart from representing thebringing together of all the municipal collectionsof contemporary art in the same centre, ratifieswhat the MACA sets out to be: a centre ofreference for the analysis and study of the most

THE MACADid you know that this building, dating from 1685, was one

of the few that were saved from the atrocious French

bombardment of 1691? Until it was converted into a

museum, La Asegurada, so called because it “assured” the

provision of grain in times of shortage, had uses as varied as

those of a prison, a notarial archive, an institute and a school

of commerce.


up-to-date art, as well as a platform for puttingon temporary exhibitions, courses, workshops,conferences, etc. The change of register that isproduced now is as surprising as it is attractive.Going up to the Puente plaza, we soon come tothe Alicante Water Museum, a recent andmodern museum installation set up in theGarrigós water holes, huge underground cisternsexcavated in the rock in the mid-sixteenthcentury. It informs in a very agreeable way aboutthe history of Alicante’s use and management ofwater, an endemically scarce resource in pasttimes. Coming out again through Villavieja ontoMayor street, we continue with our route. Beforereaching the City Hall plaza, we can pause, forjust a moment, at the administrative buildingnextdoor to the City Hall. In its ground floor, ahuge glass platform visible from the street showsthe excavations carried out in the subsoil of theproperty itself. From the certainly very graphicslogan, “the city uncovered”, the reading andinterpretation offered by the remains discovered

here allow us to get a pretty clear idea of whatthe urban fabric of mediaeval Alicante was like.The plaza of the Santísima Faz, behind the CityHall, with its houses painted in bright coloursand its tall palm trees, once again gives us alesson on knowing how to live as only theMediterranean can. A few steps away, going upSan Agustín street, the delightful Crib Museum,a living expression of the esteem for thisparticular genre held by the active AlicanteAsociation of Crib enthusiasts, invites us tohave a look around their friendly and almostdomestic scenes. Hand-crafted cribs of Levantineor Castilian tradition, along with scenes andfigures from the most exotic corners of the worldplunge the visitor into a setting of intense andemotive memories. Continuing along Mayorstreet and now on the Rambla there awaits usanother museum small in size but gigantic as faras the emotional strings its contents tugged at.That museum is the one dedicated to theBonfires. Posters, programmes, llibrets [leaflets],

70

Alicante Water Museum, established in the restored Garrigós water holes, created from the basis of some gigantic cisterns exacavated under Bencantil to alleviate the scarcity in the water supply.

Alicante’s tradition of constructing Christmas cribs has as an exponent in the collection of Nativity scenes which can be enjoyed at the Crib Museum


photographs, sketches, paintings, mentions,awards and ninots indultats [“reprieved efigies”selected not to be burned], amongst manyobjects of interest, await those who wish to getto know in greater depth about the festivities,above all those who do not have the chance toenjoy it in person.San Vicente street, typical of Alicante if ever therewas one, leads us to España plaza, where we findthe next destination on this tour of Alicante’smuseums: the Bullfighting Museum, housed inthe bullring, a building that was eventuallyfinished in 1888. But before that we repair to alittle park standing to our right. It is thePantheon of Quijano, which is its official name,but also by the populace. We are looking at theposthumous tribute the City Council dedicatedto the memory of the governor Trino Gonzálezde Quijano (1807-1854), who died as a victim tocholera when he was coordinating the measureswith which to keep in check one of the largestand deadliest waves of the epidimic suffered bythe city in the entire nineteenth century. Hisheartfelt memorial, highlighted by the burialmound in which lie the ashes of the official sountimely cut short and by the plantedornamentation, of clearly romantic inspiration,turn the Pantheon of Quijano into anotherpeaceful haven in the midst of the urban hurly-burly. Nodding a greeting in passing to theoptimistic Monument to the Bonfire-stoker, a worksimilarly by Pepe Gutiérrez (1982) set at the verycentre of the España plaza, we continue as far asthe Bullring not without also previously admiringthe more than illustrative Encierro [running thebulls through the streets], a group sculpturedone by Nacho Martín (2002) in front of themain entrance to the bullring. Now inside theBullfighting Museum, its halls form a wholesanctuary of memorabilia, trophies, documentsand other objects exhibited to the greater gloryof the “local glories” of the Alicante bullring.

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elegant design carried out by Juan Vidal Ramosbetween 1926 and 1929, the adaptation ofwhich to its present cultural usage has wonnothing but favourable criticism and recognition.In all, the declaration in 2004 of the MARQ asEuropean Museum of the Year, a real “Nobel” ofmuseum-work, is undoubtedly the aspect thathas carried most weight in the centre’s beingregarded amongst the top ones of its genre inEurope and which has done most to promote itsimage and contents beyond our frontiers.Functionality, discernment in conveying themessage, and the latest in technology, cometogether in a building whose structure, resolvedin herringbone form, also helps to achieve theobjectives marked by its promoters: accessibility,convenience and availability of a wide range ofsupplementary services such as shop,conference hall, library, café, learning centre,workshop, etc. Now, passing through its galleries,the lighting reduced to a minimum for thebenefit of the pieces and materials on exhibition,along with the battery of visual aids andtechnological resources that help to explainthem, visitors are captivated within a relaxed andintimate atmosphere, set out so that it is historyitself that leads. You just have to let yourself beled. And it as well not to tire yourself, for thereare around 2,500 pieces (of the total of 15,000that the Museum holds) coming in turn fromover 300 sites and settlements – the remains

Historic bullfighters like Francisco Carratalá, “ElTino” or “Pacorro”, along with other maestros, areadded to the display in which Luis FranciscoEsplá and José Mari “Manzanares” perform, neverbetter said, as undisputed “first class swordsmen”.The Alicante Bullfighting Museum confirms theprestige of its own ring where such good workhas been offered to enthusiasts, along with theno less relevant role of some maestros who, witha great deal of devotion and above all muchartistry, have placed the name of Alicanteproudly on their hats and have taken it roundmost of the rest of the bullfighting world.

THE MARQ

We leave until the end what undoubtedlyboasts the condition of the “jewel in thecrown” within the network of Alicantemuseums: the MARQ or Alicante ProvincialArchaeologicial Museum. It may be reached,either on foot or in one’s own vehicle. Or you canchoose to use the bus or the modern tram,which has a station named precisely “MARQ”,leaving visitors almost at the doors of the centre.So we go in.Opened in the year 2000, the MARQ, notary ofthe intense and on-going history of these lands,occupies some premises that could well beregarded as luxurious. We refer to the former SanJuan de Dios Provincial Hospital, a functional and

The sculpture of El Encierro [running the bulls through the streets] is adorned at carnival time, as are many other elements of the city


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enigmatic gaze of the Iberian Lady of CabezoLucero... Having reached this point, so far theAlicante museums are a living and above allattractive expression of the creativity and thecultural legacy of a frank and open city. Anexpression which, of course, does not cease toincrease in the most diverse branches: Matilde

Asensi (literature); Fele Martínez (cinema andtheatre); Hannibal Laguna (fashion); InmaSerrano (music)…

from the Tossal de Manises, former RomanLucentum, are particularly outstanding –awaiting in some installations occupying no lessthan 9,000m2. No-one will be disappointed,whether an enthusiast or not, touring thegalleries dedicated successively to Prehistory, theIberian culture, the Roman world, the Middle

Ages and the Modern and Contemporary Age.Much less so in the themed galleries dedicatedto aspects as interesting as underwaterarchaeology, urban archaeology, ruralarchaeology or the collaboration betweenarchaeology and science. Visitors to the MARQwill certainly take away with them someunforgettable memories having seen thesecollections which illustrate, in all their magnitudeand at such close quarters, the healthy blend of concepts, ideas, beliefs, tongues andraces that make up the Mediterranean. What willcertainly remain etched on their memories is the

Did youknow...?

To its many tourist attractions, Santa Bárbara castle will soon add a museum, too. Five rooms

of the historic fortress will serve as the basis for the exhibitions of the “Musa” (City Museum),

which will be an obligatory visit for those who wish to get to know in more detail the

history of the city and that of its inhabitants over time.


Dazzled by sport

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city. Founded back in 1914, the Hercules has eversince then and throughout its career beenfeeding the many hopes and dreams of those –and they are numbered in thousands – who thrillwith excitement when they see their playerscoming out into the stadium. That stadium, the José Rico Perez, sharesafternoons of intense footballing passionwith another powerful reference of localfootball: the Alicante football club, who madetheir first appearance on the pitch in 1918.Two groups of fans, Alicante and Hercules, markout two emotional hemispheres which,obviously, split the city in footballing terms. Adivide which deep down is not so great whenwe stop and think that, follwers of one or theother, all are from Alicante and at the end of theday, they sit and share the city’s colours, blue andwhite, common in their turn to both team strips,except for the design and the presence of blackon the Hercules shorts. Built in 1974 andrefurbished for the 1982 World Cup, whichAlicante hosted, the “Rico Pérez”, with a capacityfor 30,000 spectators, is situated in the environs

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Centre forTechnicalDevelopment

The Centre for Technical Development, built in 1993 to house the 18th Rhythmic

Gymnastics World Championship, is the haven where the many followers of the

Alicante Meridian Basketball Club congregate. This same infrastructure, on the other

hand, served as the secondary headquarters for the Eurobasket 2007 held in Spain.

Sporting activity in Alicanteenjoys a consolidated tradition,some of whose mostnoteworthy results form aninseparable part of localhistory and even legend.

