Benidorm History Timeline

In 1950, Zaragoza was appointed as the mayor. He recognized the potential of the place, and was aware of the developments that had been occurring in northern Europe, and hence he set about to turn it into a tourist hotspot.

Pedro Zaragoza Orts created a city building plan. He ensured that every building in Benidorm would have an area of land that wouldn't be used for construction, but must be maintained as a “leisure” area. This way Benidorm could maintain its lush, green appearance and not get swallowed by grey skyscrapers.

Also, he was instrumental in the building of an airport close to Benidorm, he got in touch with major airlines in northern Europe and start encouraging the holiday makers. And once Alicante Airport opened, a myriad of sunshine craving tourist flooded Benidorm.

Pedro Zaragoza Orts put in big wide avenues and access roads, these roads still exist in their original form, and cope admirably with the amount of traffic which arrives on a daily basis, number of vehicles which Zaragoza had obviously never seen, but knew would one day come to Benidorm!

On the flipside of success of the tourism industry, there was severe objection from the church, because of the introduction of bikinis to its beaches which went against the traditional catholic values. Church bishops tried to remove Orts from his official post. However, Orts a man of sheer determination, rode to Madrid to present his ideas to General Franco. As Franco agreed, there was no looking back after that, Benidorm grew and developed by leaps and bounds.

The credit for Benidorm's success today goes to none but Zaragoza; he set an example which was followed all across Spain. He went on to become a director in multiple companies, as well as president of his province's council, a civil governor and a member of Parliament, but Benidorm will remain his legacy.