Benidorm Retains Its Franco-Era Mass Tourism Model

Fifty years after the death of General Francisco Franco, the Spanish coastal city of Benidorm continues to adhere to the mass tourism model it pioneered under his dictatorship, even as protests against overtourism have swept other holiday hotspots in Spain.

Built on bikinis, skyscrapers, and package holidays, the tourism industry transformed the image of socially conservative Spain abroad while generating much-needed foreign currency.

“There are no car factories here, no soap factories. What we have is a factory of hotels, restaurants and businesses that make our visitors happy,” said Angela Barcelo, 72, owner of the Hotel Les Dunes in the Mediterranean beach resort.

Her grandmother founded the hotel in 1957, at a time when Spanish women required their husband’s permission to open a bank account.

“What Benidorm is today is thanks to the women,” Barcelo added, recalling how local men were often at sea while women managed family assets and opened many of the first hotels and guesthouses.

Originally a seafaring village with whitewashed houses and just 3,000 residents, Benidorm has expanded into a city of more than 100 skyscrapers, with its population swelling to 400,000 on peak August days.

This transformation was largely driven by Pedro Zaragoza Orts, mayor of Benidorm from 1950 to 1966 and a supporter of the ultranationalist Falange movement that backed Franco’s rule. Zaragoza saw foreign tourism as a safer alternative to seafaring—which had claimed the lives of many of his relatives—or farming.

When foreign women began arriving on Benidorm’s beaches in bikinis, Spain’s influential Catholic Church, closely aligned with the dictatorship, initially resisted. The bishop of nearby Alicante clashed with Zaragoza, threatening him with excommunication, a significant social stigma at the time.

Franco personally intervened, sending his wife and daughter to holiday at Zaragoza’s home in Benidorm—a gesture widely interpreted as a blessing.

Historian Francisco Amillo, 76, who has lived in Benidorm for decades, explained:

“Zaragoza was very socially conservative, but he realised Spain needed to open up. The income from foreign currency multiplied exponentially once bikinis were allowed on the beaches.”

Zaragoza also proved adept at publicity stunts, inviting a Sami family from Finland for a holiday that drew Nordic media coverage, and launching the Benidorm Song Festival, where Julio Iglesias began his career.

By the early 1960s, gay bars appeared in the town, providing a rare refuge under Franco’s authoritarian regime.

Zaragoza’s sun-and-sea model proved highly successful and was adopted in other parts of Spain, which received 94 million foreign visitors in 2024, making it the world’s second most-visited country after France.

Of those, 2.8 million tourists visited Benidorm, filling its seven kilometres (four miles) of wide, sandy beaches.

Although criticised for decades for its high-rise skyline and dense crowds, Benidorm has recently been hailed as a model of sustainable tourism. Concentrated housing occupies less land, minimises water loss, allows for quicker waste collection, and reduces reliance on cars, explained Vicente Mayor, deputy chief engineer at Benidorm’s city council.

“Although tall buildings and urban density have often been looked down upon, vertical growth is a very efficient model,” he added.

Tourists remain loyal.

“It’s got something for everybody. It’s brilliant. It’s got the bars, the madness down the strip. And it’s got lovely tapas bars in the old town,” said Stuart Reed, visiting from Britain with his wife.

Yet some are critical of Benidorm’s reputation.

“When I tell friends I’m going to Benidorm, they say: ‘What a horrible city!’” said Maribel Soler, 68, a French visitor.
“But that’s because they don’t know it. They’ve never been. They only judge the buildings,” she added, comparing Benidorm to New York.
“And I love New York,” she concluded.