ALICANTECONGRESSES

BEAUTIFUL,MEDITERRANEAN,

UNIQUE,

ALICANTE

Alicante: a city that looks out over the Mediterranean Sea, over the Mare Nostrum of the Romans, our sea and everyone’s sea, looking out from its majestic Santa Barbara Castle, from its magnifi cent harbour, from its beautiful sandy beaches... Alicante is also a city that looks back on the past that has made it what it is today; a fusion of many highly varied cultures which have left their mark throughout the centuries. Of course, Alicante is also a city that looks towards the future, with great projects in mind and a lot of dreams to fulfi l.

Cosmopolitan, cultural, commercial, a university city... Alicante has so much more. The wide range of activities it has to offer and places to discover have made this provincial capital a meeting point for tourists, students and professionals... many of whom visit the city each year to discover the city’s museums, enjoy its beaches, stroll along its streets and really get to know this city which has so much to offer.

The exceptional climate allows you to explore the city’s streets, squares and avenues on foot all year round, taking them in your stride whilst enjoying the spectacular Mediterranean sunlight. For this very reason, thanks to the writer Wenceslao Fernández, Alicante has been given the nickname “the House of Spring”.

If you want to discover more about what Alicante has to offer, just keep on reading…

MONUMENTS

Alicante radiates culture from all its corners. If you wish to discover the city through its monuments, here is a brief summary of what you can see.

SANTA BÁRBARA CASTLE

The Moor’s Face - Cara del Moro

Without a doubt, one of the most emblematic images of Alicante is the profi le of Mount Benacantil, known by all as “the Moor’s Face”due to its likeness to a human face. As legend has it, this fi gure has arisen from a tragic story of love and death from the times when the city was ruled by the Moors.

Santa Bárbara Castle

This is the city’s most emblematic building. Crowning the top of Mount Benacantil, at 166 m above sea level and overlooking the beach, the majority of the rooms still standing date back to the 16th century. Well worth a mention are the keep, the Baluarte de los Ingleses bastion and the Salón de Felipe II hall, among others. Visiting the castle is a must in order to gain the best views of the city and the Alicante coast. It is even possible to make out the Island of Tabarca.

The Town Hall

An 18th century Baroque palace, built between 1699 and 1780, this is a unique building on three fl oors fl anked by two towers and crowned by a balustrade. On the pillar where the rail of the main staircase starts you can fi nd the so-called “cota cero”, the reference point from which the height above sea level of all other points in Spain are measured.

Santa María Basilica

Although this building dates back to the 13th century, it wasn’t until the 18th century that it took on its current form with the addition of new rooms and the incorporation of new rococo-style altarpieces, as well as statues, molding and the organ, doing away with the austerity and simplicity of the original building.

San Nicolás de Bari Co-cathedral

This is one of the most important buildings in the old quarter of Alicante, built in honour of the city’s patron saint between the years 1616 and 1661, and promoted to the status of co-cathedral in 1959. The austerity of its Herrerian façade contrasts with its luxurious interior, in which the impressive gold altarpieces are particularly noteworthy, especially the high altar, as are the Cristo de la Buena Muerte carving representing Christ on the cross, the cloister with an interestingly Mediterranean aura and the Barroque communion chapel.

MUSEUMS

Alicante has a wide range of museums to offer. Through the city’s museums visitors can learn about the Neolithic period of Alicante or its modern era, the art of bullfi ghting or the internationally renowned Hogueras festivals.

MARQ

Designed and created to be the fi rst 21st century museum, the Alicante Archaeological Museum has always opted to modernise the traditional exhibition system, and was consequently named European Museum of the Year in 2004. Visitors are introduced to the geographical area of Alicante and offered a historical tour from prehistoric times right up to the present.

MUBAG

Located in the heart of the old quarter, the Gravina Fine Arts Museum offers the public the main exponents of Alicante art from the 16th century up to the early decades of the 20th century. Its works have been selected from the Alicante provincial council’s collections.

Museo Municipal de Hogueras

Located in the building Casa de la Festa, this museum is devoted to Alicante’s most popular festival – Hogueras de San Juan – declared to be of international interest to tourists. Here a signifi cant display of photographs from different eras are on display, as well as the so-called “Ninots indultats”, a collection of typical costumes, signs advertising the festival, etc.

