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Urban transformation
How tall and how densely Benidorm may build has been governed since 1956 by two plans and many amendments. Since the 1990s the town has also been redesigning its promenades, streets and squares.
Modern Benidorm begins with the 1956 Plan General, approved in April 1956 by the provincial planning commission. Behind it were Mayor Pedro Zaragoza and the architects Francisco Muñoz Llorens and Luis Rodríguez. The guiding idea was a garden city: detached houses on large plots, only a small part of which would be built on. On the Playa de Levante a plot had to be at least 3,000 m². Buildings could cover 20% of it, with four storeys or 13 m allowed. The planned main roads had to be made narrower after objections from landowners: by his own account Zaragoza wanted an avenida 80 m wide, but 40 m was built. In 1958 the minimum plot in Levante fell to 1,000 m², the building volume rose to 4 m³ per m² of plot, and the height to five storeys or 17 m. With the 1963 building regulations, the height limit was scrapped in Levante and in the garden city. Since then, what counts above all is volume, footprint and setbacks. On 1,000 m², 4,000 m³ are thus allowed, whether wide and low or narrow and tall. Build upwards, and you keep more land for garden and pool.
The second Plan General is still in force today. It was given final approval by the regional government on 26 November 1990; its author was the Benidorm architect Juan José Chiner Vives. In the high-rise zones (‘Edificación abierta’) buildings may cover 30% of a plot, and there is no fixed height limit. The plan is updated through numbered individual amendments. No. 2 relaxed the height rules for four- and five-star hotels in 1999; the amendment’s title refers to the entrance halls. Since No. 18 (2013), building height has been expressed as the number of storeys plus clear storey height, rather than as an overall figure in metres. No. 25 has been going through the approval process since March 2026. It is intended to allow five-star hotels larger rooms without these counting towards floor area, and it sets new rules for measuring height and using roofs at hotels.
Sources: Mª Nieves Higueras López, Benidorm, estudio de su modelo urbanístico (Proyecto Fin de Grado), 2012 · Pedro Touceda Gutiérrez, Reconstrucción del desarrollo urbano de Benidorm (TFG, ETSAM-UPM), 2024 · Miriam Ponce, Así se lee Benidorm (Universidad de Alicante), 2022 · Juan-José Chiner Vives, Benidorm. Los orígenes de la ciudad vertical, 2006 · Ajuntament de Benidorm, Texto refundido Normas PGMO 1990, 2022 · Ajuntament de Benidorm, Documento Inicial Estratégico MP nº 25, 2026
Projects
Late 1980s
Parque de l'Aigüera
- Design
- Ricardo Bofill
- Length
- around 400 m
- Status
- completed, paving being renewed
The park lies in the former bed of the Barranco de l'Aigüera. Ricardo Bofill and his practice designed it in the late 1980s as a long, geometric linear park with palms and pines. At one end stands the town hall, at the other the bullring. In between are two auditoriums: the Auditorio Julio Iglesias with 4,000 seats and the Auditorio Óscar Esplá with 500.
Since 2019 the paving has been renewed in stages. The new tiles have to match Bofill’s original design exactly. The second stage ran from 2021 through an employment and training programme with a budget of €535,412.80.
Sources: Hispanopedia (Wikipedia es) · benidorm.org, Film Office · Alicante Plaza, 2021
1993 · 2023–2026
Paseo de Levante and its new lighting
- Design
- MBM (Barcelona)
- Light garlands
- since 2023
- Status
- renewal under way
The promenade along the Playa de Levante is the work of the Barcelona practice MBM (Oriol Bohigas, Josep Martorell, David Mackay); the project was signed in 1993. Its hallmarks are the continuous level surface, a timber step as the edge to the sand, a double row of palms and a serpentine band of light. The large lamps at the junctions echo MBM’s Olympic Village in Barcelona.
Since 2023 the lighting has been renewed. Between Plaza del Torrejó and Avenida de Europa, garlands of light with 1,536 coloured LED points hang from masts around 14 m tall, at a cost of just under €2 million. A second section from Avenida de Europa was awarded for €854,000. Since December 2025, 18 of the illuminated ‘Andrea’ columns from the 1990s have also been undergoing refurbishment.
Sources: Alicante Plaza, 2022 · Alicante Plaza, 2023 · Alicante Plaza, 2025
2002–2009
Paseo de Poniente
- Length
- around 1.5 km
- Area
- 40,000 m²
- Cost
- €10.62 million
- Design
- OAB (Ferrater, Martí Galí)
In 2002 the practice OAB, led by Carlos Ferrater and Xavier Martí Galí, won the competition for the new promenade along the Playa de Poniente. It was built from 2006 to 2009, commissioned by the Generalitat Valenciana and the town. An edge of white concrete undulates in waves between town and beach, and the surfaces are paved with small coloured ceramic pieces. The road behind it shrank from six lanes to one.
