Alicante

Alicante is a beautiful city in the Valencian Community in Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and has a rich history as a Mediterranean port. As of 2024, the city has a population of 358,608, making it the second-largest city in the Valencian Community after Valencia and the tenth-largest in all of Spain.

Together with nearby Elche and other nearby towns, Alicante is part of a large area where nearly one million people live. The city is known for its sunny weather, stunning beaches, and historic buildings, making it a popular place for both visitors and residents.

Etymology

The name Alicante comes from an old Arabic word, Laqant, which itself comes from the Latin word Lucentum. The ancient Greek word Leuké or Leuka means "white," and this is the root of the city's name.

History

Main articles: History of Alicante and Timeline of Alicante

People have lived around Alicante for over 7,000 years. Early tribes moved from Central Europe to the area between 5000 and 3000 BC. By 1000 BC, Greek and Phoenician traders visited the coast, bringing new ideas and tools.

Archeological site of Tossal de Manises, ancient Iberian–Carthaginian–Roman city of Akra Leuké or Lucentum

Later, the Romans ruled the area for many years. After the Romans, different groups controlled the region, including the Visigoths, Arabs, and eventually the Kingdom of Aragon. Alicante became an important trading city, selling goods like rice, wine, and oranges.

In the 20th century, Alicante grew as a tourist spot, with new buildings and hotels attracting visitors. The city’s port also changed, focusing more on cruises and tourism after losing some industrial work.

Geography

Alicante is found in the southeast part of the Iberian Peninsula, right by the Mediterranean Sea. The land around the city is mostly flat, but there are some hills, like the Benacantil hills.

The city doesn’t have many rivers, but there are dry stream beds called ramblas. In the past, there was a swamp area called l'Albufereta, but it was dried up a long time ago in 1928. Alicante also includes a small island called Tabarca, which is about 8 nautical miles south of the city.

Climate

Alicante has warm winters and very hot summers. It doesn’t rain much, and most of the rain falls around September and October. Because it’s near the sea, temperatures don’t change much during the day. The city gets lots of sunshine, with over 3,000 sunny hours each year. The hottest temperature ever recorded was 42.0 °C (107.6 °F) in August 2022.

Climatological normals for Alicante (period 1991–2020)
Parameter	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Average number of Storm days	0.3	0.3	0.3	1.5	2.0	1.4	0.8	1.4	2.8	1.5	0.5	0.5
Mean number of days with fog	0.1	0.5	0.4	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
Average number of frost days	0.2	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1
Average number of clear days	7.6	7.0	6.4	6.1	6.1	10.2	13.8	12.8	5.3	5.0	5.9	6.2

Average sea temperature:
Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
15 °C (59 °F)	14 °C (57 °F)	14 °C (57 °F)	16 °C (61 °F)	19 °C (66 °F)	22 °C (72 °F)	25 °C (77 °F)	26 °C (79 °F)	25 °C (77 °F)	23 °C (73 °F)	19 °C (66 °F)	17 °C (63 °F)	19.6 °C (67.3 °F)

Demographics

The city of Alicante has a population of 358,608 people as of 2024. In the larger area around Alicante, including a nearby city called Elche, there are about 768,194 people. Many of these people were born in other countries and moved to Alicante in the past 20 years. There are also thousands more people from Africa who are not officially counted because they are not recorded in the official population numbers.

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1250	2,500	—
1350	3,250	+30.0%
1418	1,539	−52.6%
1609	5,040	+227.5%
1646	6,174	+22.5%
1717	11,019	+78.5%
1735	12,604	+14.4%
1754	14,394	+14.2%
1768	17,213	+19.6%
1786	17,345	+0.8%
1797	19,313	+11.3%
1803	21,447	+11.0%
1842	20,199	−5.8%
1857	28,847	+42.8%
1877	36,946	+28.1%
1887	42,172	+14.1%
1900	51,874	+23.0%
1910	56,327	+8.6%
1920	64,490	+14.5%
1930	72,474	+12.4%
1940	89,198	+23.1%
1950	101,791	+14.1%
1960	121,832	+19.7%
1970	181,550	+49.0%
1981	245,963	+35.5%
1991	265,473	+7.9%
2001	284,580	+7.2%
2011	329,325	+15.7%
2021	338,768	+2.9%
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: INE

Foreign population by country of birth (2024)
Nationality	Population
Colombia	14,629
Algeria	10,321
Argentina	8,822
Morocco	6,181
Venezuela	6,089
Ukraine	6,062
Russia	4,426
Ecuador	3,977
France	2,825
Cuba	2,441
Romania	2,119
China	1,897
Italy	1,599
Brazil	1,510
Peru	1,436

Administration

Economy

Alicante used to grow very quickly until a big economic problem happened in Spain. Many people visit the beautiful beaches of the Costa Blanca, which helps the city's economy. Building homes also grew a lot from the 1960s to the 1990s. Important jobs come from services and government work.