Just the mention of some of the most recentlyachieved sports successes, both as a team andindividual titles, have meant that Alicante, thanksto sportspeople born or brought up here, hasalso “shone” going up onto the podium morethan once in disciplines as disparate as judo(Miriam Blasco, Gold: Barcelona, ’92; IsabelFernández, Gold: Sydney, 2000, and Bronze:Atlanta, ’96); sailing (Kiko Sánchez, Gold:Barcelona, ’92); rhythmic gymnastics (CarolinaPascual, Silver: Barcelona, ’92); football (FranciscoVeza, Gold: Barcelona, ’92) and hockey (JuanEscarré, Silver: Atlanta, ’96). In all, when sports aretalked of in Alicante it is almost impossible not toinstantly associate the place name with a namethat is doubly mythical: in the first place for thecharacter itself to which it alludes, and secondly,and most particularly, because “mythical” is theonly way to describe the passage of the teamthat proudly bears the name in the minds andhearts of its fans. We refer to the Hercules footballclub, another of the best-known emblems of the


them enthusiastically and constantly eager toexcell. The modern and functional installations of theAlicante Royal Regatta Club, situated on the Westdock of the port, the Alicante Marina, which is onthe East dock 8, as well as the Alicante CostaBlanca Nautical Club, standing on the avenue ofLa Condomina, offer all that is necessary forenthusiasts of such activities as rowing, canoeing,diving or sailing, this last of course in all its forms,to enjoy their sporting stay in the city. All of this might well have been decisive forAlicante to be able to beat its own recordregarding the organization and running of sportsevents of stature and obtain the trust of beingchosen as the starting port for a competitive trialof such a level as the Volvo Ocean Race, morecommonly known as the Round the WorldSailing Race, that has been held since 1973. Such an honour evidently represented a sum ofresponsibilities and a firm attitude ofcommitment among them all. As regards thebacking of local institutions and, in general, thoseof the Region of Valencia, along with that ofother bodies even of broad sectors of privateinitiative and, of course, counting on theenthusiasm of the Alicante populace, allexpectations were fulfilled and so, on the 11thOctober 2008, with the attendance of theirRoyal Highnesses, the 17 yachts that tookpart in the 10th edition of the Volvo OceanRace set sail from our waters. Their crews facedno less than 144 days of tension, nerves,

of the Tossal de San Fernando in the part thatfaces northeast, neighbouring with other sportsinstallations as interesting as the AthleticsStadium; Pitiu Rochel Municipal Pavillion, theseedbed where the legendary handball teamCalpisa was trained, direct ancestor of today’sAlicante Costa Blanca Handball Club; themunicipal swimming pools, the Rafael PastorMicó Municipal Pavillion and a sports complexthat acts as a beacon but this time for the fans,also very numerous and no less passionate, ofbasketball in Alicante, the Centre for TechnicalDevelopment, headquarters of the AlicanteMeridian Basketball Club. A centre no longerpublicly but privately owned, but muchappreciated for its consolidated track record (itwas founded in 1931) and input in local sportingenvironments, is the Montemar Athletics Club, inwhose installations, formerly situated in the Pladistrict, today in La Albufereta, does no morethan encourage the practice of sport tothousands of Alicante people from a very earlyage. In this chapter on sports facilities referencemust also be made to the existence, on theoutskirts of the city itself, of two modern andfunctional golf courses, namely the AlicanteGolf Club, right on the San Juan beach, and ElPlantío Golf Course, situated at kilometre 3 onthe former Alicante to Elx highway.But Alicante, there can be no doubt, lives facingthe sea and, therefore, it is logical that it hastraditionally been “soaked” in water sports andthat the many practitioners it boasts practise

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excitement, joys, but on top of everything else,hours and hours of unconditional passion for thesea and sails.It goes without saying that the media impact itrepresented for the city being the start port forthe purposes of organisational image, logisticalcapacity and human potential, as well ascommitment to quality and sustainable tourism,was as enormous as on the other hand hopedfor. The on-going appearance through recentyears of the logo of the Round the World Race

with the consequent visual “bombardment” ofthe word “Alicante” whether in the form of a “bait”in advertising spots on TV, or printed onthousands of commercial brands, officialdocuments and merchandising on the part ofthe sponsors has been decisive for morecomplete international publicity as much for thecity, as for its tourist offer and a model for leisure.The company’s success, confirmed with thefuture departure, also from the port of Alicante,of the subsequent editions, that is, thosecorresponding to 2011, 2014 and 2017, ratifiesthe commitment of those in charge to a sportingformat that has hundreds of thousands offollowers all over the world and, evidently, for theorganisational and logistic capacity of the city

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from which the regatta sets out. The Round theWorld Race set sail on its day offering enthusiasts,tourists and elite sportspeople unforgettablemoments, unrepeatable sporting and humanemotions, as well as a good number of viewsthat remain in the supporting media, websitesand blogs as permanent testimony to what wasexperienced.The “Village” now remains for the enjoyment ofthe populace and visitors, a spacious (40,000m2)and functional complex of infrastructures and

services (offices, press centre, leisure andrefreshment area, open-air promenade…),situated looking out to the inner mooring ofDock 12. It goes without saying that this area,known more commonly as the Volvo area,completes and notably improves the leisure areaof the port and ends up by offering a uniquestamp of Alicante. Let us enjoy it.


Night-timelight

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The marcha ofAlicante. “TheNeighbourhood”

Leisure has one of its mostpowerful arguments in thenightlife and arouses mostlevels of interest in the touristmarket. The nocturnal hours,with their burden of seduction,mystery and all types ofexpectations, occupy in thatway a good part of the visitor’sagenda, we could say standard,when launching out to discoverwhat “the night” has in store.

Alicante, in this sense, offers a good selection ofproposals whose varied range, well-qualified offerand spontaneity are unanimously recognised.The “marcha” [nightlife] of Alicante hasbecome, on its own merits, apart from a basicsector for the local economy, another of theemblems adorning the image of this touristcity.The areas of night-time leisure are distributedthroughout the city according to, if not a writtencode, a specialisation of services and a self-distribution and segmentation of its users who,for reasons of taste, age, shared interests, etc.,choose their own outlets and the activities to do.So, while the axis defined by the streets SanFernando-Doctor Gadea concentrates a series ofestablishments which usually serve a youngerpublic, drawn by the most recent pop music hits,the streets adjacent to the Central Market andAlfonso X el Sabio avenue, the historically named

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Neighbourhood”. With this name,encompassing the historic neighbourhoodsof Carmen, Santa Cruz and San Roque, thispart of the historic centre has always beenknown. Already since the ’70s, what in popularimagery was known as “going to inns”, for theoffer of taverns and establishments of this typethat there was (and still remains in part),concentrated the most Bohemian, bizarre and, ofcourse, entertaining offer in the city. They are

now left distant in time, but very fresh still in thecollective memory, the times when theNeighbourhood’s streets brought to a head not afew of the decisions (clandestine most of thetime) taken by the youngsters who played aleading role, in past years, in the Transition.Times and uses change, but not the laid-backprofile of the Neighbourhood, which continuesto this day and will continue all the while theMoor’s Face refuses to sleep, something it neverdoes, neither is it allowed to, whereas...Any day of the week, but particulary onThursdays, when the universities usually go out,Fridays and Saturdays, as well as during the

Wood Route, presents an offer based on morespecialist music going from the most purist ofrock to alternative genres, without forgetting thelatest trends.Needless to say, the leisure area of the port, itsoffer increased lately thanks to the Volvo area andthe splendid Casino, bubbles with activity atnight inviting people of all styles, trends, agegroups and preferences to participate.Likewise, the beach areas like La Albufereta or

San Juan and their environs unfold a healthyselection of outlets where the possibilities fordining, tasting any type of cuisine; playing boules,skating or participating in other types ofrecreational activities and, of course, having adrink, dancing and finishing off the last traces ofthe night, remains solely at the mercy of ourcriteria, pocket and ability to stay the course. Butif there is an area that most tenaciouslyrepresents the soul and pull of the Alicante nightand whose stamp of authenticity, long-standingand assured fun reported by its well-deservedfame, that “area” stretches through the city’shistorical centre, known simply as “the

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The offer is very varied and disposed to satisfy allexpectations. It is odd to see the neighbourhoodwithout the conflicts that might intervenebetween an exclusive drinks bar and a “heavy”bar, almost nextdoor to each other, or between aburger outlet where groups of “Erasmus”exchange students practise their Spanish – nocoincidence that Alicante University is ratedamong the tops when it comes to applying for aplace on the inter-university programme referredto – and a restaurant of greater pretentions. Thatis the area’s magic.A magic that is concentrated mainly on thecrossroads fomed by the streets of Labradores,San Isidro, San Pascual and the plaza of the San

“peaks” of tourist influx, the Rambla at nightbecomes a gigantic magnet capable ofattracting to the streets that climb up theBenacantil crowds of people of all appearances,types and conditions. Foreigners, nationals,youngsters, the not so young, the modern,traditionals, non-conformists, conventionals,students, people who “understand”, workers,pensioners and, in short, any social category thatmight have a propensity for enjoying the nitalacantina, which is like saying almost everyone,we see them doing the round of the animatedstreets of the Neighbourhood in search of theirfavourite café, tavern, inn, restaurant, dive, pub,live music venue or disco-pub.

