Postcard from Benidorm: ‘It takes all sorts, and that’s okay’

Over 12 months, I explored Ben­idorm with an open mind, aware that it hosts more Span­ish than Eng­lish vis­it­ors. I was curi­ous about what remained of the ‘Pan-European Hol­i­day Uto­pia’ envi­sioned at its inception. 

Ben­idorm’s repu­ta­tion often pre­cedes it, sym­bol­ising (and draw­ing cri­ti­cism for) mass tour­ism. Yet, nestled between the Puig Cam­pana moun­tain and the Medi­ter­ranean Sea, the resort is full of the warmth of people enjoy­ing them­selves: the beach alive with ten­der­ness and diversity, the bars with laughter and Sky Sports.

About the author

Rob Ball is a pho­to­graph­er, a Read­er in Pho­to­graphy at Can­ter­bury Christ Church Uni­ver­sity, and Dir­ect­or of The South East Archive of Sea­side Pho­to­graphy.

Mr Ball shares this “GT” Travel Post­card at the invit­a­tion of Tour­is­m’s Hori­zon: Travel for the Mil­lions, a “GT” Insight Partner.

I made this work in solitude, using the cam­era to frame the strange and famil­i­ar. Pho­to­graphy for me is a solo pur­suit, a way to quietly dis­til the mad­ness of life and crowds into a coherence. 

The pic­tures here con­tain bar names I’d seen before on my travels along the UK coast­line; signs out­side advert­ise trib­ute acts per­form­ing ver­sions of Adele, Dua Lipa and Tom Jones. If you stay up late enough, you can see a racy ver­sion of the clas­sic end-of-the-pier show. 

The ‘strip’ in Ben­idorm is con­fined and is what it is: the ulti­mate inau­thent­ic exper­i­ence, but it’s under­taken know­ingly and with good humour. 

Walk one street back, and you’ll find a Span­ish town under­neath the high-rises built dur­ing that accel­er­ated, unruly peri­od of devel­op­ment under Franco.

The sig­ni­fic­ance of access­ible travel, and the pack­age hol­i­day in par­tic­u­lar, is often under­stated. The annu­al hol­i­day allowed the work­ing and lower middle classes to branch out from But­lins and exper­i­ence a new leis­ure real­ity, albeit with the com­forts of home. 

While travel is, of course, a priv­ilege, it should not be exclus­ively for the priv­ileged. It’s some­thing to look for­ward to, a time to be with the people we love, to feel the sun on our faces. 

Cul­tur­al enrich­ment might not be top of everyone’s list, but it takes all sorts, and that’s okay. For many, next year’s trip is already in the cal­en­dar. Then, back to work on Monday with a healthy glow.

This is an excerpt (adap­ted for “GT”) and images from Rob’s new photo book ben­idorm pub­lished by Hox­ton Mini Press.

Where is this?

Ben­idorm is a sea­side resort on the east coast of Spain, part of Valen­cia’s Costa Blanca.

Where next?