Port of Alicante

The city is where important European workers live, and it has a big university with over 25,000 students. There was also a large movie studio that made many films before it closed in 2012.

Transport

Alicante Airport is the busiest airport in the Valencian Community and is very busy in Spain. It has many flights to Madrid and Barcelona with airlines like Iberia and Vueling. You can also fly to many cities in Western Europe with airlines such as Ryanair, EasyJet, and Jet2. There are also flights to Algeria.

You can take trains from Alicante railway station to nearby areas and cities like Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia. In 2013, fast trains started running from Alicante to Madrid.

The Alicante Metropolitan-Tram helps people travel around the city and nearby places like Benidorm and Dénia. There are also regular ferry trips to Algeria. The city has a big, safe harbour.

Main sights

Alicante has many interesting places to see. One of the most famous is the Castle of Santa Bárbara, which sits on Mount Benacantil and looks over the city. The oldest part of the castle is a tower called La Torreta.

Another popular spot is the port of Alicante. In 2006–2007, people worked together to stop plans to change the port into an industrial area. The Explanada de España promenade is a lovely place to walk, with palm trees and millions of marble tiles making a wavy pattern. It stretches from the port to the Gran Vía and ends with a famous statue.

The Barrio de la Santa Cruz area is full of colour, with small houses and narrow streets decorated with flags and flowers. L'Ereta Park offers beautiful views of the city from the foothills of Mount Benacantil. El Palmeral Park is a favourite for families, with walking paths, playgrounds, and places to have picnics.

Just a short distance from Alicante is Tabarca island, which used to be a safe place for pirates but is now a popular tourist spot. Other sights include the Basilica of Santa María, built in Gothic style, and the Co-cathedral of St. Nicholas of Bari, the main church of the city. There are also many museums, such as the Archaeological Museum of Alicante, which shows artifacts from long ago, and the Gravina Museum of Fine Arts, with paintings and sculptures from past centuries.

Festivals

Alicante holds many colorful festivals. The biggest is the Bonfires of Saint John, which happens during the summer solstice. A week later, there are five nights of fireworks and contests on Playa del Postiguet beach. Another popular festival is Moors and Christians in the Altozano or San Blas district.

The city also has lively nightlife all year, especially for students from the University of Alicante. In summer, many events move to Playa de San Juan. Every summer, a two-month program of music, theatre, and dance takes place along the Paseo del Puerto.

Sport

Alicante has two football clubs, Hércules CF and CF Intercity, that play in top levels of Spanish football. Hércules CF is special because they played in the top league, called La Liga (the Spanish Premier Division), in 1996/1997 and again in 2010/2011. Some famous players have played for them, and they once won against a big team, Barcelona, in 1997. Their home games are at the José Rico Pérez Stadium, which can hold 30,000 people.

Another football club, Alicante CF, stopped playing in 2014 because of money problems and was replaced by a new club called CFI Alicante the same year.

There is also a basketball team, Lucentum Alicante, that plays in the Spanish basketball league at the Centro de Tecnificación de Alicante.

Alicante is also where the Volvo Ocean Race, a big yacht race around the world, starts. The latest race happened in January 2023.

Notable people

Alicantinos or Alacantins at the Rambla Méndez Núñez

Alicante has been home to many interesting people over the years. Some of them are Francisca Aguirre, a poet, and Rafael Altamira y Crevea, who helped create an important world court. There is also Arkano, a rapper, and Carlos Arniches, a novelist.

Other notable individuals include Francisco Javier de Balmis, a doctor who helped protect people from a serious illness, and Miriam Blasco, an Olympic judo champion. Famous athletes like tennis players Alex de Minaur and David Ferrer, as well as Ilia Topuria, a champion in a fighting sport, all come from Alicante. The city also produced well-known artists, writers, and public figures who have made their mark in many different fields.