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To do that it is most recommendable to go tothe Neighbourhood, especially to its highestareas, with houses, many of them of singlefamilies, and exclusively accessed on foot, to takein, also by day, their many details: the elegantplay of perspectives and vanishing points thatform the graceful bell-tower finished in a spire ofthe chapel and monastery of San Roque (16th –19th centuries) with the matxo of Santa Bárbara;

San Roque street similarly festooned with smallpergolas with gardens and veteran fountains; theCarmen plaza, solemn witness of the Burial of theSardine marking the end of the carnival; thespectacular view that is seen from the Santa Cruzvantage point which certainly offers an almostGrecian snapshot with its 18th century chapel,whitewashed and secluded... But if you wish toenjoy what the Mediterranean lifestyle in thehistoric quarter of Alicante, in its most popularand laid-back register, can give of itself, it isrecommended you climb up the steep alleywaysof San Rafael and Santa Lucía and turn righttowards San Antonio. Something appears before

Nicolás Cloister; at Quijano plaza where thestreets Carmen, San Agustín and Padre Maltésmeet; or San Cristóbal plaza, the “Gateway to theNeighbourhood” par excellence, but also involvingthe streets of Santo Tomás, San José, San Nicolás,Montengón, Argensola, Virgen de Belén, Cisneros,Cienfuegos, Tarifa, Abad Nájera, Maldonado orSantos Médicos, amongst other goals of themore fun-loving people keen on dancing, along

with Mayor street, plaza de la Santísima Faz, plazadel Abad Penalva and Miguel Soler street, theselast characterised by their wide-ranging offer foreating out. And as long as the body can endure...All in all, and despite fulfilling that sleeplessfunction of servitude, in the Neighbourhood notall is booze and binging to the hilt. The invitationto responsible consumption and, above all, themunicipal regulations that oblige premises toclose at 3a.m operate in this sense. It must not beforgotten that “the Neighbourhood” and theareas that in turn make it up are part of the mosttraditional Alicante, the pleasant and beloved“great-grandparents” of the city. We take a break...

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visitors’ eyes to make them wonder if they are ina street or on a stage set. On a thoroughfare thatmeasures no more than four scant metres inbreadth, by some twenty in length, and betweenhouses painted bright colours, a completerepertoire of streetlamps, railings, decorated plantpots, grilles or screens, ceramic altarpieces of anintensely popular feel, religious images, labelsthat identify the owners of the houses, climbingplants, tiles with slogans alluding to theprocession of Santa Cruz, to the Alicante sun, theHoly Face or the Hercules, among other eye-catching sights, places the visitor in a spot moremagical than real, in a world of emotions andmemories that could well pick up echoes ofAltea, Mojácar, Ibiza or Cadaqués, but also ofCasablanca, Santorini or Palermo and, reachingthe end, as far as Tegucigalpa, Tijuana or Bahía.What has been said, an ideal stage-set whichwould not be at all out of place in a film byAlmodóvar or Bigas Luna.Now, coming down San Rafael street to go out ofthe Carmen and San Cristóbal plazas, the visitorthus says farewell to a neighbourhood where, forstretches, the street also forms part of the frontroom of the house itself. Living Mediterraneanessence in its pure state.

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Projecting the light.Opening up frontiers

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With this officialdom, it would seem that theOHIM only has to answer to the model of a coldbureaucratic centre for decisions and resources,a bunker where anyone – and above all those onfoot – would feel nonplussed in the face of theall-powerful bureaucratic machinery and the noless powerful image of the Union. But no, theOHIM is by no means a dull and inaccesiblebunker, since for years it has allowed visits to bemade, by prior arrangement, by those who havethe interest, or the mere curiosity, to find outwhat a Community institution is like on theinside and see close up the functioning of thiscog – small, but in Alicante – of the Europeanmachine.

The visits aimed at schoolchildren have anadded value, as their recipients represent thefuture. That the OHIM enables the youngestones to start to familiarise themselves with thefirst notions and basic ideas about Europe, theUnion or European citizenship, etc., does notcease to be an achievement. When all is said anddone, who better to promote the quality and

Stars of Europe andthe MediterraneanSince 1994, the year when Alicante was officiallydesignated as headquarters of the Office ofHarmonization for the Internal Market (OHIM), itmoved on to form part of the exclusive club ofcities that receive administrative requests fromthe European Union. With this designation, apartfrom its dynamism and tourist potential, itscondition was recognised as a city traditionallyorientated to abroad and provided, therefore,with a markedly cosmopolitan spirit.Among its chief tasks, the Trademarks Office, as itis known in unofficial terms, has the ability tocontrol, issue and register, in their turn, all thebrands, designs and models that Europeancompanies have to present in order to accessthe advantages of the Single Market; it likewiseguarantees the legal protection of those ofcontinental scale and has full legal capacitywhen it comes to resolving conflicts derivingfrom the incorrect application of its standards.

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of analysis, will in the future constitute an activefocal point of urban, economic and culturalproposals for the area in which it is intended toset it up, to the south of the Benalúaneighbourhood, and more specifically in thebuilding that is going to serve as theheadquarters: the former station of Murciarailways, a discreet and eclectic building fromthe end of the 19th century in which the besttradition of the use of cast iron in architecturepersists. Economists, officials and lawyers whotravel for bureaucratic reasons. Teachers, analystsand sociologists from both sides in search of aMediterranean less rhetorical and more practical.And at the meeting point of both streams, a cityall of them will also speak about, and certainly inpositive terms, returning to their countries oforigin. Alicante: brand image…

Projected light. Our own “dream factory”

Very close to the OHIM, the same N-333highway leads to another of the driving forceswhich is set to consolidate the Alicante of thetwenty-first century. It is no exaggeration tostate that we are, perhaps, before one of themost modern and well-qualified film studiosin the whole of Europe: the Ciudad de la Luz.This project of the Regional government startedrolling in the year 2000 taking into account suchweighty factors as the firm commitment by theever more booming audiovisual sector,omnipresent in the most extended ways ofunderstanding and practising leisure; thepossibility of generating wealth and stable jobs;stimulating the talent and output of the manyrecognised professionals which the Region ofValencia boasts, or being in-tune with Alicante’sown dynamism, facilities on offer andconsolidated experience as a tourist destination.

genuine character of a product, in this case“Europe”, than the very agency responsible fortaking care of it? The modern concrete and glassbuilding that houses the OHIM, lies on the southside of the city raised up on a hill from where ithas a privileged view of the Agua Amarga beach.Taking the N-332 highway towards Cartagena,and shortly after leaving behind the Palmeralpark, we soon see the straight lines of its outline.And returning to the trademarks, in case Alicantehad not been sufficiently recognised with this“star” of the Union, the Community agencyrepresents, another recognition, this time jointlybetween the State, the Region and the CityCouncil, consolidates not only the city’sEuropean outreach, but also its role as drivingforce for dialogue and consensus in the area thatis nearest and most akin to it.

The House of the Mediterranean, apart frombeing this meeting point and permanent forum

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Home-grownproductions

Did you know that the indoor scenes of the

successful series on Valencian Television’s Channel 9,

L’Alquería Blanca, are shot here?


Dramatic Art…), along with Specialisationcourses and Arts and Crafts related to theseventh art (Costumes, Sets, Lighting). From2005 and to date, over 30 full-length films,amongst which titles stand out like La damaboba, El camino de los ingleses, Manolete,Asterix en los Juegos Olímpicos or Tetro havebeen made in these installations. Films withthe stamp of the Ciudad de la Luz… Films inwhich their authors can testify that the lightthey give off is 100% from Alicante.After visiting the film complex, still impressed byits size, specialisation and complexity in the faceof what is later consumed in barely an hour anda half in a cinema or at home, what could bebetter than to rest one’s eyes and air the mind.For that, Saladar beach, the southernmost andclearest of Alicante’s beaches, stretches outparellel to the N-332, offering us an unbeatablepretext.

And all that, without forgetting its excellentlocation just a few kilometres from both the cityand the international airport of El Altet. Eversince the project saw the light of day, as it were,it has not ceased to be consolidated. Onceinside the complex, certainly vast as it extendsover some 300,000m2, it is surprising how itsdesigner, the American Gary Bastien, one of themost renowned professionals in the sector, hasresolved the distribution of its spaces andfacilities with the criterion of rationality.11,000m2 of shooting sets, perfectly equippedaccording to the technical requirements thatthe medium demands; another 11,000m2 ofwarehouses, production buildings andworkshops, along with 12 hectares of openspace for shooting outdoor scenes, amongstother facilities, offer the professionals of cinema,video or TV, complete guarantees regarding thesecurity that they can carry out the entirecreative process (shooting, mounting, editing…)in Alicante studios.In all, the Ciudad de la Luz is not only aproduction centre, but it also takes in much ofthe training aspect. So, at the Study Centreeverything is taught even up to Licenciate inAudiovisual Communication, to differentqualifications (Photography, Artistic Direction,

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History ofSpanish film

Did you know that the brilliant Valencian director Luis

García Berlanga is the intellectual mentor, the “father”,

to put it more graphically, of the Ciudad de la Luz film

studio?


Beyond Benacantil

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Itinerary 5

1 Tossal de Manises - Albufereta

El Cabo coves2

Lighthouse3

Av. Niza – San Juan beach4

Albufereta - El Cabo - San Juan

Play

a de

l San

Juan

3

Av.

Niz

a

Av.