Nativity Scene Museum - Museo de Belenes

Located in a traditional house in the old quarter of Alicante, this museum boasts a collection of Christmas dioramas, created by artists of the Alicante Nativity Scene Association, as well as nativity scenes from other parts of Spain, Europe, Asia and Africa. This is a clear example of the city’s deep-rooted tradition in the building of nativity scenes.

The Bullfi ghting Museum - Museo Taurino Municipal

Housing a permanent exhibition dedicated to the most famous local bullfi ghters, such as Vicente Blau, Francisco Antón, José María Manzanares or Luis Francisco Esplá, this museum also has a library, a conference and exhibition room and an audiovisual room, where meetings, slideshows and talks on bullfi ghting are held.

MUA

Opened in 1999, this is one of the few university museums in Spain. With a collection devoted to Contemporary Art, this museum focuses on research, production, conservation, documentation, dissemination and education. A convergence of art, music, theatre, cinema, photography, archaeology…

Lonja del PescadoExhibition Hall

A curious building constructed in the historicist style with Arabic elements, erected at the beginning of the 20th century, which was originally used as a fi sh market within the port facilities of the Poniente area and was opened as an exhibition hall in 1992. The sheer size of the building makes it ideal for holding large art exhibitions as well as other artistic, literary, charity and festive events.

MUSA

The Museo de Alicante (Alicante City Museum) is located within the walls of Santa Bárbara Castle. The items on show introduce visitors to the city’s past and its evolution, since prehistory to present times, in a different and dynamic way.

MACA

The Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Alicante (Museum of Contemporary Art of Alicante) accommodates Alicante’s 20th Century Art Collection and the permanent exhibition of municipal contemporary art collections. This museum also offers a complementary cultural programme.

Centro Cultural Las Cigarreras (Las Cigarreras Cultural Centre)

Back in the early 19th century, these 3 warehouses were part of the old tobacco factory. Reconverted into a fi rst class cultural platform, the venue also accommodates La Caja Negra (Black Box): a multipurpose auditorium that hosts concerts and theatre performances.

Besides all of this, Alicante also has several archaeological sites to visit, among which the Iberian Roman city of Lucentum is particularlyremarkable. This is the old Alicante, located on the site called Tossal de Manises, at a mere 3.5 km from the centre of the modern city, in the area known as La Albufereta. It was declared a historical artistic monument in 1961 and is, without a doubt, one of the most important archaeological sites in the Region of Valencia, as the entire urban area covering some 30,000 m2 has been preserved.

PLACES OF INTEREST

Alicante Theatre - Teatro Principal

A neo-classical court building, opened in 1847 and recently restored. Inside its beautiful decorative elements can be appreciated in three clearly distinctive areas: the vestibule, the horseshoe-shaped auditorium and the stage.

“House of the Witches” - “Casa de las Brujas”

An unusual example of modernist architecture from the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. Declared a place of cultural interest, it is currently the seat of the Regional Valencian government in the city of Alicante.

Gravina Palace - Palacio Gravina

An 18th century building which belonged to the Count of Lumiares and was the location for the provincial archives. It currently houses the city’s Fine Arts Museum, known as MUBAG.

Central Market - Mercado Central

Built between 1911 and 1912 upon the 18th century wall which surrounded Alicante. On its façade, dominated by a great staircase, the modernist mosaics made up of broken tiles are of particular interest.

Plaza de los Luceros Square

Built in the 1930s, this is an artistic monument in a local expressionist style, inspired by nature and the four bright stars that shine in the starry sky. Plaza de los Luceros or Plaza de los Caballos - square of the horses -, as it was known well into the 1960s, is an emblematic part of Alicante, located in the very heart of the city.

Alicante Theatre, the Las Agustinas Convent, Maisonnave Palace, Gravina Palace,… Everyone who visits Alicante will be fascinated by the rich artistic patrimony they will fi nd at every turn.

Alicante Provincial Council - Palacio de la Diputación Provincial de Alicante

Opened in 1931, the rooms of this neo-classical style palace house an important art gallery and at the rear of the palace there is a garden - Jardín de las Celebridades Alicantinas -, which contains monuments andsculptures in honour of local celebrities.

