Clockwise from top: View of the harbour with the Castle of Santa Bárbara in the foreground, Cathedral of Saint Nicolas of Bari, Townhall of Alicante, Beach of El Postiguet, Casa Carbonell, view down the Explanada de España (Esplanada d'Espanya) and Gran Sol.
The name of the city echoes the Arabic name Laqant (لَقَنْت) or al-Laqant (اللَّقَنْت), which in turn reflects the Latin Lucentum[7] and Greek root Leuké (or Leuka), meaning "white".
The area around Alicante has been inhabited for over 7000 years. The first tribes of hunter-gatherers moved down gradually from Central Europe between 5000 and 3000 BC. Some of the earliest settlements were made on the slopes of Mount Benacantil. By 1000 BC Greek and Phoenician traders had begun to visit the eastern coast of Spain, establishing small trading ports and introducing the native Iberian tribes to the alphabet, iron, and the pottery wheel. The Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca established the fortified settlement of Akra Leuké (Greek: Ἄκρα Λευκή, meaning "White Mountain" or "White Point"), in the mid-230s BC, which is generally presumed to have been on the site of modern Alicante.
Although the Carthaginians conquered much of the land around Alicante, the Romans would eventually rule Hispania Tarraconensis for over 700 years. By the 5th century AD, Rome was in decline and the Roman predecessor town of Alicante, known as Lucentum (Latin), was more or less under the control of the Visigothic warlord Theudimer and thereafter under Visigothic rule from 400 to 700 A.D. The Goths did not put up much resistance to the Arab conquest of Medina Laqant at the beginning of the 8th century. The Moors ruled southern and eastern Spain until the 13th century Reconquista (Reconquest). Alicante was conquered again in 1247 by the Castilian king Alfonso X, but later passed to the Kingdom of Valencia in 1296 with King James II of Aragon. It gained the status of Royal Village (Vila Reial) with representation in the medieval Valencian Parliament (Corts Valencianes).
After several decades of being the battlefield where the Crown of Castile and the Crown of Aragon clashed, Alicante became a major Mediterranean trading station exporting rice, wine, olive oil, oranges, and wool. But between 1609 and 1614 King Felipe III expelled thousands of Moriscos who had remained in Valencia after the Reconquista, due to their cooperation with Barbary pirates who continually attacked coastal cities and caused much harm to trade. This act cost the region dearly; with so many skilled artisans and agricultural labourers gone, the feudal nobility found itself sliding into bankruptcy.
Conditions worsened in the early 18th century; after the War of Spanish Succession, Alicante went into a long, slow decline, surviving through the 18th and 19th centuries by making shoes and growing agricultural produce such as oranges and almonds, and thanks to its fisheries. The end of the 19th century witnessed a sharp recovery of the local economy with increasing international trade and the growth of the city harbour leading to increased exports of several products (particularly during World War I when Spain was a neutral country).
During the early 20th century, Alicante was a minor capital that took profit from the benefit of Spain's neutrality during World War I, and that provided new opportunities for local industry and agriculture. The Rif War in the 1920s saw numerous alicantinos drafted to fight in the long and bloody campaigns in the former Spanish protectorate (northern Morocco) against the Rif rebels. The political unrest of the late 1920s led to the victory of Republican candidates in local council elections throughout the country, and the abdication of King Alfonso XIII. The proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic was much celebrated in the city on 14 April 1931. The Spanish Civil War broke out on 17 July 1936. Alicante was the last city loyal to the Republican government to be occupied by General Franco's troops on 1 April 1939, and its harbour saw the last Republican government officials fleeing the country. Vicious air bombings were targeted on Alicante during the three years of civil conflict, most notably the bombing by the Italian Aviazione Legionaria of the Mercado on 25 May 1938 in which more than 300 civilians perished.
