Benidorm presents its candidacy for Valencian Cultural Capital 2024

Benidorm chooses to be the Valencian Cultural Capital of 2024. The City Council has officially presented its candidacy for this recognition in the modality of municipalities with more than 5,000 inhabitants with a transversal project in which the Departments of Historical and Cultural Heritage have participated, Culture, Festivals and Events, and in which he asserts the conception of Benidorm as 'An open-air museum'.

The mayor, Toni Pérez, transferred that "it is a very powerful project and in which we meet one by one the requirements set by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports for this contest." Thus, according to the call itself, this capital status is intended to recognize those municipalities that have made a firm commitment to culture.

“And that is precisely –he indicated- what has encouraged us to present our candidacy, because in recent years Benidorm has made a firm commitment to cultural matters, maintaining and improving activities that already had a more or less long history in the city; generating and fostering new projects that have already become essential appointments; and promoting urban spaces available to culture”.

Toni Pérez assured that "a global look and perspective is enough to see that Benidorm has exponentially multiplied its cultural offer and has done so by covering practically all cultural and artistic disciplines and bringing them closer to the public". On this point, he explained that "the City Council, public and urban spaces have been understood as a support for the different disciplines, making Benidorm a great open-air museum and an environment in which artists express themselves and where culture coexist with the activity of the city”.

Precisely this aspect "is the hallmark of our project and almost in all probability the element that will differentiate our candidacy."

Another of the "strengths" of Benidorm's candidacy is "the diversity of cultural projects that are carried out throughout the year."  “In the musical aspect we can talk about events that are already linked to Benidorm in an almost inextricable way, such as the Low Festival; but also proposals such as Música a l'Hort, the Organ Festival or our International Music Course, to which are added all the concerts and recitals that our three bands offer throughout the year. And of course, Benidorm Fest”.

“We also have –the added- cinema with the Skyline Benidorm Film Festival; dance in the street with the Les Ones festival; performing arts with the Amateur Theater Show and the different cycles that are scheduled throughout the year; monumental art, currently with the sculptures of Jaume Plensa and Arne Quinze; literature with the International Poetry Festival; photographic and illustration exhibitions in our seven Espais d'Art Urbà; all our historical heritage with the Tossal de la Cala, the towers of Morales and Les Caletes, El Castell and Hort de Colón; and the representation of our history and traditions with the recreation of the discovery of the patron saint or the granting of the Charter of Poblament”.

As established in the bases, the project has included a list of all the public and private cultural spaces in the city, including the new Espai d'Art 'La Casilla' and Aula del Mar –which will be already operational in 2024-, as well as a preview of the programming planned for next year and which currently includes a hundred proposals.