Benidorm commemorates its foundation with an institutional plenary

Benidorm today commemorated the 693 anniversary of its founding with an institutional plenary chaired by the acting mayor, Ana Pellicer. In addition to the corporation, this session has been attended by representatives of consular bodies; several former mayors of the city; the president of the Comissió de Festes Majors Patronals, Paco Marín; the president of l'Associació de Penyes Verge del Sofratge, Dani Luque; the heads of the State Security Corps and Forces, the Local Police and Civil Protection; and members of the Grup Carta de Poblament and various festive, social and cultural entities.

In his speech, Pellicer highlighted the current efforts to recover and preserve the historical heritage of Benidorm, emphasizing two points linked to the birth of the city in 1325 and its subsequent revitalization in the seventeenth century. Specifically, she referred to the project that "seeks to recover the archaeological remains" of Benidorm during the Middle Age that "may be under the pavement of what is currently one of our tourist icons: the Castell"; and also to the action carried out "two years ago" to "put in value the vestiges of the last section" of the Séquia Mare "that runs on public land" in the municipality. A performance, he added, that "was the start of a much more ambitious project: to convert that area into the main urban park of Benidorm".

Pellicer recalled the figure of Almirall Bernat de Sarrià, who granted the Poblament Charter in 1325, and Beatriu Fajardo de Mendoza, responsible for the revitalization of the population in 1666 with the construction of the Séquia Mare; and she has praised the role of women in shaping the current Benidorm. Several generations of women who were "key" in the "unstoppable tourist transformation" of the city "led by the pioneering mind of Pedro Zaragoza", and whose importance has not been fully recognized.

The acting mayor indicated that "fortunately, we are increasingly finding more women in places of responsibility successfully managing businesses and tourism businesses", although "we have an account pending with these other women, who started that path". For this reason, she affirmed, "it is an obligation of all to make their names (...) have the recognition they deserve within our homes and families, but also outside of them."

Finally, Pellicer conveyed to those present some words of the mayor, Toni Pérez, who advocates "looking back without neglecting our present and our future." "Benidorm is moving today with a firm and determined step towards what, undoubtedly, will be its most important transformation of the last decades: the one that has to take the city to be the first certified smart tourist destination in the world," the acting mayor said. And all with the objective of "making Benidorm a more open, more accessible, more sustainable and more innovative city" for residents and tourists, and in which "the entire civil society" has to be involved.

The mayor is currently representing Benidorm in Cartagena de Indias (Colombia) as a speaker at a training workshop on tourism management and Smart Tourist Destinations.