Module 5: Alicante City

Alicante 

This city with a population of over 300, 000 combines both classic and modern, it offers business and pleasure, entertainment and educational opportunities and manages to fit mountains and beaches within its city limits.

There are hotels in the city centre and in San Juan, the key tourist resort suburb of Alicante.

Quick Facts

Location & how to get there

Alicante is a travel hub for tourists.

By plane

Only ten minutes from the town centre the El Altet-Alicante International Airport offers regular flights from most UK airports.

By Train

From the main Alicante rail station fast, comfortable trains such as the latest Euromed leave daily for Valencia and Barcelona towards the French border connecting with the European cities.

Euromed to Valencia aprox. 1 hrs 30 min.Euromed to Barcelona aprox. 4 hrs. 35 min.Fast train to Madrid aprox. 3 hrs. 45 min. Also coastal train from Alicante to Denia from a separate station at Playa del Postiguet.

By Road

Alicante is by-passed by the A-7 Mediterranean Motorway, starting at the French border and continuing down to Andalucía. Also motorway to the rest of Spain via Madrid.

What can you do in Alicante?

The beaches

Few cities can offer such a wide selection of fine, sandy beaches and interesting rocky coves within its municipal limits, most of them granted blue flags by the European Union for the quality of their water, their cleanliness and beach facilities.

• San Juan Beach: extensive beach featuring 7 km of golden sand is one of the finest in all of Spain
  
• Palmera, Cantalares and Judíos: small coves appropiate as nudist beaches
  
• Almadraba and Albufereta Beaches. Ideal for watersports in safe surroundings (between Alicante and San Juan)
  
• El Postiguet Beach: lies close to the city centre, with an attractive promenade flanked by palm trees.
  
• El Saladar: sandy and open beach offering splendid panoramic views of the bay of Alicante (south of Alicante)
  
• Monuments and Museums

Just some of the key highlights to visit are:-

• Iglesia de Sta. María (St Mary’s Church). This is the oldest church in the city and was built in the Gothic style between the 14th and 16th centuries over the ruins of what was once the main mosque.
  
• Concatedral de San Nicolás de Bari (concathedral of St Nicholas of Bari). Built in the 17th century, it still preserves traces of the cloister dating from the 15th century.
  
• Monasterio de la Santa Faz (Monastery of the Holy Visage). The temple dates from the early 16th century, and is now a nunnery of the order of St Clare located in a nearby town at 5km from the city centre.
  
• Museo Arqueológico Provincial (Provincial Archaeology Museum). One of the major and the most modern in Spain in its class.
  
• La Asegurada (La Asegurada Museum). One of the most important contemporary art collections existing in Spain with masterworks by Picasso, Miró, Dalí, Juan Gris, Eduardo Chillida, Pablo Gargallo, Kandinsky, Vasarely and many others.
  
• Museo de Belenes (Nativity Museum). Located in a typical house in the old quarter.
  
• Castillo de Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara Castle). In view of its size, this is one of the largest medieval fortresses existing in Europe.
  
• Ayuntamiento (City Hall). A marvellous example of baroque civic architecture. The first step of the town hall serves as an official reference point in Spain to measure height avobe sea level.
  
• Gravina Palace . At the moment is the Provincial Archive.
  
• Palacio de la Diputación Provincial. Large neocalssical Provincial Council building.
  
• Teatro Principal (Principal Theatre). Classical construction.
  
• Plaza de Toros. (Bullring)
  
• Casa de las Brujas. Pure modernism can be seen here, in the so-called “Witches House” which has a façace decorated with Art Nouveau plant motifs.

Cultural Activites

• Medieval Market. End of June, a traditional arts and crafts market is staged in the old town, selling merchandise and offering music and shows, reflecting life in the Middle Ages.
  
• Summer Festival. July and August; theatre, zarzuela, ballet, dance, jazz and concerts at the new Esplanade in front of the port.
  
• Castle Evenings. In the patio of Santa Bárbara Castle in July and August, traditional and folk music from Spain and abroad. 

Nightlife

From disco bars and clubs for the younger visitor to music bars and quieter café/bars for couple and families.

Start the evening in El Barrio, this is the name given to the old quarter of town, with a profusion of action-packed pubs, bars and cafés.

El Port or the harbour, is the most modern area for leisure and entertainment sites, with a wide range of night spots. Open till early hours.

La Ruta de la Madera (The Wood Route), just behind Avenida Alfonso El Sabio which receives this name because most of the spots in this area are decorated in wood,

La Esplanada the seafront promenade well stocked with pavement cafés where one can have a meal, a drink or an ice cream.

Why not visit the Isle of Tabarca?

The only inhabited island of the Valencia Region. With a fortified enclosure, three gateways, walls and the Church of San José form a Historical-Artistic Ensemble.

Highlights include a small Hotel (formerly the Governor’s House), clear transparent water and traditional fishermen’s cuisine.   Ideal for scuba diving.

Boats leave daily from Alicante Harbour.

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