Cos

ta B

lanc

a

Farodel CaboCabo de

las Huertas

Av. Goleta

4

2

1

Playa dela Albufereta

Av. Costa Blanca

Av. Vicente Ramos

Cala de los Judios

GlorietaDeportistaSergioCardells

Av. Locutor Vicente Hipólito

Av. de las N

aciones

AlicanteGolf

AlicanteGolf

GlorietaDeportistaCarolinaPascual

GlorietaDeportistaPaqui Vera

Av. AnsaldoEnric Valor

Av. Costa

Blanca

Camino del Faro

Colonia Romana

Arpón

Av. Costa Blanca

Av. Oviedo

Britania

Tridente

Redes

Curricán

Av. Condomina

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times, the beach has been designated one of themost-loved by the people of Alicante, as well asthe broad residential area that surrounds it. Thestreet names that appear as we pass, all of themwith a strongly classical posture like Daphne,Zeus, Appollo, Goddess Tanit or Roman Colony,denote the “flavour” of the spot in which we findourselves. It is no coincidence that the Tossal deManises takes in the ruins of the legendaryLucentum. So we dispose ourselves to get to

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OUTINGS

La millor terreta del món [the best place in the world]

“I do not doubt its grace nordeny its primacy, and I evenswear by Talía, which if youwere to see what I see fromthis spot where I am reading,you would change your mind:Alicante is without doubt the

best place in the world. Andyou know in fine Breton that tothe last moment Alicante willbe for me the best place in theworld.” (Mariano Roca deTogores, Marquis of Molins)

There is more Alicante the otherside of Benacantil and evenbeyond the immense andapparently impassable SanJulián sierra. The broad areastretching northeast, is anotherof the objectives to cover.

We are discovering its charms little by little. Ifyou drive in your own vehicle, the habitual N-332 highway, but this time in the direction ofValencia, will take us to our destination. Anotherpossibility, very recommendable, is to take oneof the tram lines which, whether from theMercado station, or from the “Porta de la Mar”,take us over the lump of rock called San Julián –here it is understood very well that it is alsocalled Grossa – to our first destination. Gettingoff at the station “La isleta” a popular andcheerful beach stretches out before us: theAlbufereta. This name alludes to the smallinland lake without a way out to the sea,which historically used to stretch for quite a fewmetres inland until it entirely dried up. In present


with the outstanding remains of its walls, houses,hot baths, forum, fortified towers and burial site,is offered to us in all its splendour thanks to thesupport that the most recent technology placestoday at the service of the popularisation ofarchaeology. So it makes it very agreeable, aboveall to the non-specialist in matters ofarchaeology and ancient history, getting toknow in situ the evolution of the most primitiveAlicante from the 1st century BC to the 3rdcentury AD. The activities intended forschoolchildren likewise form part of themagnificent plan for the popularisation of whatis, nowadays, one of the best and most modernarchaeological complexes in Spain. Recent excavations, still underway, and in thephase of putting a value on their cultural use,like those carried out at the Cerro de las Balsas-Chinchorro, or at the Roman villas found at theCasa Ferrer I site and in the Park of the Nations,confirm the extraordinary archeological wealththat still remains in these unique spots on theAlbufereta.After this parenthesis of immersion in the past, itis advisable to return to the present day, to the

know a very important part of local history,which connects with our most remote past andrelates us directly with Iberians, Carthaginiansand Romans. Although the spot had alreadybeen studied and excavated by AntonioValcárcel Pío de Saboya y Moura, the lively Countof Lumiares, the professor and director of theAlicante Archaeological Museum, José LafuenteVidal (1879-1966), and Francisco FiguerasPacheco (1880-1960), outstanding chronicler ofthe city, amongst others, oblivion and generalneglect, but more particularly urban propertyspeculation, ended up seriously endangering thesite. Only the ministerial declaration turningthe Tossal de Manises into a Historic-ArtisticMonument in 1961, represented the start ofthe process of its recuperation for the useand enjoyment of all.Throughout recent years, the team ofarcheaeologists of the MARQ, the museum ofwhich the Tossal de Manises has become anextension, has provided the complex with aprotection plan, set in action and publicising itsopenly noteworthy contents. Over an area ofnearly 25,000m2, the fabric of the ancient city,

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Lucentum

Did you know that in 1960 a Swedish archaeologist avoided the destruction of Lucentum by standing

up to a construction firm that wanted to put up a hotel on the site of the Tossal? Solveig Nordström’s

defiant gesture of laying beneath the shovels of the mechanical diggers, the presence of the

international press, assembled by her, and her condition of a Swedish citizen, succeeded in dissuading

the authorities at the time from arresting her or starting any other type of action. The following year

the Ministry protected the site declaring it as a Historic-Artistic Monument... How a “barbarian from the

north” saved a chapter in Mediterranean history…


over cape Azul, it continues until it gets lost,amidst the mist, on the skyline formed by theskyscrapers of Benidorm and the ridges of sierraHelada. To the west, the friendly plain stretchesout and of human dimensions that, not bychance, receive the affectionate and at the sametime very identifying name of la terreta

[homeland]. Coming out again onto CostaBlanca avenue, we leave behind the cape of LaHuerta, which gives its name to the whole areaand which, in turn, we could name “City of theCape”, to head along, now on Niza avenue, thelong wide sandy barrier of the “star” beach forthousands of Alicante people and visitors: SanJuan beach. While Postiguet is the urban beach,the one that is nearer to hand, “nextdoor”, SanJuan is the beach which produces thephenomenon of “going to the beach”. ThePostiguet “is”, but San Juan you “go to”. Thedifference of feel, in spite of being subtle, issufficiently illustrative since if you go there it isbecause you are thinking of spending all daythere. The beach has installations and servicesfor that purpose so as to spend a whole day atthe beach. Sun loungers, skates, showers,

hurly-burly of this sleepless city. Our route mightwell continue without getting off the tram andcomfortably carrying on until we reach San Juanbeach, or travelling on the main road, whether inour own vehicle or on the bus, along the longperimeter avenue of the Costa Blanca, an axisthat articulates the communication between the

Albufereta and its neighbouring residential area:El Cabo. Chalets, semi-detached houses andtower blocks of flats – traditional exponents offamily summers – accompany our tour as wefind ourselves tempted to sit on one of itsendless terraces or wander round its shoppingareas. All in all, the temptation is stronger toreach the peaceful and empty coves, Judíos,Cantalares or Palmera, right below thelighthouse. For practitioners of nudism, thesecoves are, of course, “their” coves. From theenvirons of the lighthouse we are able to look atthe entire extension of an incomparablelandscape. Looking to the southwest, the citypeeps out and the coastline that continues as faras Santa Pola cape, tracing the gigantic arc ofAlicante bay. To the north, the view takes in theextremely long beach of San Juan and, skipping

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The magic of the light bathes every corner of Alicante, like the Albufereta or El Cabo


footbaths, games, access areas for people withrestricted mobility and other facilities populatethe strip of sand, while along the edge, old-timers now on the seafront promenade,restaurants of tota la vida, with good food – andadjusted price – tempt us with the smellscoming from their kitchens. The other pavementof Niza avenue, the thoroughfare leading as faras the edge of the boundary with theneighbouring town of El Campello, is a constantbarrage of terraces, more restaurants, cafés, ice-cream parlours and all kinds of shops. San Juan,which in addition in summer organisesrecreational and sporting activities for everyone,from the littlest ones to the older folks, is ahotbed of constant surprises and an invitation tothe dolce far niente [sweet idleness]. We couldreturn to the city along any of the avenues thatcross the area of the Condomina, where theMonastrell grape used to be grown, which wasused for making the legendary Fondillón.Modern infrastructures built recently forchannelling the torrential waters – everything toavoid flooding as catastrophic as in 1982 and1997 – in dialogue with the former fortifiedtowers that are still standing and are the mosteloquent testimony of times when Alicantefeared the scourge of pirates, back in pastcenturies.

The crystal clear waters of El Cabo are undoubtedly a privileged

place for a good bathe

Alicante“There is a land in Spain that I love above all lands. It is foundsituated looking out onto a minute sea, still and glorious; theatmosphere is subtle, mild and innervated; a line of hills of agreyish blue standing out lit up on the horizon.”(J. Martínez Ruiz “Azorín”.)

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of being the only inhabited island in theRegion of Valencia.Situated 8 miles south of Alicante and 3 to thesoutheast of Santa Pola cape lying northwest-southeast, Tabarca, along with the islets thatsurround it (La Galera, La Nao, La Cantera, etc.)making up a mini-archipelago, stretches over theMediterranean, its surface flat as the palm of yourhand and closed in a form that could well belikened to that of a huge sea-dragon.In 1986, the island was turned into the first areadeclared by the State as a Marine Reserve. But as ifthat were little, it already enjoyed, as from 1964,the condition of a Historic-Artistic Monument. Somany attractions, to make one take to the sea andgo in search… From the Tomás y Valiente promenade itself,approximately at the meeting point of theExplanada and Canalejas plaza, the pleasure boatscalled “tabarqueras” set sail, depending on thetourist season when the island is being visited. Thecrossing, lasting barely an hour, is very pleasantgiven the large number of reasons for using thecamera: leaving the mouth of the harbour, flocks

“Many years ago, an islandpopulated by pirates…” It couldbe the start of a goodadventure story. Of course, itwould be good for a start andfor plenty more, taking intoaccount all the myths and oldlegends of the Mediterraneanthat literally “surround” it.Because the place to which thissection refers is not in the worldof the imagination but quite thecontrary, it is a tangible physicalreality that can be walked onbeyond the sea. That realityanswers to the name of Tabarca.

