Benidorm, a meeting point for friends of Camino de Levante-Sureste who are currently walking the route to Villena

The mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez, welcomed a large group of Friends of Camino de Santiago from Ávila and various groups of friends of Camino de Levante-Sureste (East-Southeast Way) in the city's plenary hall. They are currently walking the four stages in the province of Alicante that cover the route from Benidorm to Villena: Benidorm-Relleu; Relleu-La Torre de les Maçanes; La Torre-Ibi and Onil; and Ibi and Onil-Villena. The event took place yesterday afternoon, Thursday, and was also attended by the mayor of La Torre, José Miguel Bernabeu, and the Councillor for Environment and Youth of Novelda, Rubén Millán, as well as representatives of groups of friends of the Camino from Benidorm and La Vila Joiosa. The event was held to support the "Haciendo Piña" (Having a Pineapple) project promoted by the Friends of the Camino de Santiago in Ávila, with this pilgrimage to promote the Camino de Levante-Sureste (East-Southeast Way). The mayor welcomed all the pilgrims and reminded them that "regardless of each person's motivations for undertaking the Camino, what everyone finds on the Camino is other people with whom to build relationships, brotherhood, interpersonal relationships, that "uniting" that gives your project its name, because the Camino is a meeting point."

He also expressed his confidence that "during these days, in every place in the province of Alicante that you will visit, you will find hospitality, because it is one of our hallmarks. More than 1,000 kilometres from Santiago and more than 550 from your home in Ávila, you will feel at home."

Toni Pérez also told them that "in Benidorm, we are proud to be one of the starting points of the Camino de Santiago, and we make this known and share it with our neighbors and the millions of people who visit us each year, through the plaque located in our church of Sant Jaume i Santa Ana, marking the starting point of the Camino. It is accompanied by the four scallop shells located in the pavement of that same Plaza de Sant Jaume; and with the monolith located on our Paseo de Poniente, which marks the distance that separates us from Santiago de Compostela and indicates the direction of that first stage."

The organisers of this pilgrimage presented the mayor and the other representatives of Alicante with a yellow pine cone, which is the symbol of the "Haciendo Piña" project.