Costa Blanca history

Benidorm was officially put on the map and recognised to the rest of Spain in 1325 when Lord of the Baronia de Polop awarded it a town charter. Between the 14th-16th centuries the town was subject to attacks from the Turkish & Barbary pirates’ attacks like most of the other towns along the Costas.For this reason, the town was strengthened with a castle however, the castle unfortunately suffered great damages during the Peninsular war and any remains have long disappeared.

Things took a turnaround however in the 18th century following two major religious events; the beginning of the works of the St. James parish (Jaime Apostole) the patron saint of Benidorm; and the amazing discovery of the Virgen de Suffrage. The Virgen was discovered in 1740 by town folk when they came across a ship on Playa Poniente beach. The ship was abandoned and there was no sign of any crew. Due to suspicions of the plague back in those days, the ship was burnt. It was from the ashes of this forsaken ship that the statue of the infamous Virgen del Suffrage was found. Thought to be in fact a miracle, she was completely undamaged from the fire and was then taken as a patron saint of the town.

These two religious events greatly improved the towns profile but it was the growth of Fishing which won its international acclaim for the town, increasing both popularity and wealth. For the first half of the 19th century, the coastal traffic of Benidorm increased and became a sound base for merchant sea captains and the building of their ships.

The first taste of tourism came however in the 1950’s. Despite the miserable and depressing times brought through by the rule of dictator Franco (1940-1976), the tourism game made a quick and successful recovery and made Benidorm what it is today. Comparing the population at the start of the century of a mere 2000, a transformation into a very popular tourist destination occurred giving the town a strength and efficiency to entertain and accommodate up to 5,000,000 visitors per year.