In the city centre, the Maisonnave Palace, dating from the 18th century and currently home to the local archives is also well worth pointing out, as is the Canónigas de San Agustín Convent, also dating from the 18th century.

PARKS AND CITY WALKS

La Explanada is, without a doubt, the best place to take a stroll in Alicante, but there are many more, as we will show you below.

Explanada de España

One of the most beautiful esplanades in Spain. Its image has become famous thanks to the monumental mosaic made up of more than six million marble tiles in threedifferent colours (red, cream and black) which imitate the waves ofthe nearby sea. In the centre it has an auditorium whereconcerts are held by the city band.

La Ereta Park

Located on Mount Benacantil, this park offers the possibility to follow a route from Santa Barbara Castle to the old quarter.

Canalejas Park

At the end of the Esplanade, visitors can fi nd Canalejas Park. Its entrances are fl anked by stone lions and dogs and the park is particularly interesting due to its giant hundred-year-old rubber plants. It also boasts a stone map of Spain and a monument in honour of the Alicante writer Carlos Arniches.

And to close this chapter we mustn’t forget to mention the promenades which accompany our beaches and delight both tourists and visitors to the city. In addition, Alicante boasts wide avenues with excellent areas for walking, such as the avenues Avenida Federico Soto and Doctor Gadea which lead vistors from the Plaza de Luceros down to the Mediterranean Sea.

Municipal Palm Tree Park

Located at the southern entrance to Alicante and facing the sea, this park lives up to its name with hundreds of palm trees scattered among pathways and areas with waterfalls.

ISLAND OF TABARCA

In the past, the shores of this island were refuge to Berber pirates. Now these shores belong to Alicante and a visit to the island is almost a must for all those who visit the city. Tabarca is a symbol and reference of tourism on the Costa Blanca and the Mediterranean coast with its wealth of landscapes, architecture and nature off the beaten track. In fact, the walls surrounding the town on the island are both of artistic historical interest and cultural interest, and its waters have been declared a Mediterranean Marine Reserve due to their excellent quality and the biodiversity of their wildlife. Thanks to all of the above it is an true natural monument.

Carlos III ordered a village to be built there in the 18thcentury to house several families of fi shermen who werebeing held prisoner in the Tunisian city of Tabarka. Particularlynoteworthy are the church, the walls and San José Castle.

Furthermore, Tabarca is the only inhabited island in the region of Valencia. It is situated off the coast of Alicante, eleven nautical miles from the coast, and very close to Santa Pola. The island can be reached by boat from Alicante harbour where several boats make the trip to the island on a regular basis.

Everyone who visits Tabarca can enjoy magnifi cent coves and beaches with crystal-clear water and a picturesque fi shing port.

These are some of the island’s restaurants, where you can enjoy Tabarca’s delicious gastronomy:

Amparín: 965 970 734Casa Gloria: 965 970 584Casa Ramos: 965 970 581Don Jerónimo: 965 961 283La Almadraba: 965 970 587La Caleta: 965 970 810Los Pescadores I: 965 960 005Mar Azul: 965 970 587Rincón Ramos: 965 961 144Tere: 965 970 577Tío Collonet: 965 970 599

BEACHES

Alicante’s fi fteen kilometres of coastline are dotted with magnifi cent beaches, internationally renowned for their fi ne sand and water quality.

For this reason, most of them have been awarded the blue fl ag by the European Union. Without a doubt, one of the city’s main tourist attractions and a true delight for visitors. Alicante’s beaches.

GASTRONOMYSHOPPINGLEISUREFESTIVALSINCENTIVES

GASTRONOMY

Alicante’s typically Mediterranean cuisine is one of the city’s greatest tourist attractions. Over the years it has gained in richness and variety.

Rice is the staple ingredient, with the main varieties being arroz a banda (rice cooked in fi sh stock), arroz a la alicantina (stove cooked and oven fi nished for a crispy crust), caldero (stewed with fi sh) and arroz caldoso (creamy rice). Fish and seafood are also high up on the list of specialties, especially in their salted varieties: mojama (dried tuna), roe, bonito tuna or dried octopus. Typical desserts include aniseed rolls, coca boba (sponge cake), raisins, dates and other dried fruits. Ice-cream, turrón (almond nougat) and chocolate are also characteristic of the region, as are the excellent wine and liqueurs such as Fondillón or “la paloma”.