From 1954 onwards many pied-noirs settled in the city (as many as 30,000, although other sources decrease the amount tenfold).[8] Alicante had fostered strong links with Oran in the past, and a notable share of the population of the latter city during the French colonial period had ancestry in the province of Alicante.[8] The immigration process accelerated after the independence of Algeria in 1962.[8]
The late 1950s and early 1960s saw the onset of a lasting transformation of the city by the tourist industry. Large buildings and complexes rose in nearby Albufereta, e.g. El Barco, and Playa de San Juan de Alicante, with the benign climate being the biggest draw to attract prospective buyers and tourists who kept the hotels reasonably busy. New construction benefited the whole economy, as the development of the tourism sector also spawned new businesses such as restaurants, bars, and other tourist-oriented enterprises. Also, the old airfield at Rabasa was closed and air traffic moved to the new El Altet Airport, which made a more convenient and modern facility for charter flights bringing tourists from northern European countries.
When Franco died in 1975, his successor Juan Carlos I played his part as the living symbol of the transition of Spain to a democratic constitutional monarchy. The governments of regional communities were given constitutional status as nationalities, and their governments were given more autonomy, including that of the Valencian region, the Generalitat Valenciana.
The Port of Alicante has been reinventing itself since the industrial decline the city suffered in the 1980s (with most mercantile traffic lost to Valencia's harbour). In recent years, the Port Authority has established it as one of the most important ports in Spain for cruises, with 72 calls to port made by cruise ships in 2007 bringing some 80,000 passengers and 30,000 crew to the city each year.[9] The moves to develop the port for more tourism have been welcomed by the city and its residents, but the latest plans to develop an industrial estate in the port have caused great controversy.
Located in an arid territory, Alicante lacks any meaningful permanent water stream.[10] There are however several stream beds correspondent to intermittent ramblas.[10] There was a swamp area in the northeast of the municipality, l'Albufereta, yet it was dried up in 1928.[10]
The municipality has two exclaves in the mainland: Monnegre (between the municipalities of San Vicente del Raspeig, Mutxamel, Busot and Jijona),[11] and Cabeçó d'Or; the latter comprises part of the namesake Cabeçó d'Or mountain (including the summit, 1209 metres above sea level).[12] The small island of Tabarca, 8 nautical miles to the south of the city, also belongs to the municipality.[13]
The foot of the main staircase of the City Hall Building (Ayuntamiento) is the zero point (cota cero), used as the point of reference for measuring the height above or below sea level of any point in Spain, due to the marginal tidal variations of the Mediterranean sea at Alicante.[14]
Economy
Port of Alicante
Until the global recession which started in 2008, Alicante was one of the fastest-growing cities in Spain. The boom depended partly on tourism directed to the beaches of the Costa Blanca and particularly on the second residence-construction boom which started in the 1960s and revived again by the late 1990s. Services and public administration also play a major role in the city's economy. The construction boom has raised many environmental concerns and both the local autonomous government and city council are under scrutiny by the European Union. The construction surge was the subject of hot debates among politicians and citizens alike. The latest of many public battles concerns the plans of the Port Authority of Alicante to construct an industrial estate on reclaimed land in front of the city's coastal strip, in breach of local, national, and European regulations. (See Port of Alicante for details).
Between 2005 and 2012 Ciudad de la Luz (Ciutat de la Llum), one of the largest film studios in Europe, had its base in Alicante. The studio shot Spanish and international movies such as Asterix at the Olympic Games by Frédéric Forestier and Thomas Langmann, and Manolete by Menno Meyjes. It was shut down in 2012 for violating European competition law.[16]
Luis Barcala of the People's Party has been the mayor of Alicante since 19 April 2018. He became mayor after the resignation of Gabriel Echávarri, when the councillor Nerea Belmonte defected from Guanyar Alacant and refused to support the Socialist Party replacement candidate Eva Montesinos.[17]
Plenary hall where the municipal council meets.