The project won numerous awards, including the 2010 FAD Award in the city and landscape category and the 2011 Premio de Arquitectura Española. In 2023 the 1.5 km timber boardwalk on the beach was renewed for €1.6 million. That same year, Avenida de la Armada Española became a level promenade with priority for pedestrians.
Gran Hotel Bali →Beni Beach →
Sources: publicspace.org · Arquitectura Viva, 2012 · Alicante Plaza, 2023
2008–2027
TRAM: from railway to tramway
- Operator
- FGV
- Double track
- since late 2025
- Tramway conversion
- under construction
Since 2 June 2008, TRAM line 1 has run from Alicante to Benidorm. On 31 July 2018 the Benidorm Intermodal stop at the bus station was added, the starting point of line 9 to Dénia. In 2025 the line between Hospital Vila and Benidorm, around 6.2 km long, was double-tracked and electrified, with a new steel viaduct over the Barranco del Murtal.
In June 2026 work began on converting the section between the Benidorm and Benidorm Intermodal stops into a tramway. Instead of barriers, traffic lights will control three junctions there, and a level crossing on Avenida Andalucía will disappear. The work costs around €5.6 million and is due to be finished in early 2027.
Sources: Hispanopedia (Wikipedia es) · Alicante Plaza, 2025 · Alicante Plaza, 2026
2017–2022
Avenida del Mediterráneo: rings of light above the street
- Length
- over 450 m
- Area
- 26,720 m²
- Cost
- €13.98 million (according to FOPA)
- Rings of light
- around 70, each 4 m in diameter
Between Plaza de la Hispanidad and Avenida de Europa, the Avenida del Mediterráneo was turned into a single-level boulevard with just one traffic lane and a 10 km/h limit. It was designed by the architect Joaquín Alvado Bañón and the civil engineer Miguel Ángel Crespo. The design was commissioned in 2017 and construction put out to tender in 2018. In August 2018 the town proposed the firms Orthem and Emurtel for the contract.
Its trademark is LED rings 4 m in diameter, suspended on steel cables above the street. They are made by NTE Sistemas of Murcia. Around 70 rings hang over the avenue and around 20 at the Plaza de la Hispanidad; the first two were tested in May 2020. The section was completed in 2022. It won the Albert Serratosa Award in 2023 and in 2024 the FOPA award for the best building project in the province of Alicante.
Torre Coblanca →Torre Europa →
Sources: Metalocus, 2024 · benidorm.org, 2020 · Alicante Plaza, 2024
from 2018
Levante cycle ring and Avenida de Europa
- Cycle ring
- 11 km
- Cycle ring cost
- €813,329
In 2018 the town planned an 11 km cycle path in the east of Benidorm. It runs from the roundabout on Avenida de Europa along the old N-332 to the Ermita de Sanz and connects with the CV-753 road towards El Albir. Half of the €813,329 cost was to come from EU funds, and it was meant to be finished by the end of 2018.
That same year the town decided to rebuild Avenida de Europa section by section, following the model of Calle Jaime I. The central reservation is to become a cycle path. The four traffic lanes, the pavements more than 5 m wide and the trees will stay, and the utilities will be renewed.
Torre Europa →
Sources: Alicante Plaza, 2018 · Alicante Plaza, 2018
since 2018
Smart city: the ‘smart destination’
- Standard
- UNE 178501
- Certificate
- January 2019, renewed 2024
In 2018 Benidorm had its tourism management audited against the Spanish standard UNE 178501. In January 2019 the town became Spain’s first certified ‘Destino Turístico Inteligente’. The criteria include accessibility, technology and innovation. In 2024 the certification was renewed under new criteria; the accessibility score rose from 62.3% (2018) to 83.4%.
Since 2022 Benidorm has been home to the national platform for smart destinations. In January 2026 the town unveiled its ‘Benidorm CORE’ platform. It pools sensor data on beach occupancy, parking, traffic, water and weather. A public portal shows real-time data on the beaches.
Sources: esmartcity, 2019 · Alicante Plaza, 2024 · Alicante Plaza, 2026
2019
Parque de Elche
- Cost
- €700,000
- Reopened
- November 2019
The small park at the end of Calle Colón links the harbour with the Playa de Poniente. In 2019 it was redesigned for €700,000, half of it paid by the Diputación de Alicante. Since then it has had the same paving as the Paseo de Poniente, which is being continued as far as the Paseo de Colón.
New ramps and steps down to the beach were added, along with LED lighting, a natural-stone wall facing the sand and newly laid-out gardens. The playground takes up the ‘llondro’, the boat in which, according to tradition, the image of the town’s patron saint was found in 1740. The park reopened in time for the patron saint’s festival in November 2019.
Sources: Alicante Plaza, 2019 · benidorm.org, 2019
2020–2022
Tecnohito
- Height
- 20–23 m (depending on source)
- In operation
- 14 May 2022
Since 14 May 2022 the ‘Tecnohito’ has stood on the Plaza de la Hispanidad: a tower clad in LED screens with a spiral staircase. It is part of the Avenida del Mediterráneo redesign and serves as a digital information column and landmark. Depending on the source, its height is given as 20, 22 or 23 m. According to the town, it can also be visited. Advertising and content on the screens are marketed by the company Exterior Plus. The same concept includes the ‘Tecnoparadas’, digital bus stops along the avenue.
