Alicante

Useful and practical tourist information about of Alicante.

The city of Alicante has a population of over 335,000 inhabitants and is the capital of the province. It is located almost on the centre of the Costa Blanca. Thanks to its excellent communication infrastructures, the city of Alicante has access from most of the municipalities on the Costa Blanca in a short period of time (generally not greater than 60 minutes).

As capital of the province, Alicante is the most important city on the Costa Blanca, headquarters for most of the delegations of the Public Administrations at a provincial level and with the presence of big commercial centres.

The most emblematic places of Alicante.

One of the most emblematic images this city offers is the Paseo de la Explanada de España, which passes next to the sea and it is the most busy part of this locality. In one of the ends of the promenade is the Postiguet beach and on the other the Canalejas Park, which is famous for its series of centenary trees.

Another of the emblematic images is the Santa Bárbara Castle, locate on the centre of the city, on top of Mount Benacantil. It is very well preserved and it is home for multiple cultural acts.

The Old Centre of Alicante is possibly the most visited urban space of the city. It offers the possibility of walking though its streets, full of bars and coffee shops, and there we find most of the historical monuments of Alicante.  The Old Centre, together with the new premises of the commercial area of the port, form the great leisure area of Alicante.

Beaches and port of Alicante.

Alicante has beautiful beaches, the most famous and popular are the Postiguet beach located in the town centre, and the San Juan beach, located on the north. Both beaches, together with the Albufereta beach and the Los Saladares beach, have been awarded with the "Blue Flag" status which shows the quality of its waters and the services offered.

The Port of Alicante, located on the city centre, in front of the Paseo de Canalejas and the Explanada de España, offers commercial activities, transport of goods and passengers, as well as for fishing and pleasure. Precisely from this port the boats to visit the Tabarca Island set out. This island was declared historical-artistic complex, and has an important natural heritage formed by the "Marine Reserve of the Tabarca Island" and the "Cave of the Llop Mari".  

Cultural spaces and offer in Alicante.

The cultural offer of this city has a fantastic itinerary with a great offer of museums (The Provincial Archaeological Museum -MARQ-, the Gravina Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of La Asegurada) and of theatres and auditoriums (Teatro Principal , Auditorio de la Diputación de Alicante, Teatro Arniches and Auditorio de la Casa de la Música, at the Las Cigarreras Cultural Centre).

Festivities and sports events in Alicante.

The most known and popular festivities of Alicante are the Hogueras de San Juan (Bonfires of Saint John), declared as International Tourist Interest. The hogueras are handmade artistic monuments made of cardboard and wood, with a satire component, and after this festivities with music, spectacle, powder and fire they finish at midnight on the 24th of June when the hogueras are burnt, after the fireworks thrown from the Santa Bárbara Castle.

    
Among the sports events carried out in this city, the set out from this port of different editions of the world tour yacht race, now called Volvo Ocean Race, is the most famous.