Gabriel Echávarri of the Socialist Party (PSOE) was the mayor of the city from 13 June 2015 until April 2018, following the municipal elections on 24 May 2015. He was supported by the votes from his group (6), plus those from leftist parties Guanyar Alacant (6) and Compromís (3), as well as from the centre-right party Ciudadanos (6). The People's Party (Partido Popular, PP), with only 8 elected seats, lost the majority. On April he resigned due to various judicial issues and was temporarily substituted by the councillor Eva Montesinos.[18]
In the previous municipal elections of May 2011, Sonia Castedo of People's Party won the elections with an absolute majority, but resigned in December 2014 due to her involvement in several corruption scandals, at present being under investigation. Her fellow party member Miguel Valor went on to become mayor up until Echávarri's election.
Climate
Alicante has mild winter temperatures, hot summers, and little rain, concentrated in equinoctial periods. Like the rest of the Province of Alicante itself, which has a range of dry climate types, the city has a hot semi-arid climate (BSh) according to the Köppen climate classification.[19] Daily variations in temperature are generally small because of the stabilising influence of the sea, although occasional periods of westerly wind can produce temperature changes of 15°C (27°F) or more. Seasonal temperature variations are also relatively small, meaning that winters are mild and summers are hot.
The average rainfall is 311mm (12.2in) per year. The cold drop means that September and October are the wettest months. Rarely, the rainfall can be torrential, reaching over 100mm (4in) in a 24-hour period, leading to severe flooding. Because of this irregularity, only 35 rainy days are observed on average per year, and the annual number of sunshine hours is 2,851.
The record maximum temperature of 42.0°C (107.6°F) was observed on 13 August 2022.[20] The record minimum temperature of −4.6°C (23.7°F) was recorded on 12 February 1956.[21] The worst flooding in the city’s modern history occurred on 30 September 1997 when 270.2mm (10.6in) of rain fell within six hours.[22] Temperatures below 2°C (36°F) are very rare; the last recorded snowfall occurred in 1926.[23] Alicante enjoys one of the sunniest and warmest winter daytime temperatures in mainland Europe.[24]
Climate data for Alicante 81m (1981–2010), extremes (1960-present)[25]
Source: Historical population data sources: 1250–1609: estimates by historians; 1646: Vecindario del archivo del Reino de Valencia; 1717–1803: various censuses prepared by the governments of Spain; from 1857: national census.
The official population of Alicante in 2022 was 338,577 inhabitants and 768,194 in the metropolitan area "Alicante-Elche".[4] As of 2022, about 17.7% of the population is foreign, 62195 people, most of them immigrants who have arrived in the previous 20 years.[29] Besides which, there is an estimation of additional thousands coming from countries outside the EU (mostly from the African continent) that are under illegal alien status and therefore are not accounted for in official population figures.[30] The real percentage of foreign residents is higher, since the Alicante metropolitan area is home to many Northern European retirees who are officially still residents of their own countries. A sizable number of semi-permanent residents are Spanish nationals who officially still live in other areas of Spain.
Nationalities with more than 1000 inhabitants (2022)[29]
The city has regular ferry services to the Balearic Islands and Algeria.[34] The city is strongly fortified, with a spacious harbour.
Main sights
Amongst the most notable features of the city are the Castle of Santa Bárbara and the port of Alicante. The latter was the subject of bitter controversy in 2006–2007 as residents battled, successfully, to keep it from being changed into an industrial estate.
The Santa Bárbara castle is situated on Mount Benacantil, overlooking the city. The tower (La Torreta) at the top, is the oldest part of the castle, while part of the lowest zone and the walls were constructed later in the 18th century.
The promenade Explanada de España, lined by palm trees, is paved with 6.5 million marble floor tiles creating a wavy form, and is one of the most lovely promenades in Spain. The Promenade extends from the Port of Alicante to the Gran Vía and ends at the famous statue of Mark Hersch. For the people of Alicante, the promenade is the meeting place for the traditional Spanish paseo, or stroll along the waterfront in the evenings, and a venue for outdoor musical concerts. At the end of the promenade is a monument by the artist Bañuls of the 19th century.
Barrio de la Santa Cruz is a colourful quarter of the old city, situated southwest of Santa Bárbara castle. Its small houses climb up the hill leading to the walls and the castle, through narrow streets decorated with flags and tubs of flowers.
