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Benidorm wants Unesco status
| Published: | 25 Apr at 9 AM |
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Spain’s most popular holiday destination Benidorm is vying to be granted Unesco world heritage status.
After you’ve checked the date and realised it’s not 1 April and it is actually Benidorm, yes Benidorm, frequented by hordes of drunken Brits year-round, you can read on and see just why the sunny haven, well, fun-in-the-sun-type place, believes it is worthy of a status that places such as the Great Wall of China and Stonehenge already boast.
Sociology professor Mario Gaviria, who is driving the bid, claimed that the popular package tour destination should be recognised for the fact that it is so accessible for so many people, as there were few places in the world that beach holidays were doable for people of all walks of life.
He noted that in that past half-century, around 250 million tourists had lapped it up in Benidorm, which he said was a “symbol of harmonious coexistence” that brings people of all nationalities and languages together.
There are already more than 40 Unesco world heritage sites in Spain, such as Huelva’s Donana national park and the Alhambra Palace in Granada.
Officials in Benodorm have admitted that they want to reinvent the resort’s image so people can gain a different perception of it.
Mayor Agustin Navarro explained that it was the Mediterranean’s best-designed and most sustainable city, and that they wanted to protect what they had achieved in recent decades, as well as add dignity and value to it.
As with other Unesco applications, there may be a six-year wait before Benidorm finds out its answer.
After you’ve checked the date and realised it’s not 1 April and it is actually Benidorm, yes Benidorm, frequented by hordes of drunken Brits year-round, you can read on and see just why the sunny haven, well, fun-in-the-sun-type place, believes it is worthy of a status that places such as the Great Wall of China and Stonehenge already boast.
Sociology professor Mario Gaviria, who is driving the bid, claimed that the popular package tour destination should be recognised for the fact that it is so accessible for so many people, as there were few places in the world that beach holidays were doable for people of all walks of life.
He noted that in that past half-century, around 250 million tourists had lapped it up in Benidorm, which he said was a “symbol of harmonious coexistence” that brings people of all nationalities and languages together.
There are already more than 40 Unesco world heritage sites in Spain, such as Huelva’s Donana national park and the Alhambra Palace in Granada.
Officials in Benodorm have admitted that they want to reinvent the resort’s image so people can gain a different perception of it.
Mayor Agustin Navarro explained that it was the Mediterranean’s best-designed and most sustainable city, and that they wanted to protect what they had achieved in recent decades, as well as add dignity and value to it.
As with other Unesco applications, there may be a six-year wait before Benidorm finds out its answer.
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