page_title: Benidorm
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Benidorm / Geography
caption_attribution_description: Español: Vista de Benidorm, capital turística de la Costa Blanca, Comunidad Valenciana, España. La imagen se tomó desde la Cruz de Benidorm, situada en la cima de la Sierra Helada. Benidorm tiene una población de aprox. 73.000 habitantes durante todo el año que llega a más de medio millón en verano. Es la tercera ciudad europea con mayor concentración de edificios de gran altura, por detrás de Londres y Milán, mientras que es tercera en España, por detrás de Madrid y Barcelona, en número de rascacielos. Per cápita Benidorm es la ciudad del mundo con más edificios elevados.English: View of Benidorm, turistic capital of the Costa Blanca (literally White Coast) in Land of Valencia, Spain. The shot was taken from the Cross of Benidorm, located on the summit of the Sierra Helada. Benidorm, is a town with 73,000 inhabitants throughout the year but with a peak of over half a million in the summer season. It's the third town with the most concentration of tall buildings in Europe, after London and Milan, whereas in Spain, Benidorm is positioned third, behind Barcelona and Madrid in the total number of skyscrapers. Nevertheless, Benidorm has the most high-rise buildings per capita in the world.
context_page_description: Benidorm is a town and municipality in the province of Alicante, on Spain's Mediterranean coast.
  Benidorm has been a tourist destination within Spain since 1925, when its port was extended and the first hotels were built, though it would not be until the 1950s that it became renowned as a summer destination for people coming from inland Spain, especially Madrid. Today it is known for its hotel industry, beaches and skyscrapers and receives as many tourists from abroad as from Spain. According to the 2014 census, Benidorm has a permanent population of 69,010 inhabitants, making it the fifth-most populous town in the Alicante province and the ninth in Valencian Community.
context_section_description: The town is divided into five parts: Poniente (Ponent or 'sun setting') and Levante (Llevant or 'sun rising'), each fronted by a beach of the same name; the old town (also called El Castell); La Cala situated to the west side of Poniente; and El Rincón de Loix (or El Racó de l'Oix) situated to the east side of Levante. Between the two beaches lies a rocky promontory and the port.
  The old city occupies the promontory and the area immediately inland, while most of the hotels occupy the more recently developed sections inland from the two beaches. A few miles from shore is an uninhabited island known as Benidorm Island or Peacock Island (due to previously having a peacock enclosure) which provides a dramatic centrepiece to the seascape.
  In 1954 Pedro Zaragoza Orts, the then young Mayor of Benidorm, created the Plan General de Ordenación (city building plan) that ensured, via a complex construction formula, every building would have an area of leisure land, guaranteeing a future free of the excesses of cramped construction seen in other areas of Spain. It is the only city in Spain that still adheres to this rigid rule. Most of the streets in the city are named after places such as Avenida de Uruguay, Avenida del Mediterráneo, Calle Pekín, etc. Avenida del Mediterráneo is a wide avenue that crosses Levante and links the old town with Rincón. Avenida Europa crosses Levante at right angles linking the western city limits with the Levante beach.
  Benidorm is connected to the FGV railway line between Alicante (Alacant) and Dénia. The section to Alicante is now converted to tram operation and trams run at least every half an hour between Benidorm and Alicante (see Alicante Tram). Trains run hourly from Benidorm to Dénia (via towns of Altea and Calp), connecting with the trams at Benidorm station.
caption: View of the city from the Sierra Helada natural park.
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