Benidorm requests a grant of 3 million euros to connect the Tossal site with Paseo de Tamarindos

Benidorm City Council is going to apply to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism for a subsidy of about 3 million euros to carry out a project that improves accessibility to Tossal de la Cala site, within the call for aid for the revitalization of the historical heritage with tourist use.

The Local Government Board (JGL) will approve this Monday the request for funds for, as explained by the mayor Toni Pérez, "to be able to execute this project that proposes connecting Paseo de Tamarindos with the hermitage of Virgen del Mar, a prelude to the 'castellum ' through four lifts, as well as remodeling the current flights of stairs and itineraries, installation of efficient public lighting and furniture, beaconing of the itinerary and protection and vegetation of the Tossal slope”.

The mayor qualified that "Tossal de la Cala site is fully accessible thanks to the actions that have been carried out in recent years and it will be even more so when the musealization works that are being carried out within the Sustainability Plan are completed shortly Tourist 'Benidorm DTI + Seguro'”.

Thus, he recalled that "always seeking universal accessibility, the City Council years ago acquired several motorized wheelchairs that are available to people with mobility problems who want to visit the 'castellum'; generated some audio guides for blind visitors; and installed glass railings in the viewpoint that crowns the Tossal and at the height of Virgen del Mar hermitage so that people in wheelchairs can enjoy the magnificent views.

"Once accessibility is guaranteed at the site, it is time to provide accessibility to the environment and make it easier for residents and tourists to access our 'castellum', generating a faster and more direct itinerary that constitutes an alternative to traditional itineraries current," he specified.

In this regard, he deepened that "now to reach the top of Tossal hill where the 'castellum' is located from the first line of Poniente beach, you have to cover a series of stairs and the street of the Hermitage that it has fairly steep slopes. This circumstance, he pointed out, "could discourage a segment of the population from visiting the site, which is a very relevant enclave and tourist attraction, through which more than 3,500 people passed through just Easter Week and from which some of the best views of Benidorm”.

Toni Pérez transferred that "precisely the purpose of this call for aid from the Ministry is to promote historical heritage as a tourist product, which is totally in line with the commitment to the recovery, preservation, and enhancement of heritage that the City Council has been carrying for eight years practicing”.

Project details

The accessibility project presented by the City Council to this call for aid is valued at 3.6 million euros. Among the planned actions, the most striking is the installation of four elevators to connect the Paseo de Tamarindos with the hermitage of the Virgen del Mar”.

As contemplated in the project, the first of the devices would join the promenade with Genaro Navarro Street; the second would go from this street to Luarca. The third elevator would communicate the streets of Luarcas and Salinas, via included in the General Plan and that would have to be executed and would be accompanied by the installation of a glass cover in part of the street. The last elevator, with a journey of more than 35 meters, would leave Salinas Street until it reached the hermitage. Each of the elevators would be connected to the designated streets through walkways.