This island fragment of Alicante city, despite itsmodest size: 1,800 metres long by 300 metres atits widest point, boasts, for all that, the honour

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TABARCA

The prettyisland

Did you know that the perimeter of the marine reserve takes in three areas each provided

with different levels of protection and use? In two of them, bathing, anchoring of boats,

diving and controlled angling, that is, with the corresponding licence, are allowed under

certain conditions, while in the 100 hectares of the third area, a so-called comprehensive

reserve, all human activity is totally prohibited.


Charles III's illustrious programmes coincided withthe need to settle a population on the island todissuade pirates from using it for their raids, thusdetermining the rescue of the wandering Genoesecolony and its definitive installation, in 1770, onthe island which then went on to be called NewTabarca. The fortification of the town withdefensive walls and bullwarks, and the installationof a fixed military garrison gave peace andtranquillity to the recently installed tenants of theisland. Fishing activity, especially of tuna, was themain basis of the economy for decades, and eventoday, despite tourism currently being the drivingforce of the island, its memory is kept intact.Listening to history, one hardly realises that theshape of Tabarca, presided over by the mass ofstone that is its solid baroque church, stretches outahead. Leaping ashore at the tiny harbour andheading for the little town is a whole ceremony inwhich the gulls, the island’s inhabitants of honour,participate giving their particular welcome. Afterpassing through the San Rafael gateway, one ofthe three entrances opened in the defensive wall,along with those of San Gabriel and San Miguel,

of seagulls, the odd yacht that greets us as wepass, a plane getting ready to land on the runwayof El Altet, a merchant ship disappearing on thehorizon… To starboard and with the constantaccompaniment of the coastline stretching outspectacularly as far as Santa Pola cape, the crossingmight turn out to be even more agreeable if onecould hear the voice of history.Known by the geographers of the Ancient Worldfrom Pliny to Ptolemy, and Strabo, who baptised itvery accurately with the name of Planesia, theisland known historically as L’illa Plana, illa de SantaPola, or simply l’illa, was always a wild anduninhabited spot whose fate seemed destinedonly to be a temporary refuge and operationalbase for pirates. It was not until the 18th centurythat its destiny changed, and even its name.Specifically, in 1741, the inhabitants of thegenuine island of Tabarka, situated off thecoast of Tunis, peaceful coral gatherers ofGenoese origin, were expelled by the Tunisians,giving rise to a voyage of various years in whichthey vascilated between prison and beingconstantly on the run.

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Did youknow...?

The former inhabitants of the island of Tabarcaended up merging with their neighbours on thepeninsular by intermarrying, their Italiansurnames extending throughout the area. In thefishing world that stretches from Torrevieja toAltea it is not uncommon to come across peoplewith surnames like Parodi, Pomata, Russo,Manzanaro, Chacopino (the already Spanish formof Giacopino), Luchoro (from Luggioro),...


The Governor’s House, converted into a tiny cutehotel; the shops where all the merchandiseimaginable is offered with the slogan: “souvenir ofTabarca”, and obviously the walk along the raisedpart of the wall, which along some stretches dropsstraight down into the sea, make up a basicitinerary to follow. Beyond the walls, the Cova delLlop Marí, an open cavity in one of the coveswhere the waters penetrate and seem to beengulfed, offers all the mystery of sea legends. Thebeach, nearby, offers its mantle of sand and somecrystal clear water. Beside the all-purpose buildingthat houses the services of the Red Cross, LocalPolice and first aid, stands the former tuna fisheryconverted nowadays into the Tabarca Museum.Archaeological remains, traditional fishing tackle,memorabilia and documents invite visitors to getto know the local history. In another section of themuseum various informative screens and anaudiovisual display illustrate the rich marineecosystem surrounding the island. If there are athousand and one ways for children to enjoyTabarca, here they are going to be more evident.

It is possible to stay on the island overnight, infact there are various small hotelestablishments, very family-orientated andfamily-run, and of course, one can eat out atany of the many restaurants there are both within

the visitor enters the minute and friendly universe,whose 100% human scale is only slightly broken atthe Plaza de Armas [military parade ground], openand solitary. The houses, tiny and whitewashed,offer a totally Mediterranean snapshot full ofcharm.

Arriving at Tabarca transports us to past eras

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the town and outside the walls. Needless to saythat the specialities offered are made starting fromthe products of the sea, sometimes caught onlythe previous night. The Tabarca style caldero [fishstew, taking its name from the cauldron in which itis prepared], the gazpacho de mero [a hearty stewof grouper, not to be confused with the coldtomato soup of Andalucia], or squid “de potera”, sonamed for the fishing tackle used to catch it, witha line rather than a net, will certainly notdisappoint the visitor.

But to understand Tabarca in all its wilddimensions and beauty, you have to head for whathas always been called el camp [open country]taking as landmarks the fort of San José, built atthe same time as the walls, and the lighthouse.Walking towards the southeast end of the island,where we come across the secluded cemeterywith a Greek feel to it, the solitude of the ever-present sea completely enveloping a desolate, aridand rocky landscape, only suitable for thoseseeking peace and relaxation. Alongside the noisyfamily-style Tabarca, the one which, especially insummer, just a few hours are enough for the visit,is the Tabarca for spending a peaceful, quietweekend getting away from it all. The best trick ofTabarca is precisely in the fact that it is so tiny andin its relative – and here the term could not bemore appropriate - isolation.

Epilogue

The boat sets sail. Tabarca, “the pretty island” lies behind. It remains

there playing with the waves like a tiny child while in the distance

the city, like a mother, watches over it that it does not get separated

too far from the coast. This guidebook ends as it began, returning to

the destination that, in turn, was also the starting off point. Between

the sea and the sky, Alicante, in the background, sketches its outline

sheltered by El Benacantil....97


Museums, monumentsand all that Alicanteoffers the visitor

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MUSEO DE FOGUERES Rambla de Méndez Núñez, 29. Tel. 965 146 828www.alicante.ayto.esOpening hours for visits: (1 October to 30 March):Mondays closed. Tuesdays to Saturdays 10a.m to 2p.m and5p.m to 7:45p.m. Sundays 10a.m to 1:45p.m. Summeropening hours (1 April to 30 September): Mondays closed.Tuesdays to Saturdays 10a.m to 2p.m and 6p.m to 9p.m.Sundays and Bank Holidays 10a.m to 2p.m.

CENTRO MUNICIPAL DE LAS ARTESPl. de Quijano, 2. Tel. 965 147 160www.alicante-ayto.es/culturaOpening hours for visits: Sundays and Bank Holidays closed.Mondays to Fridays 7a.m to 2p.m and 4:30p.m to 9:30p.m.Saturdays 4:30p.m to 9:30p.m. These times may varydepending on the exhibition.FISH EXCHANGE/MARKET EXHIBITION H

SALA DE EXPOSICIONES LONJA DE PESCADOPaseo Almirante Julio Guillén Tato, s/nTel. 965 922 018 / 965 922 306www.alicante-ayto.es/culturaOpening hours for visits: Tuesdays to Fridays 10a.m to2p.m and 4p.m to 9p.m. Saturdays 10a.m to 2p.m and6p.m to 9p.m. Domingos de 10a.m to 2p.m Summeropening times (July to August) de martes a sábado: de5p.m to 9p.m.

M2A. MUSEO DE AGUAS DE ALICANTEPl. Arquitecto Miguel López, s/n. Tel. 965 143 787Opening hours for visits: (September to June) Mondays toSundayss de 10a.m to 2p.m and 5p.m to 8p.m. Summeropening hours (July to August): Mondays to Sundays11a.m to 2p.m. and 6p.m to 9p.m.

MUSEO TAURINO BULLFIGHTING MUSEUMPl. de España, s/n. Tel. 965 219 930Opening hours for visits: (1 October to 18 June): Mondays,Sundays and Bank Holidays closed. Tuesdays to Fridays10:30a.m to 1:30p.m and 5p.m to 8p.m. Saturdays 10:30a.mto 1:30p.m. Summer opening hours (19 June to 30September): Mondays, Sundays and Bank Holidays closed.Tuesdays to Fridays 10:30a.m to 1:30p.m and 6p.m to 9p.m.Saturdays: 10:30a.m to 1:30p.m.

MUSEO NUEVA TABARCATuna fishery warehouse building. Tabarca IslandTel. 965 960 175Opening hours for visits: Wednesdays to Sundays11a.m to 2p.m. and 3:30p.m to 4:30p.m. Summer openinghours: Wednesdays to Sundays 11.30a.m to 2p.m and 4p.mto 6:30p.m.

MUSEUMS:

AULA DE CULTURA CAMAv. Dr. Gadea, 1. Tel. 965 905 639. www.cam.esTimes variable, check programmming.

SALA EXPOSICIONES CAMAv. Ramón y Cajal, 5Opening hours for visits: Mondays closed. FromTuesdays to Saturdays 6p.m to 9p.m. Sundays and BankHolidays 11a.m to 2p.m.

