Benidorm 'should be World Heritage Site'

[Legazpi]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/3272172/Benidorm-should-be-World-Heritage-Site.html

:confused:

[gary]

Before the slagging starts I have to say that, although there is a great deal about Benidorm that the twittering classes will claim to abhor (though many of them have never been there), there is a very Spanish town that is accessible if you can be bothered to look for it...

Read my NFS blog entry here (http://www.notesfromspain.com/2008/04/03/benidorm-walk-away-from-the-wild-side/)and take no notice of the travel snobs that clain to be only interested in the "authentic Spain". I enjoy every aspect of Spain every time I visit, warts and all.

Bedtime soon - got a plane to catch in the morning, early and this time VS I will do San Gines!!

[Legazpi]

TBH I don't have a problem with Benidorm: it does what it says on the tin, and it does it pretty well. However I'm confused as to why it should be a world heritage site.

[Cide Hamete Benengeli VII]

Have a great trip, Gary. Will you be doing a guest post on NFS?

[JohnRoss]

TBH I don't have a problem with Benidorm: it does what it says on the tin, and it does it pretty well. However I'm confused as to why it should be a world heritage site.

UNESCO has ten selection criteria, one of which must be met before a place is considered for world heritage classification. This is the one which Benidorm best meets:

"ii) to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design;"

Benidorm was always a planned town - the Plan General de Ordenación adopted in 1954 is still in effect today, with only minor modifications (I can say this without having to look it up because I researched it for an article when Benidorm mayor Pedro Zaragoza died earlier this year. I won't link to it, it's easy enough to find if anyone is interested). The principle was that every apartment or hotel room should be sun-lit and that all or almost all should have sea views. In consequence, however much its brashness conceals it, it is a spacious, elegant town, with a surprising number of "green" areas. All in all, it was way ahead of its time, and it is on its edges that these basic principles are now being breached as it grows out of its original site.

And Benidorm's place in the history of tourism is assured, it having been a model for dozens or hundreds of other resorts in the Mediterranean and beyond, and so many millions of tourists having been there. I'm not saying that all this is enough to justify world heritage status when there are so many fantastic places in the world, just that I understand the reasoning.

Personally, along the same lines and if you'll allow me off-topic for a few lines, I have almost more sympathy for another place that has been mooted as a WH site and is where I went to school - Blackpool. Pity it's such a dump, nowadays, but Blackpool's importance lies in the fact that it was the first working-class resort; before it, places like Brighton were for the aristocracy and upper classes. And I have taken my wife out on the piers, for a tram ride along the promenade, for a fish-and-chip supper (with bread and butter and a pot of tea), and so on - a wealth of minor cultural experiences. You know that conversation about how Orientalism was an invented concept? Well, Blackpool can be every bit as exotic to a girl from Madrid as Seville to a Brit. Not, I have to admit, as startling as the Paella and Chips that was advertised everywhere the first time I visited Benidorm.

[gary]

Have a great trip, Gary. Will you be doing a guest post on NFS?

Maybe - if theres something to write about... Ben might be a bit pre-occupied for the next few days so it might not get published immediately....

[vicentef]

i have been twice this summer in benidorm, and i have to admit that i liked a lot, i didnt remember well how is was benidorm like because the last time i went, i was very young, i went with my mother and we spend a nice day of beach and we have lunch in front of the sea.

there are people from all over the world at benidorm and i think people is a little bit unfair with it.

[greytop]

i have been twice this summer in benidorm, and i have to admit that i liked a lot, i didnt remember well how is was benidorm like because the last time i went, i was very young, i went with my mother and we spend a nice day of beach and we have lunch in front of the sea.

there are people from all over the world at benidorm and i think people is a little bit unfair with it."I have been to Benidorm (or I was in Benidorm) twice this summer,and I have to admit that I liked it a lot. I didn't remember how nice Benidorm was, because the last time I went I was very young. I went with my mother and we spent a nice day on the beach and we had lunch in front of the sea. There are people from all over the world in Benidorm and I think people are a little bit unfair about it"
I hope that helps you Vicente.
And I agree, it's a nice place with a lot to do if you are holidaying and as Gary says there is still a Spanish town buried in its midst. A bit too crowded for me in the Summer though.

[ValenciaSon]

Before the slagging starts I have to say that, although there is a great deal about Benidorm that the twittering classes will claim to abhor (though many of them have never been there), there is a very Spanish town that is accessible if you can be bothered to look for it...

Read my NFS blog entry here (http://www.notesfromspain.com/2008/04/03/benidorm-walk-away-from-the-wild-side/)and take no notice of the travel snobs that clain to be only interested in the "authentic Spain". I enjoy every aspect of Spain every time I visit, warts and all.

Bedtime soon - got a plane to catch in the morning, early and this time VS I will do San Gines!!Do you need a personal assistant who is fluent in American and has been to Benidorm?

[vicentef]

i agree with you that benidorm is a little bit crowded in the summer, and about the corrections i really apreciatte your help, i speak and write better english than i do normally here at NSF, the problem is that i dont normally read again what i have written. I will make the effort in the future.

But again, your corrections are apreciated.

[ValenciaSon]

I have an aunt and uncle who go to Benidorm every year for Christmas because they don't like all the family obligations that time of the year. They like the ambiance and find Benidorm visually appealing. I wonder if it's any different that time of the year as opposed to the summer.

[vicentef]

i like benidorm because is an economic succes make from nothing, one man had an idea 50 years ago and now is the holiday resort of the working class, possible of all europe.

Also i like benidorm because is the most similar to new york we have here in spain. Althought many building are ugly and old, i like high rises buildings and greytop is right, benidorm is a very spanish town.

[greytop]

i like benidorm because it is an economic success made from nothing, one man had an idea 50 years ago and now it is the holiday resort of the working class, possible of all europe.

Also i like benidorm because it is the most similar to new york we have here in spain. Althought many buildings are ugly and old, i like high rise buildings and greytop is right, benidorm is a very spanish town.And easy enough to avoid if you don't like that sort of thing ;D