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Alicante

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Alicante
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Alicante Travel Guide

  • About Alicante

Renowned for its long sandy beaches, vibrant festivals and lively nightlife, Alicante is one of Spain’s and Europe’s main holiday hubs with good reason.

This thoroughly Spanish city has a true Mediterranean air. Its wide esplanades, like Rambla de Mendez Nuñez and Avenida Alfonso el Sabio, are perfect places to relax, while its seafront promenades are full of café terraces.

The historical centre is filled with baroque buildings, bearing testimony to Alicante’s past as a major seaport. The city also has a distinct African flavour, with women in caftans and hawkers selling carvings along the seafront.

Situated on the popular Costa Blanca, Alicante’s beaches are packed every summer, and there are plenty of activities to keep everyone entertained: from surfing, swimming and sailing to scuba diving, snorkelling and paragliding.

Nearby Tabarca is an island seemingly frozen in time: mostly a protected wilderness, no cars are allowed here, and human civilisation is represented only by a small walled town featuring a beautiful church.

You can also make a day trip to Canalobre Caves, where a collection of impressive stalagmites and stalactites appear to resemble a multitude of forms. Most striking of all is the Castle of Santa Barbara, perched atop Mount Benacantil. One of the largest medieval fortresses in Spain, it affords panoramic views of the city and the coast.

Alicante also boasts some of the best nightlife in the region. El Puerto and El Barrio are among some of the liveliest spots come evening, although Esplanada is more popular in summer, as are the kiosks behind Postiguet and San Juan beaches.

Then there are the festivals. The largest is Las Hogueras de San Juan, celebrated every June with spectacular fireworks.

Carnival (February or March) brings colourful parades onto the streets, while the Moros y Cristianos Festival in October has costumed processions that include elephants and camels.

Alicante is both a regional gateway and a destination in its right. But whatever your reason for visiting, you’re bound find a vibrant city in full-on party mood.

  • Alicante History

For centuries a vital Spanish trading port, Alicante has transformed into a holiday hotspot.

The first hunter-gatherers moved here from Central Europe between 5000 and 3000BC.

By 1000BC, Greek and Phoenician traders had arrived in Spain. The Greeks named the area Akra Leuke (White Peak).

But by the third century BC, rival armies from Carthage and Rome began to invade and fight for control of the Iberian Peninsula. Alicante was eventually captured by the Romans, who were to rule for another 700 years.

The Moors conquered Alicante in the second half of the eighth century, and the Castilian crown only took it back in 1246. In 1308, it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Valencia. Alicante became a major Mediterranean trading port.

In 1691, under the reign of Charles II, the French Armada bombed the city for seven consecutive days. The War of Spanish Succession followed between 1701-14, in which Alicante’s castle was bombarded by British troops.

During the War of Independence in the early 19th century, the city became the provisional capital of the Kingdom of Valencia. But amid this period of conflict, Alicante slid into decline. It was only by the end of the 19th century that the economy improved.

After the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936, Alicante was the last city loyal to the Republican government to be occupied by Franco’s troops on 1 April 1939.

By the late 1950s and early 1960s, the tourism industry had begun to blossom. Alicante’s climate and beaches were major draws and the construction of new hotels, restaurants and bars benefited the economy.

Although there was industrial decline in the 1980s, the Port of Alicante has managed to become an important stop for cruises, bringing thousands of passengers to the city every year.

Today Alicante is the second-largest city in Valencia and a tourism honeypot.

  • Did you know?

Evidence of Alicante’s earliest settlements has been found on Mt Benacantil, where Santa Barbara Castle stands today.
The Roman name for Alicante was Lucentum (City of Light).
Tennis player David Ferrer was born in Xàbia, just outside Alicante, in 1982.

  • Weather in Alicante

Alicante enjoys a Mediterranean climate, with hot summers and mild winters. Average temperatures tend to be between 20°C (69°F) and 30°C (87°F) in August, while January temperatures hover between 6°C (43°F) and 16°C (62°F). September to October are the wettest months. The city throbs with tourists from June until September and the beaches are packed too, so it’s best to visit in spring when it’s still warm but a little less busy. Naturally, hotel rooms are much cheaper in winter.

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