MACA, (ALICANTE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART)Pl. de Santa María, 3. Tel. 965 140 959 / 965 140 768

FUNDACIÓN BANCAIXARambla de Méndez Núñez, 4. Tel. 965 200 633Exhibition Hall Opening Hours: Mondays to Saturdays10a.m to 2p.m and 5p.m to 9p.m. Sundays and BankHolidays 10a.m to 2p.m Summer opening hours (July toAugust): Mondays to Saturdays 10a.m to 2p.m and 7p.m to11p.m. Sundays and Bank Holidays 7p.m to 11p.m. Cultural Centre Opening Hours: Mondays to Fridays 7a.mto 2p.m and 4p.m to 9p.m. Saturdays 7a.m to 2p.m. Specialopening hours exam period: *Mondays to Sundays: 8a.m tomidnight. *Requires university card to be shown.

MARQ PROVINCIAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUMPl. Dr. Gómez Ulla, s/n. Tel. 965 14 90 00 / 965 149 006www.marqalicante.com Opening hours for visits:Mondays closed. Tuesdays to Saturdays 10a.m to 7p.m.Sundays and Bank Holidays 10a.m to 2p.m. Summer openinghours (1 July to 31 August): Mondays closed. Tuesdays toSaturdays 11a.m to 2p.m and 6p.m to midnight. Sundays andBank Holidays 11a.m to 2p.m.

MUBAG, GRAVINA MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS C/ Gravina, 13-15. Tel. 965 146 780. www.mubag.comOpening hours for visits: (1 October to 30 April): Mondaysclosed. Tuesdays to Saturdays 7a.m to 2p.m and 4p.m to8p.m. Sundays and Bank Holidays 10a.m to 2p.m Summeropening hours (1 May to 31 September): Mondays closed.Tuesdays to Saturdays 10a.m to 2p.m and 5p.m to 9p.m.Sundays and Bank Holidays 10a.m to 2p.m

MUSEO DE BELENES CRIB MUSEUMC/ San Agustín, 3. Tel. 965 202 232 Opening hours for visits: (1 September to 30 June):Sundays and Bank Holidays closed. Mondays 5p.m to 8p.m.Tuesdays to Fridays 10a.m to 2p.m and 5p.m to 8p.m.Saturdays 10a.m to 2p.m. Summer opening hours (Julyand August): Sundays and Bank Holidays closed. Mondays6p.m to 9p.m. Tuesdays to Saturdays 11a.m to 2p.m.

Practical information

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Religious monumentsBasílica Santa MaríaPl. Santa María, s/n. 03002 Alicante. Tel. 965 216 026Opening hours: Mondays to Fridays 10:30a.m to noon and6p.m to 7:30p.m.San Roque ChapelC/ San Roque, s/n. AlicanteSanta Cruz ChapelBarrio de Santa Cruz. AlicanteSan Nicolas de Bari Co-cathedral ChurchPl. del Abad Canónigo Penalva, s/n. 03002 AlicanteTel. 965 212 662. Opening hours: Mondays to Fridays7:30a.m to 12:30p.m and 5:30p.m to 8:30p.m. Saturdays8:30a.m to 12:30p.m and 6p.m to 9p.m. Sundays 8:30a.m to2p.m and 5:30p.m to 9p.m.Monasterio de la Preciosísima SangreC/ Monjas, s/n. 03002 Alicante. Tel. 965 217 396 The inside cannot be visited. Opening hours: the chapelmay be visited for worship from Mondays to Saturdays at8a.m and 11a.m. Sundays, feast days and days before at9a.m.Monasterio de la Santa FazCtra. Alicante-Valencia, km. 8. 03559 Alicante. Tel. 965 264 912 Opening hours: Mondays 5p.m to 8p.m. to Saturdays 8a.mto 1p.m and 5p.m to 8p.m.Convento de las CapuchinasC/ Teniente Álvarez Soto, s/n. 03002 Alicante. Tel. 965 216 040Nuestra Señora de GraciaPl. de la Montanyeta, 7, E. 03001 Alicante. Tel. 965 214 761

THEATRESTeatro Principal de AlicantePl. Ruperto Chapí, s/n. 03001 Alicante. Tel. 965 203 100www.teatroprincipalalicante.comTeatro ArnichesAv. de Aguilera, 1. 03007 Alicante. Tel. 965 93 68 [email protected] • [email protected] • www.teatres.gva.es

PARKS AND GARDENSParque CanalejasOpposite the Regatta Club.Monte Benacantil and the Ereta. Monte TossalEast side of San Fernando castle.Panteon de QuijanoOpposite the España plaza, at the end of C/ San VicenteParque Lo MorantC/ Vicente Aleixandre, s/n. Opening hours: 8a.m to 10p.m.Parque El PalmeralAv. de Elche, s/n. Opening hours: 9a.m to 11p.m.

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MONUMENTS: Civil buildings

Casa AyuntamientoPl. del Ayuntamiento, 1. 03002 Alicante. Tel. 965 14 91 00 Opening hours: Mondays to Fridays 9a.m to noon.Castillo de San FernandoC/ Monte Tossal, s/n. 03005 AlicanteCastillo de Santa Bárbara C/ Monte Benacantil. 03002 Alicante Tel. 965 162 128 Castle opening hours: 10a.m to 10p.m. Lift/elevator opening hours: 10a.m to 7:20p.m. Final descent of lift/elevator at 7:40p.m. Open every day.La Ciudad DescubiertaC/ Jorge Juan,1. 03002 Alicante. Tel. 965 145 222 Open every day: 7a.m to 2p.mMercado Central Av. Alfonso X El Sabio, 14. 03004 Alicante. Tel. 965 140 841 Opening hours: Mondays to Fridays 7:30a.m to 2:30p.m.Saturdays 7:30a.m to 3p.m.“Casa de las brujas” Headquarters of the Regional GovernmentAv. Doctor Gadea, 16. 03003 Alicante. Tel. 965 935 415Teatro PrincipalPl. de Ruperto Chapí, s/n. 03001 Alicante. Tel. 965 203 100Casa CarbonellExplanada de España, 1. 03002 AlicanteDiputación ProvincialAv. De la Estación, 6. 03008 Alicante. Tel. 965 988 900Teatro ArnichesAv. de Aguilera, 1. 03007 Alicante. Tel. 965 936 838Municipal Historic Archive (Maisonnave Palace)C/ Labradores, 11. 03002 Alicante. Opening hours: Mondays to Fridays 7a.m to 2p.mPalacio Centro 14C/ Labradores, 14. 03002 Alicante. Tel. 965 149 666 Opening hours: Mondays to Wednesdays 8a.m to 10p.m.Thursdays 8a.m to midnight. Fridays 8a.m to 2a.m.Saturdays 10a.m to 2p.m and 6p.m to 2a.m.Palacio del Marqués de LorcaC/ Labradores, 16. 03002 AlicanteCasa Palacio y Bodega DieC/ Miguel Soler esquina con San Nicolás. 03002 AlicantePalacio del Marqués de BochC/ Mayor. 03002 AlicantePalacio GravinaC/ Gravina,13-15. Tel. 965 146 780 Opening hours: Tuesdays to Saturday: 10a.m to 2p.m and4p.m to 8p.m. Sundays and Bank Holidays: 10a.m to 2p.m


Club Náutico Alicante Costa BlancaAv. Condomina, 20. (Edif. Akra). Playa AlbuferetaTel. 965 154 491. Fax 965 265 848Alicante Nautical Station (El Campello and Santa Pola)Pl. Ayuntamiento, 1. Tel. 965 245 878 Monte Tossal Swimming Pool ComplexC/ Foguerer Romeu Zarandieta, 2. Tel. 965 242 162Former Tram Coachpark – Babel indoor swimmingpoolC/ Fernando Madroñal. Tel. 965 114 946 Athletics stadiumC/ Hondón de las Nieves. Tel. 965 254 261José Rico Pérez stadiumC/ Foguerer Romeu Zarandieta, 4. Tel. 965 243 212-16Municipal Football GroundC/ Barítono Paco la Torre. Tel. 965 179 504Sports ComplexC/ Hondón de las Nieves. Tel. 965 241 296Monte Tossal Sports Centre(former racecourse).C/ Monte Tossal. Tel. 965 246 178 Pitiu Rochel Central Municipal Pavilion C/ Foguerer Romeu Zarandieta, 4. Tel. 965 252 024Track integrated within the outdoor sports centreParque Lo MorantC/ Escritor Ferrándiz Torremocha. Tel. 965 176 517

LANGUAGEThe two official languages are Spanish and Valencian,this last being the language proper to the Region ofValencia.

OPENING HOURSShops generally open from 10a.m to 9p.m, althoughsome establishments close at midday. Public offices from 8a.m to 2p.m. Restaurants from noon to 3p.m and 7p.m to 11p.m.Drinks bars from 11p.m to 3:30a.m.

