Today Benidorm celebrates its birth as a town 697 years ago

The plenary session, chaired by the mayor, Toni Pérez, was attended by the municipal corporation, including the Councilors for Culture and Festivals, Jaime Jesús Pérez and Jesús Carrobles, as well as the provincial deputy, José Ramón González de Zárate.
Among the attendees, were the national deputy, Agustín Almodóbar; the regional, Manuel Pérez Fenoll; the consul of the Kingdom of Belgium, Mia Van Lil; representatives of the State Security Forces and Corps, Local Police and Civil Protection; the queens of the Festes Majors Patronals, Aila Merenciano and Chloe D'Hebroodt; and the presidents of the Commission of Festes Majors Patronals and the Associació de Penyes, José Vicente Fuster and Adrián Romero.

In his institutional speech, Toni Pérez recalled Admiral Bernat de Sarrià's bet "for this part of the territory, on Punta de Canfali" so that it would become "a place of prosperity". A place that knows how to overcome adversity, as has been demonstrated after the "blow" of the pandemic that "has directly attacked its main industry and source of wealth and social equality: tourism."

Pérez has vindicated the work carried out in recent years for "the recovery, preservation and enhancement" of the city's past; as well as the projects of the last year that aim to safeguard "the agricultural Benidorm and the marine Benidorm", such as the Séquia Mare Interpretation Center, or Aula del Mar. All this in a year, 2022, in which the city "remember, honour and pay homage and respect" to Pere Maria Orts i Bosch on his first centenary.

Toni Pérez, evoking who was the official chronicler of the city, has stressed that Benidorm Day is "a magnificent opportunity to remember his figure, his work and his thoughts".

The mayor also referred to the forerunner of what the city is today, of whom "next Sunday will be the 100th anniversary of his birth", Pedro Zaragoza. "A man -he has detailed- who, placing Benidorm in the centre of his life, saw-like few others that tourism was an opportunity... a welcoming oasis for millions of people and that, at the same time, this activity could generate prosperity".

After the words of the mayor, with the interpretation of the anthem of Benidorm, the institutional plenary session of Benidorm Day has ended. This afternoon, the Óscar Esplá auditorium in Parque de l’Aigüera will host the last of the acts for the 697th anniversary of the birth of the city, a tribute concert to Pere Maria Orts i Bosch by the Societat Musical l’Illa de Benidorm.