'Sueño Verical' by Mª José Lozano fills the seven Public Art Spaces of Benidorm with art, fashion and architecture

The seven Urban Art Spaces of Benidorm, distributed throughout various neighbourhoods of the city, have been hosting the exhibition ‘Benidorm, Somni Vertical’ since Tuesday. This photographic exhibition, created by Benidorm-born teacher and artist María José Lozano Pérez, features the urban landscape and some of the city's most emblematic skyscrapers. The Mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez, and the Councillor for Historical and Cultural Heritage, Ana Pellicer, accompanied the artist today on an official visit to the exhibition, which is being held at the Espai d’Art de Ponent. Other members of the local government, the models who appear in the photographs, family, friends, and recipients of the Distinció Cultural Ciutat de Benidorm (City of Benidorm Cultural Award) also participated in the visit.

Before beginning the tour along the seafront to view the photographs on display, the Councillor for Historical and Cultural Heritage emphasised that, with ‘Benidorm, Vertical Dream’, the City Council is not only fulfilling its purpose of promoting and showcasing local talent, but also “the commitment we made to Benidorm City Cultural Award Commission to publicise the work of the award winners. And what better way to do so than in all the open-air exhibition spaces we have in our city, displaying these striking photographs.”

Thus, Pellicer recalled that María José Lozano Pérez received this cultural distinction in 2025, awarded during the institutional plenary session on October 9th. In addition to her work as a secondary school teacher, advisor to the CEFIRE (Teacher Training Centre), her contribution to the Diccionari de Benidorm (Benidorm Dictionary), and her ties to prominent cultural institutions in the city, she has also published photographs in international fashion magazines and won the Sony Alpha Portrait International Portrait and Photography Award in 2018. For this reason, he publicly invited the public to visit the various Espais d’Art Urbà (Urban Art Spaces) of Benidorm to discover her work.

‘Benidorm, Somni Vertical’ comprises 57 photographs showcasing Benidorm's most recognisable skyscrapers. María José Lozano explained that the photographs were taken between 2018 and 2020, before the pandemic, and that “my dream and I hoped to be able to exhibit them in Benidorm, on the street, to make this visit a complete experience.”

To that end, each image is accompanied by a QR code, which, once scanned with a mobile phone, redirects the user to a website where they can read the explanation of each image in different languages ​​and listen to it narrated by the author herself, with anecdotes and interesting facts about how the photographs were taken. All of this was created by the author and her team of collaborators.

Finally, the author thanked the City Council and the Department of Historical Heritage for their support in making this exhibition possible, a thank you she also extended to her family and her team. To conclude, Mayor Toni Pérez recalled how, together with Councillor Ana Pellicer, these Urban Art Spaces (Espais d’Art Urbà) were conceived to bring culture closer to the people and transform the streets into an open-air museum. These spaces “became even more valuable during the pandemic, as even the world’s largest museums had to find creative ways to make their artworks, stored in spaces inaccessible for months, available to the public.”

The mayor emphasised that these spaces “have evolved, grown, and transformed the city,” and that now, “it is a privilege for Benidorm to have these images on display; and it is also a privilege that people like María José have such an extraordinary place to exhibit their art to the public,” he stated.

Toni Pérez concluded by praising the immense work carried out by María José Lozano, especially in 2025 for the 700th Anniversary, and asked her "to take many more photographs and not to stop, because this town, which is yours, loves you very much."

The 57 photographs of 'Benidorm, Vertical Dream' can be viewed until after the summer in the seven Urban Art Spaces of Benidorm, located in El Castell, El Carrasco, El Pont, Hispanitat, El Campo, Ponent, and Els Tolls.

Other activities

The visit to this exhibition marks the culmination of the activities organised by Benidorm City Council, through the Department of Historical and Cultural Heritage, to commemorate International Museum Day, celebrated worldwide on May 18. In addition to this open-air exhibition, guided tours have also been offered in recent days at the Museu Boca del Calvari, both of the ‘Iberian Series’ collection with its creator, Sómnica Bernabeu, and of the archaeological exhibition ‘Benidorm, the Footprint of Time,’ which forms part of the permanent exhibition in the Luis Duart Archaeology Room of this municipal museum.

For this exhibition, Benidorm City Council has received a grant of €9,200 from Alicante Provincial Council, within the framework of the ‘Call for Subsidies to City Councils, Foundations and other Non-Profit Entities of the Province of Alicante, for Museums and Permanent Museum Collections. 2026.’