POSTAL SERVICESThere are Post Offices in the different neighbourhoods, butthe central offices are:C/ Bono Guarner, 1. 03005 Alicante. Tel. 965 227 871 C/ Alemania, 7. 03003 Alicante. Tel. 965 131 887Opening hours: Mondays to Fridays 8:30a.m to 8:30p.m.Saturdays 9:30a.m to 1p.m.Sundays and Bank Holidays no serviceFor further information: www.correos.es

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BEACHESEl Postiguet beachLa Albufereta beachLa Almadraba beach Los Judíos beachCantalar coveLa Palmera coveSan Juan beach El Saladar beach

LEISURE AREASEl Barrio [The Neighbourhood](Situated in the historic centre)Ruta de la Madera [Route of Wood](in the streets surrounding the central market)PortGolf area (at Alicante Golf )San Juan beach

SPORTS FACILITIESPatronato Municipal de Deportes C/ Foguerer José Romeo Zarandieta, 2. 03005 AlicanteTel. 965 916 012. Fax 965 245 702www.alicante-ayto.es/deportesAlicante GolfAv. Locutor Vicente Hipólito, 37Playa de San Juan de Alicante. Tel. 965 15 20 43 Fax 965 16 37 07 El Plantío Club de GolfCtra. Antigua Alicante-Elx km. 3 Partida Bacarot (Alicante)Tel. 965 189 115. Fax 965 189 105www.elplantio.com Alenda GolfAutovía Alicante –Madrid, km 15Monforte del Cid (Alicante). Tel. 965 620 521. Fax 965 621 796www.alendagolf.com Golf&Spa BonalbaPartida Bonalba, s/n. Mutxamel (Alicante) Tel. 965 955 955. Fax 965 955 078www.golfbonalba.comReal Club de Regatas de AlicanteAlicante Royal Regatta ClubMuelle de Poniente, 3 Tel. 965 921 250. Fax 965 228 542 www.rcra.es Marina AlicanteMuelle 8, zona de Levante, s/nTel. 965 213 600. Fax 965 213 665 www.marinaalicante.com



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Tourist Info Alicante-centroC/ Portugal, 17. (Bus station). Tel. 965 929 802 [email protected] Info Alicante RENFEAv. Salamanca, s/n. Tel. 965 125 633 [email protected] Tourist Info Alicante-Playa de San JuanAv. de Niza, s/n. (only in summer)Tourist Info Alicante- ExplanadaAv. Explanada de España, 1. Tel. 965 14 70 [email protected] Tourist Info Universidad de AlicanteCampus San Vicente del Raspeig. Tel. 965 903 [email protected]

CONSULATESConsulate of GermanyPl. Calvo Sotelo, 1. 5º. Tel. 965 217 060. Fax 965 21 5234Consulate of AlgeriaC/ Pintor Velásquez, 32. Tel. 965 229 944. Fax 965 227 563Consulate of BelgiumExplanada de España, 1-5º. Tel. 965 929 147. Fax 965 141 757Consulate of BrazilC/ Reyes Católicos, 31. 2ºB. Tel. 965 928 852. Fax 965 132 764British ConsulatePl. Calvo Sotelo, 1. 1º. Tel. 965 216 022. Fax 965 140 528Consulate of DenmarkPl. Calvo Sotelo 3. 5º B. Tel. 965 207 938. Fax 965 207 938Consulate of EcuadorC/ García Morato 18, 1º Izq. Tel. 965 147 003Consulate of IrelandCtra. Madrid Km. 4. Mercalicante, pabellón multiusos.Tel. 965 107 485. Fax 965 113 519Vice-Consulate of ItalyAv. Benito Pérez Galdós, 9-11, 1ºD. Tel/Fax 965 141 133Consulate of LuxemburgC/ Juan Bautista Labora, 3-4º Izq.Tel. 965 205 333. Fax 965 217 563Consulate of MoroccoC/ Duque de Zaragoza 4-5º B. Tel. 965 213 533. Fax 965 216 859Consulate of MexicoAv. Doctor Gadea, 9-entlo. Tel. 965 229 314. Fax 965 121 803Consulate of the NetherlandsAv. Dr. Ramón y Cajal, 3-3º. Tel. 965 212 175. Fax 965 205 557Consulate of the Dominican RepublicC/ Virgen del Socorro, 50-bajo 3Tel. 965 151 897. Fax 965 151 165Royal Consulate of NorwayC/ Portugal, 33. Tel. 965 138 400. Fax 965 138 490 ViceConsulate of FranceC/ Alberola, 17. Tel. 965 125 813. Fax 965 125 822

BANK HOLIDAYS1 January (New Year)6 January (Epiphany)19 March (St Joseph)Good Friday and Easter Monday2nd Thursday after Maundy Thursday (Holy Face).1 May (Workers’ Day)24 June (St John)15 August (Asumption of the Virgin) 9 October (Day of the Region of Valencia) 12 October (Hispanic Day / Discovery of the Americas)1 November (All Saints Day)6 December (Day of the Spanish Constitution) 8 December (Immaculate Virgin)25 December (Christmas Day)

BANKS AND CREDIT CARDSBanks are open Mondays to Fridays 8:30a.m to 2:15p.m. Creditand debit cards generally accepted are Mastercard, Visa,American Express (not in all businesses), 4B, Maestro, Visa Electron,Access and Diners Club.

TIPS / GRATUITIESThese are included in prices and on bills, so they are notregarded as obligatory. They are usually left if the servicereceived is particularly satisfactory (especially in bars andrestaurants)

EMERGENCY TELEPHONENUMBERSEmergencies 112National Police 091Local Police 092Fire Service 080Regional Government 012Alicante City Council 965 149 290Emergencies Alicante Province 965 144 000General Hospital 965 938 300San Juan Hospital 965 938 700Health Care 24hr: 900 161 161

TOURIST INFO OFFICESTourist Info AlicanteAv. Rambla Méndez Núñez, 23. Tel. 965 200 [email protected]


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Practical Information

opened) The Tramnochador runs during the summermonths and links the city of Alicante with Benidorm (andintermediate stops).PORTAlicante port receives and sends out passenger traffic,both from tourist cruises and regular lines that connectwith the Island of Tabarca and the North of Africa. AlicantePort: 965 13 00 95Alicante-Tabarca (Kontiki): Tel. 965 216 396 /686 994 538Alicante-Orán (Romeo y Cía) Tel. 965 141 509 HIGHWAYSAlicante may be reached on the AP-7 motorway, whichconnects to the north with Valencia and to the south withMurcia and Andalucía. It may also be reached on the A-31which links with Madrid.COACHES Coach Station.C/ Portugal,17. Tel. 965 130 700TAM (local and district bus services)Tel. 965 140 936SUBUSwww.subus.es

HOW TO GET ABOUTTAXISRadio – Taxi 965 910 123 / 965 910 444TELE – Taxi 965 101 611AREA – Taxi 965 910 591TURIBUSDepartures from the stop situated at the Plaza de Mar:from 10a.m to 2p.m and 4p.m to 7p.m.Turibús stops:

1. Pl. Puerta del Mar 2. Marq. Museo Arqueológico Provincial de Alicante 3. Castillo de Santa Bárbara 4. Mercado Central 5. Pl. de los Luceros 6. Av. Federico Soto. El Corte Inglés 7. Av. Maisonnave. El Corte Inglés 8. Av. Oscar Esplá 9. Av. Conde Vallellano 10. Estación Marítima de Cruceros

Frequency: every 60 minutesPrices:Adults: 10 eurosChildren: 5 eurosPensioners: 7 euros

SPANISH SCHOOLSThere are centres that offer courses specialising inteaching Spanish, accredited by the Cervantes Institute.Full information www.ameele.net

METEOROLOGYThe climate in Alicante is arid Mediterranean, with mildtemperatures throughout the year and scant rains,concentrated in the equinoxial periods. The temperaturesvary between 16.8ºC and 6.2ºC in January and 30.6ºC and20.4ºC in August, the annual mean temperature being 17.8ºC.Moreover, the maritime influence means that thetemperature variation during the day is fairly mild, althoughon days of strong wind from the west it may reach as muchas 15ºC so that the thermal sensation both of heat and coldmay be more intense than the habitual. On those days it isrecommendable to go out well prepared to bear the cold orthe heat. With regard to rains, the annual precipitations are of336mm, most of them occurring during the months ofSeptember and October when the phenomenon of the “GotaFría” [literally “Cold Drop”] may occur. At that time thetorrential rains may give rise to flash floods, although it doesnot occur every year with the same intensity. Alicante isfound situated on the Costa Blanca so the city enjoys some2,800 hours of light.

HOSPITALSHospital General de Alicante C/ Pintor Baeza, s/n. 03010 Alicante. Tel. 965 938 300Hospital de San JuanCarretera de Alicante-Valencia, s/n03550 San Juan de Alicante. Tel. 965 938 700

HOW TO GET THEREAIRPORTEl Altet International AirportTel. 966 919 400 / 966 919 10003071 L’Altet (Elx) www.aena.es. Domestic and international flights. The airport is reachedon the A-7 and N-332. The distance from Alicante citycentre to the turn-off that leads to the entrance into theairport complex is 8km in both cases, with the averagetime taken to travel the distance being some fifteenminutes, thirty in the rush hour.TRAINAlicante train stationAv. Salamanca s/n. Tel. 902 240 202It is possible to travel from Alicante by train on theNational Railway Network to other destinations in Spain.Ferrocarriles de la Generalitat Valenciana (FGV) TRAMTel. 900 720 472Alicante-Denia line. There is a tram line (L1) from Alicante(Market) to Benidorm. From there you change to continueas far as Dénia. The line (L4) goes from Plaza Puerta del Marto Avenida de las Naciones. The line (L3) goes from theMarket to Venta Lanuza. (New stations are soon to be


*** CASTILLA ALICANTEAv. Paises Escandinavos (Playa de San Juan), 7www.alicantehotelcastilla.com • Tel. 965 162 [email protected]*** DANIYA ALICANTE. Av. de Dénia,133www.daniyahotels.com • Tel. 965 154 [email protected]*** MAYA. C/ Canónigo Manuel Penalva, s/nwww.krishoteles.com • Tel. 965 261 [email protected]*** MÍO CID. Av. Costa Blanca (Cabo de las Huertas ), 22www.hotelmiocid.com • Tel. 965 152 [email protected]*** NH CRISTAL. C/ Tomás López Torregrosa, 11www.nh-hoteles.es • Tel. 965 143 [email protected]