Sources: Alicante Plaza, 2020 · Alicante Plaza, 2022 · Metalocus, 2024
2024–2028
New skyscrapers under construction
- TM Tower
- 230 m · 64 floors · 2028
- Gran Delfín
- 158 m · 44 floors
- Torre Poseidón
- 600 rooms · 2027
The skyline keeps growing too. At 230 m and 64 floors, the TM Tower in Poniente is set to become the town’s tallest building. It has been rising since May 2026, and its 260 apartments are due to be handed over in the second half of 2028. At the western end of the Playa de Poniente, the Gran Delfín is going up, 158 m tall with 44 floors, with apartments and a hotel. The building permit came in January 2024, and the old Hotel Delfín was demolished from March 2025.
Hoteles Poseidón is building a €40 million resort with 600 rooms and a pool on the 27th floor, designed by Gemma Devesa Gascó and Carlos Teba Martín; it is due to open in 2027. Between 2024 and 2026, Benidorm Beach, Eagle Tower, Sunset Sailors and the Hotel Port Benidorm were also completed.
TM Tower →Gran Delfín →Torre Poseidón →
Sources: El Debate, 2026 · Alicante Plaza, 2024 · Alicante Plaza, 2024
2025–2030
Agenda Urbana Benidorm 2030
- Objectives
- 30
- Flagship projects
- 10
- Budget
- €188.2 million
- Horizon
- 2030
The Agenda Urbana Benidorm 2030 is the town’s framework plan for its development up to 2030. The town council adopted it in February 2025. It comprises 30 objectives, 291 lines of action and ten flagship projects through which the objectives are to be achieved. The measures in the implementation plan are budgeted at a total of €188.2 million including VAT; they are also to be funded by the regional government, the state and the EU.
The flagship projects include converting the old bullring at the Parc de l'Aigüera into the ‘Benidorm Arena’, with a new public library, study spaces and an events hall (estimated at around €13.7 million). A centre for tourism innovation is to bring together start-ups and further training. Another project renews the distinctive lighting: the chain of lights above the Levante promenade, the ‘Andrea’ lamps and the lighting at the Castell (estimated at €3 million).
Sources: benidorm.org, 2025 · Ajuntament de Benidorm, Agenda Urbana, 2025
since 2025
Ensanche Levante
- Floor space
- 292,600 m²
- Investment
- over €100 million
- Status
- approval process
The Ensanche Levante is intended to create a new district. Plans provide for 292,600 m² of floor space: around 123,000 m² for hotels, 98,000 m² for open-market housing and 42,000 m² for subsidised housing, plus shops and a commercial block. A central park is to cover more than 60,000 m², and around 60,000 m² of the street space will be pedestrian-only. The district will get a connection to the AP-7 motorway.
It is being promoted by an association of landowners holding around 80% of the land. Its name refers to the Armanello sector, which the 1990 Plan General already provided for with the same 292,600 m². Since April 2026 the plans have been on public display for the second time. Land reallocation is expected in mid-2027, followed by around three years of infrastructure works.
Sources: El Español, 2026 · DOGV, 2026 · Pedro Touceda Gutiérrez, Reconstrucción del desarrollo urbano de Benidorm, 2024
from 2026
Benidorm Open Arena
- Contract awarded
- €13.87 million
- Construction time
- 18 months
- Status
- design phase
The 1962 bullring, with a good 10,000 seats, is to become a year-round venue. The project has three parts: ‘Arena Live’, a venue with a planned 8,000 to 10,000 seats; ‘Arena Joven’, a youth centre; and ‘Arena Encuentro’, which is to link the surrounding neighbourhoods better with the centre. It is regarded as one of the most important projects of the Agenda Urbana.
In August 2026 the town awarded design and construction for €13.87 million to a joint venture of the firms Gestaser and Urdecon. Three months of design and 18 months of construction are planned. The €15 million budget comes partly from EU funds.
Sources: Alicante Plaza, 2026 · benidorm.org, 2026 · Hispanopedia (Wikipedia es)
from 2026
Avenida del Mediterráneo, phase II
- Area
- around 37,930 m²
- Construction budget
- around €19 million
- Status
- design out to tender
The second section is to continue the redesign of the Avenida del Mediterráneo from Avenida de Europa to Avenida de Castellón, including five side streets leading to the Paseo de Levante. It covers around 37,930 m². In August 2026 the town put the design out to tender for €399,300; construction is budgeted at around €19 million.
An underground car park around 1,200 m long beneath the avenue is also being examined. The feasibility study is due 30 days after the contract is signed, and the preliminary design after 60 days. According to the town, construction will start in late 2026 or early 2027.
Torre Europa →
Sources: benidorm.org, 2026 · Alicante Plaza, 2026 · Alicante Plaza, 2025