Awesome Facts About Alicante, Spain

The port city on Spain’s southeastern Costa Blanca, Alicante has narrow streets, colored houses and a happening nightlife. It is mainly known for its expansive public beaches, where you can enjoy sailing, sunbathing, and swimming in the Mediterranean Sea during warmer months.

Alicante’s main port is lined with diverse restaurants, bars and pubs serving seafood, tapas, cocktails, and wines until late. It has a welcoming atmosphere with plenty of cultural events, live concerts, and street performances in the town center and seaside promenade.

A wonderland for history buffs too, Alicante has a number of Gothic cathedrals, medieval castles, and structures dating back between the 15th and 18th centuries.

This lively and easy going city is an arrival point for many holidaymakers. We know you might be quiet excited to visit this place now, but before you plan your itinerary, go through these astonishing facts about the city that will surely blow your mind.

1. Alicante has a Roman name, ‘Lucentum’ which means ‘City of Lights’.

2. Alicante has had many different conquerors including Greeks, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, and Moors.

3. Benidorm was the first package holiday resort in Spain. In 1950s, it was the first one to allow women to wear bikinis on the beach.

4. The Gothic Church of Santa Maria from the 14th-16th centuries was built over the former main Arab mosque.

5. Rice is a popular part of the cuisine in Alicante. The surrounding area produces more than 115.000 tons each year.

6. Benidorm in Alicante has the third highest number of skyscrapers in Europe.

7. Offering little delicacies on the slice of bread, Alicante is a popular location for tapas.

8. 15% of the total population in Alicante is of foreigners.

9. The Explanada de Espana promenade is home of 400 palm trees and 6.6 million marble tiles. All in red, black or cream colors.

10. The name Costa Blanca, which means “white coast,” was dreamed up by British European Airways as a promotional gimmick to promote its flights between London and Valencia in the 1950s.

11. Alicante observes 12.2 inches of rainfall every year.

12. Languages spoken in Alicante are Spanish and Valenciano.

13. Alicante has “Ciudad De La Luz”, one of the largest film studios in Europe.

14. Alicante serves as the headquarters of the European Union Intellectual property office.

This metropolitan city of Spain welcomes you with all smiles and a wide range of sight seeing. Plan a trip soon!!