** GOYA DE ALICANTE. C/ Maestro Bretón, 19Tel. 965 141 659 • [email protected]

* IBIS AGUA AMARGA. Av. de Elche,114www.ibishotelhotel.com • Tel. 965 108 040

HR *** EXPRESS BY HOLIDAY INN ALICANTEAv. de Elche,112 www.expressbyholidayinn.es • Tel. 966 011 [email protected] *** GRAVINA 5. C/ Gravina,5 www.gravinacinco.com • Tel. 965 147 [email protected] *** LA CITY. Av. Salamanca,16www.lacityhotel.com • Tel. 965 131 [email protected] *** LEUKA. C/ Segura, 23www.hotelleuka.com • Tel. 965 202 [email protected] *** TRYP CIUDAD DE ALICANTE.C/ Gravina,9www.solmelia.com • Tel. 965 210 [email protected]

HR ** EL ÁLAMO. C/ San Fernando, 56 www.hotelalamo.com • Tel. 965 218 [email protected] ** BAHÍA. C/ Gravina, 16. Tel. 965 206 522 HR ** CERVANTES. C/ Médico Pascual Pérez, 19.Tel. 965 209 822 • [email protected] ** RAMBLA. Av. Rambla de Méndez Núñez, 9www.hotelrambla.com • Tel. 965 144 [email protected]

HR * MARÍTIMO. C/ Valdes,13www.hmaritimo.com • Tel. 965 143 722

HOTELS***** HOSPES AMÉRIGO. C/ Rafael Altamira, 7www.fuenso.com • Tel. 965146570 [email protected] ***** SIDI SAN JUANPartida C/ La Doblada, Cabo de las huertas, s/nwww.hotelessidi.es Tel. 965 161 [email protected]

**** ABBA CENTRUM ALICANTEC/ Pintor Lorenzo Casanova, 33 www.centrumalicante.com • Tel. 965 130 [email protected]**** AC HOTEL ALICANTE. Av. de Elche, 3www.ac-hotels.com • Tel. 965 120 178 [email protected]**** EUROSTARS MEDITERRÁNEA PLAZA Pl. Ayuntamiento, 6www.eurostarsmediterraneaplaza.com • Tel. 965 210 188

[email protected]**** HESPERIA ALICANTE GOLF SPA HOTELAv. de las Naciones (Playa de San Juan), s/nwww.hesperia-alicante.com • Tel. 965 235 [email protected]**** HESPERIA LUCENTUM. Av. Alfonso X El Sabio, 11www.hesperia-lucentum.com • Tel. 966 590 700direcció[email protected]**** HOLIDAY INN ALICANTE-PL. SAN JUANCarretera AV. Cataluña - Pl. de San Juan, 20www.holidayinnalicante.com • Tel. 965 156 [email protected]**** MELIÁ ALICANTE. Pl. Puerta del Mar, 3www.solmelia.com • Tel. 965 205 [email protected]**** NH ALICANTE. C/ México, 18www.nh-hotels.com • Tel. 965 108 [email protected]**** SPA PORTA MARIS & SUITES DEL MARPl. Puerta del Mar, 3www.hotelspaportamaris.com • Tel. 965 147 [email protected]**** TRYP GRAN SOL. Av. Rambla Méndez Núñez, 3www.solmelia.com • Tel. 965 203 [email protected]

*** ALBAHIA. C/ Sol Naciente, 6 www.albahia.com • Tel. 965 155 [email protected]*** ALMIRANTE. Av. Niza (Playa de San Juan), 38www.hotelalmirante.com • Tel. 965 650 [email protected]*** CAMPANILE. Av. de Elche, 21www.envergure.fr/template/Entree.jsp • Tel. 965 110 [email protected]

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ETAP AGUA AMARGA. Av. Elche, 114. Tel. 965 109 053FAJARDO. C/ San Fernando, 48. Tel. 965 209 094GALICIA. C/ Arquitecto Morell, 1. Tel. 965 925 093GUEST HOUSE. C/ Segura, 20. www.guesthousealicante.com • Tel. 650 718 [email protected] ALICANTE. Carretera Ocaña, 86. Tel. 965 114 545LA MILAGROSA. C/ Villavieja, 8. Tel. 965 216 918LOS GRANADINOS. Paseo Mayor, Ptda. Rebolledo,32. Tel. 965 189 604MATEOS. C/ San Vicent, 49. Tel. 965 203 822METIDJA. Rambla Méndez Núñez, 26. Tel. 965 143 617MÉXICO. C/ Gral. Primo de Rivera, 10. Tel. 965 209 307POPEYE. C/ Reyes Católicos, 16. Tel. 965 130 060PORTUGAL. C/ Portugal, 26-1º izq., 26 Tel. 965 929 244SAN BLAS. Av Soto Ameno, 48. Tel. 965 928 935SANTA LUCíA. Av. Dr. Gadea, 6. Tel. 965 142 798VERSALLES. C/ Villavieja, 3. Tel. 965 214 793

APARTAMENTSHOLIDAY HOME ESTATE AGENTS

AGENCIA CLUB DEL MAR. Av. Benidorm, 18.www.agenciaclubdelmar.com • Tel. 965 161 [email protected] CAMPS. Av. Bruselas, Edif. Concorde, 10 Tel. 965 162 422APARTAMENTOS PLAZA. C/ Rafael Terol, 10Tel. 678 457 351 • [email protected] TURÍSTICOS DE ALICANTEC/ Virgen del Socorro (Local 3), 50. www.apartamentosmediterraneo.es • Tel. 965 266 [email protected] HOLIDAYS, S.A. Av. Benidorm, 18. Tel. 965 160 018CITRAC, S.A. Av. Bruselas, Edif. Concorde, 10Tel. 965 162 422DONALD DE SAEDELEER. Urb. Regina Maris-Chalet, 14 Tel. 965 650 447ESTUDIOTEL ALICANTE. C/ Poeta Vila y Blanco, 4Tel. 965 212 011MARÍA SEMPERE FERRERAv. Benidorm, Urb. Club del Mar, 8. Tel. 965 161 821SANDOVAL SERVICIOS INMOBILIARIOSAv. de Holanda, 11-15. Tel. 965 165 517

BLOCKS OF HOLIDAY APARTMENTS

APARTOTEL ALICANTE HILLS Reino Unido, 6. Categoría POASIS PLANTÍO GOLF Camino Viejo Alicante-Elx, Km. 3

LODGINGSALBERGUE - RESIDENCIA LA FLORIDAAv. Orihuela, 59. Tel. 902 225 552

HR * RIALTO. C/ Castaños, 30 [email protected] • Tel. 965 206 433HR * SAN REMO. C/ De las Navas, 30www.hotelsanremo.net • Tel. 965 209 [email protected] * LA TRANCADA. C/ Motxo (Tabarca), 12www.latrancada.com • Tel. 630 503 [email protected]

HOSTELSHSR ** CATALUÑA. C/ Gerona, [email protected] • Tel. 965 207 366HS ** ESTUDIOTEL ALICANTE. C/ Poeta Vila y Blanco, 4www.visual.es/estudiotel • Tel. 965 212 [email protected] ** LA LONJA. C/ Capitán Segarra, 10www.lalonjahostal.onored.com • Tel. 965 203 [email protected]

HS * BAHÍA BLANCAUrbanización Bahias del Rey-Cabo Huertas, s/n.www.hostalbahiablanca.com • Tel. 965 160 037HSR * CAMPOY. C/ Capitán Segarra, 25. Tel. 965 208 624HSR * EL CHIQUI. C/ D'En Mig (Isla de Tabarca), 8 Tel. 965 970 143HSR * MASIN. C/ D'en Mig (Isla de Tabarca), 22..Tel. 965 960 509HSR * MAYOR. C/ Mayor, 5. Tel. 965 201 383HSR * LES MONGES PALACE. C/ San Agustín, 4www.lesmonges.net • Tel. 965 215 046 [email protected] * MONT ROYAL. C/ Tridente (Cabo de las Huertas), 27Tel. 965160411 • [email protected] * NOY. C/ Pda. Bacarto, s/n. Tel. 965 287 143HSR * SAN FERNANDO. C/ San Fernando, 34. Tel. 965 213 656HSR * VENTURA. C/ San Fernando, 10. Tel. 965 208 337

H. HOSTELHS. RESIDENTIAL HOTELHSR. RESIDENTIAL HOSTEL

BOARDING HOUSESALEMANIA. C/ Alemania, 15 - Entlo. Tel. 965 922 [email protected] NICOLÁSC/ San Nicolás,14. Tel. 965 217 039AYUNTAMIENTO. Pl. Ayuntamiento, 3. Tel. 965 216 223BEL. C/ Pintor Aparicio, 27. Tel. 965 124 223CASA MIGUEL. C/ Poeta Quintana, 4. Tel. 965 218 471DIÁBOLO. C/ Virgen de los Desamparados, 4Tel. 965 146 747 EL MAR. C/ Jorge Juan, 23. Tel. 965 214 156

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Alicante, the city of light “In my city, from the moment we are born, our eyes fill up with the blue from the sea.” Gabriel Miró.


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