L'Ereta Park is situated on the foothills of Mount Benacantil. It runs from the Santa Bárbara castle down to the old part of Alicante and consists of several levels, routes, decks, and rest stops which offer a panoramic view overlooking the city.
El Palmeral Park is one of the favourite parks of Alicante's citizens. It includes walking trails, children's playgrounds, ponds and brooks, picnic tables, and an auditorium for concerts.
Just a few kilometers from Alicante on the Mediterranean Sea lies Tabarca island. What was once a haven for Barbary pirates is now a beautiful tourist attraction.
Other sights include:
Basilica of Santa María (14th–16th centuries), built-in Gothic style over the former main mosque. Other features include the high altar, in Rococo style, and the portal, in Baroque style, both from the 18th century.
Monastery of Santa Faz (15th century), located 5 kilometres (3 miles) outside the city, in Baroque style.
Defence towers of the Huerta de Alicante (15th–18th centuries), built to defend against the Barbary pirates. Today some 20 towers are still extant.
Baroque Casa de La Asegurada (1685), the most ancient civil building in the city. (c. XVII). Today it is home to the Museum of Contemporary Art of Alicante.
Casa consistorial de Alicante (18th century), also in Baroque style.
Convent of the Canónigas de San Agustín (18th century).
There are a dozen museums in Alicante. On exhibition at the Archaeological Museum of Alicante (MARQ) are local artifacts dating from 100,000 years ago until the early 20th century. The collection is divided into different rooms representing three divisions of archaeological methodology: ground, urban and underwater archaeology, with dioramas, audiovisual and interactive zones. The archaeological museum won the European Museum of the Year Award in 2004. Gravina Museum of Fine Arts presents several paintings and sculptures from the 16th century to the 19th century. Asegurada Museum of Contemporary Art houses a major collection of twentieth-century art, composed mainly of works donated by Eusebio Sempere.
Festivals
The most important festival, the Bonfires of Saint John (Hogueras de San Juan / Fogueres de Sant Joan), takes place during the summer solstice. This is followed a week later by five nights of firework and pyrotechnic contests between companies on the urban beach Playa del Postiguet. Another well-known festival is Moors and Christians (Moros y Cristianos) in Altozano or San Blas district. Overall, the city boasts a year-round nightlife for the enjoyment of tourists, residents, and a large student population of the University of Alicante. The nightlife social scene tends to shift to nearby Playa de San Juan during the summer months.
Every summer in Alicante, a two-month-long programme of music, theatre and dance is staged in the Paseo del Puerto.[35]
Valencia is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area also comprising the neighbouring municipalities has a population of around 1.6 million, constituting one of the major urban areas on the European side of the Mediterranean Sea. It is located on the banks of the Turia, on the east coast of the Iberian Peninsula, at the Gulf of Valencia, north of the Albufera lagoon.
Elche is a city and municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2014 data, Elche has a population of 228,647 inhabitants, making it the third most populated municipality in the region and the 20th largest Spanish municipality. It is part of the comarca of Baix Vinalopó.
Benidorm is a city, town and municipality in the province of Alicante, Valencia, on the Mediterranean coast of Spain.
Almería is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city grew wealthy during the Islamic era, becoming a world city throughout the 11th and 12th centuries. It enjoyed an active port that traded silk, oil and raisins. Being adjacent to a small desert, Almería has an exceptionally dry climate by European standards.
Villena is a city in Spain, in the Valencian Community. It is located at the northwest part of Alicante, and borders to the west with Castilla-La Mancha and Murcia, to the north with the province of Valencia and to the east and south with the province of Alicante. It is the capital of the comarca of the Alto Vinalopó. The municipality has an area of 345.6 km² and a population of 34,928 inhabitants as of INE 2008.
Santa Pola is a coastal town located in the comarca of Baix Vinalopó in the Valencian Community, Spain, by the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of 58.6 km2 (23 sq mi) and has a population of 36,174 inhabitants of whom 6,000 are residents of the nearby town of Gran Alacant.