Visitors can enjoy this cuisine in the restaurants that line the city’s streets, or purchase delicacies in the shops and stalls located in front of the Mercado Central (Main Market).

SHOPPING

There are several shopping areas in Alicante, both in the old town and in the outskirts.

Avenida Maisonnave is the main commercial thoroughfare. As well as accommodating two El Corte Inglés department stores, the avenue is also home to a variety of shops and specialised boutiques. The city centre is also a good place for shopping, mainly in streets as famous as Calle Gerona, Castaños or Calle Teatro, near Alicante’s Main Theatre. The hippy stalls along La Explanada are great for buying crafts and costume jewellery. The Mercado Central (Main Market), on Avenida Alfonso X El Sabio, or the markets on Calle Teulada, or in the areas of Carolinas, Benalúa and Babel are also well worth a visit. Last but not least, the city has several shopping centres that combine restaurants, shops and leisure.

El barrio

Dozens of bars, pubs and taverns to suit all tastes, types and trends fi ll this part of the city’s old quarter from La Rambla to Santa Barbara Castle. The narrow streets, where the old Muslim city layout can still be seen, work in harmony with the city’s nightlife.

Sports Marina

This area has become a complex devoted to pleasure sailing. Situated right in the heart of the city, it has a shopping area, restaurants and a leisure area. What’s more, you can enjoy spectacular views and walks around its innovative structure next to the sea. Its recently opened Casino also makes for a select place to have some fun next to the sea. A new sports dock has also been opened on its eastern side for the start of the Volvo Ocean Race.

El Golf

San Juan beach, next to Alicante Golf Club, is a trendy place for the younger generations. Here you can fi nd restaurants, cafés and bars which open until the early morning, all in a setting that recreates the streets and squares of a typical Spanish village.

LEISURE

Alicante nightlife is, without a doubt, one of the liveliest on the Spanish mainland, due to the combined infl uence of the city’s excellent climate, the arrival of tourists all year round and the hospitality of the people of Alicante. There are many cafes, bars and pubs, where you can sit both inside and out, as well as nightclubs offering the visitor a wide selection of places to have fun, dotted all around the city.

Hogueras de San Juan

Declared to be of International Tourist Interest, the Hogueras de San Juan is the main festival in Alicante, and in which the summer solstice is celebrated. It is held from 20th to 24th of June, days in which more than two hundred papier-mâché monuments are erected all around the city and which will be set on fi re on 24th of June.

Moors and Christians

A very popular festival in Alicante and in the entire province, the Moors and Christians festival is a spectacular reconstruction of the Reconquest of Alicante from the Moors. The music, the gunpowder, the parades and the great atmosphere are its main features.

Santa Faz

The second Thursday in Easter a traditional pilgrimage called “La Peregrina” takes place, in which the relic of Santa Faz is revered. Thousands of people walk the almost fi ve kilometres between Alicante and the monastery every year.

Easter

Religious artworks are paraded around the streets of Alicante in processions that combine devotion and entertainment. The most notable processions are La Santa Cruz, which passes through the steep streets of the old town known as El Barrio; El Silencio (a silent procession) and “los dos encuentros” (during which a sculpture of the Virgin encounters a sculpture of Christ).

FESTIVALS

Alicante also has an abundance of celebrations, parties, commemorations, festivals,… a wide range of possibilities which attract the attention of visitors all year round.

- Theater staging visits to Santa Bárbara Castle.- Catamaran or sailing boat excursions to Tabarca Island.

- Wine Tasting.- Segway Tours.- Cookery Courses.- Gymkhanas in the city.- Golf.- Horse Racing.- Trekking.- Mountain Bike.

- Bungee Jumping.- Canyoning.- Four-by-four excursions.- Paintball.- Bungee Jumping.- Orientation activities.- Boat Race.- Sailing.- Windsurfi ng.- Diving.- Snorkel.- Kayac.- Beach Volley.- Beach Football.- Tourist Routes: Castles Route; Wineries Route; Elche; La Marina, Altea, Calpe, Denia.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Plan

o di

seña

do y

ced

ido

por J

LB /

City

map

des

igne

d an

d ce

ded

by JL

C.