Our grand tour of southern Spain in a motorhome January 23rd day Nine

 Monday 23^rd January Day nine

What is Benidorm doing to improve its tourist destination image?

Benidorm! I’ve taught it as a tourist case study for so many years, so my first glimpse of this town is exciting and shocking in equal measure.

We were away by 0900 and trundling along AP 7 south, all the way in brilliant sunshine. Once more the geography fascinates ... orange groves as far as the eye can see and big citrus fruit processing factories. Rounded peaks of bone-dry rock and on the seaward side, the tourist resorts with those high-rise developments. Between them and the AP 7 – market gardening once more. 

And then that first glimpse of Benidorm lying at the foot of La Creu de Benidorm. Tourism sustainability is a challenge for many 21^st century tourist destinations. So, I say this with some incredulity and lashings of admiration for the Councils involved – Benidorm is the world’s first destination to be certified as a ‘smart tourism destination’ (STD for short – I hope the irony isn’t wasted on you here because remember between 1930 and 1970’s this became one of the most visited tourist destinations in Europe. Plenty of sunshine, lots of sand, only three hours away on short haul flights. Cheap and affordable for most British families – changing to the ‘hen and stag do’ overseas location for British ‘lager louts’ in the 80’s and 90’s). There were so many negative impacts of this popularity – summertime overcrowding where the population would increase from 700,000 to well over the million mark. Too much rubbish; sewage issues, congested roads, insufficient public transport infrastructure. Rising house prices leading to housing shortages for locals as a result of second home ownership (sounds familiar – think St Ives and Salcombe). Too many low paid jobs connected to tourism; that disorderly ‘party culture’ of the British – the lager lout reputation.  How do local tourism chiefs combat all this?

Well, it seems they have and I can’t wait to go visit the place over the next few days. New transport infrastructure including the famous seafront trams between Benidorm and Alicante and major new vehicle recharging hubs across the city. 80 kilometres of new bike lanes and cycleways and a quarter of hotels already using renewable energy sources fully. A 300-million-euro investment project! And, If I remember correctly, Benidorm has also become a world leader in its approach to disability, improving wheelchair access across the city and providing a range of new facilities for the visually impaired including braille maps of the city. 

Geography lesson over – sorry about that!

On our journey south we make the mistake of following Google maps to the Carrefour just off AP7 and ten minutes away from the next campsite. Down narrow twisting, pothole ridden single lanes we bounce, between market garden fields. Lanes barely the width of the motorhome. Poor Bryony; she deserves so much more than this.

At the Carrefour there is only one thin lane of parking for motorhomes, right at the end of the car park. All other spaces are under those low tin roofed sun protection thingies.  

We put on the steering lock and wheel clamp and set off with slight trepidation. Bryony is parked as far from the entrance as you can get and I can’t shake off a feeling of ‘doom and gloom’.

40 minutes later and we return to a noisy reception. All Bryony’s sirens are wailing every other minute. Her blue little alarm lights are in flashing overdrive – raid sets of two short flashes every few seconds. Someone has tried the door, a locker hatch or the bike accessory loop.  Nothing appears damaged, it seems the alarms have done their job. Someone must have chanced it and been scared witless. I hope their ears are bleeding! Bryony certainly draws everyone's attention when in wailing mode.

Area Playamuchavista is a bit of a shock to the system. A question for you all! How many motorhomes can you fit into a space the size of a tin of tuna? Quite a few it seems. Pitches are small ... you can just get a table and chairs between you and your neighbour; if you are a lilliputian. Roadways between pitches are just over a motorhome’s width and turning into any pitch space is tight. Facilities are clean. Location is excellent. The tram is a five-minute walk away. If you suffer from claustrophobia or like your own space, peace and quiet, then perhaps this is not the site for you.  Personally, I found the site grew on me very quickly. I ended up quite liking it!

We set up under the full scrutiny of some serious hard core motorhomers, many of whom are down here for the season and then we stroll down to the sea front. It’s breezy and cool despite the sunshine. Of course, we stop for coffee and ice cream again! I mean dur! No brainer!

Useful information:

Route: A7

Distance: 128 miles

Costs: 52 euros for campsite

Campsite: https://www.searchforsites.co.uk/marker.php?id=41773