Tabarca, officially Nueva Tabarca and also known as Isla Plana (Spanish) and as Nova Tabarca and Illa Plana in Valencian, is an islet located in the Mediterranean Sea, close to the town of Santa Pola, in the province of Alicante, Valencian community, Spain. Tabarca is the largest island in the Valencian Community, and the smallest permanently inhabited islet in Spain. It is known for its marine reserve.
The Alicante Tram, trademarked as Alicante Metropolitan TRAM, operates in the Spanish city of Alicante and its surrounding area. Like other narrow gauge railways in the Valencian Community, it is run by Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana (FGV). It was inaugurated on 15 August 2003 replacing narrow-gauge diesel trains between Alicante and El Campello.
Club Baloncesto Lucentum Alicante is a professional basketball team based in Alicante, Valencian Community. Lucentum Alicante played in Liga ACB for the last time in 2012, after selling its place in the league to CB Canarias.
San Vicente del Raspeig (Spanish) or Sant Vicent del Raspeig (Valencian), or simply San Vicente / Sant Vicent, is a municipality located in the comarca of Alacantí, in the province of Alicante, Spain, inside the conurbation of Alicante city.
The Palmeral or Palm Grove of Elche is the generic name for a system of date palm orchards in the city of Elche, Spain.
Alicante Terminal is the central railway station of Alicante, Spain. Commonly referred locally as the RENFE station, the station is part of Adif system, and is a terminal station.
The Himne de l'Exposició or Himne de València is the official anthem of the Valencian Community, Spain. The song was composed by José Serrano Simeón with lyrics written by Maximiliano Thous Orts for the 1909 Valencian Regional Exhibition. The music is based on a 16th-century anthem dedicated to Saint George, who was the patron saint of the Kingdom of Valencia. It was approved by the mayors of Alicante, Castellón and Valencia in May 1925, and it was declared as the official anthem of the Valencian Community in 1981, with the approval of the Valencian Statute of Autonomy.
The Valencian Community is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid with more than five million inhabitants. Its homonymous capital Valencia is the third largest city and metropolitan area in Spain. It is located along the Mediterranean coast on the east side of the Iberian Peninsula. It borders with Catalonia to the north, Aragon and Castilla–La Mancha to the west, and Murcia to the south, and the Balearic Islands are to its east. The Valencian Community consists of three provinces which are Castellón, Valencia and Alicante.
Mount Benacantil is a mount that dominates the urban part of Alicante, and is the characteristic image of the city. The mount name appears as Banu-l-Qatil in the work of Muslim geographer Al-Idrisi in the 12th century, but it is possible that this is an error of transcription because it does not make sense in Arabic. Compared with other names in the Valencian Community, the mount name is more likely to be derived from the word "benna", an Arabic transcription of "pinna", which is "rock" in Latin; combined with the adjective "laqanti", which comes from "Laqant," the Arabic name of the city. Therefore, a half Roman, half Arabic toponym, "Benna Laqanti".
Cercanías Murcia/Alicante is a commuter rail service (cercanías) in the provinces of Alicante and Murcia. The line connects Alicante and Murcia with San Vicente del Raspeig, Elche, Orihuela, Totana, Lorca, and Águilas. It runs through 200 km of railways with a total of 26 stations.
Valencians are the native people of the Valencian Community, in eastern Spain. Legally, Valencians are the inhabitants of the community. Since 2006, the Valencian people are officially recognised in the Valencian Statute of Autonomy as a nationality "within the unity of the Spanish nation". The official languages of Valencia are Valencian and Spanish.
The president of the Valencian Government is the head of the Generalitat Valenciana, the government of the Spanish autonomous community of Valencia. The president is chosen by the Valencian parliament, the Corts Valencianes.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Alicante, Spain.
Valencian Art Nouveau, is the historiographic denomination given to an art and literature movement associated with the Art Nouveau in the Valencian Community, in Spain.
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