Costa Blanca

The Valencia and Alicante City Council are working together to attract film tourism and make the area a popular place for shooting.

The Ministry of Innovation, Industry, Trade, and Tourism, along with the City Council of Alicante and the Alicante Film Office, have agreed to work together to support the local film industry. They will support efforts to make film studios and the city of Alicante known as a place for shooting, while also sharing the cultural, scenic, and artistic qualities of the city and the surrounding area.

The agreement was signed this Thursday at the Fitur Screen 2025 Fair. The event was joined by Marián Cano, the Minister of Innovation, Industry, Trade, and Tourism, and Luis Barcala, the Mayor of Alicante. Both agreed to highlight the growing importance of travellers who are fans of the audiovisual world and who become viewers in search of the places they saw on screen.

They have noticed that this kind of tourism, focused on spots featured in movies and shows—especially those made by streaming platforms—attracts millions of people who want to visit the places they see on screen for their vacations.

“The minister said that tourists can visit Alicante and other areas in the Valencian Community because of the films made in its many interesting cultural and natural locations, especially with the new opportunities at the Ciutat de la Llum studios.”

Marián Cano explained that the Ciutat de la Llum studios, set up by the Generalitat, aim to build a strong film industry that stands out both in Spain and worldwide. This effort is meant to boost local businesses and services in the Valencian Community and improve its reputation internationally.

Alicante’s mayor, Luis Barcala, said that “film tourism is important and a key part of our tourism plan. Alicante has everything needed to attract major national and international film productions that greatly benefit the city. We also want to attract tourists who love films and TV shows and are interested in visiting filming locations.”

“The mayor said we are successfully attracting production companies to work with the City of Light and promote Alicante as an ideal place for filming stories that will reach millions of viewers.”

Because of this and shared interests, the new collaboration plan expects Ciutat de la Llum and the Alicante Film Office to work together in their areas to encourage filming and other audiovisual projects in the city of Alicante and in film studios.

They promise to help production companies by sharing information about places, services, and facilities in Alicante that are suitable for filming. They will also assist with visits to check out these sites in Alicante.

They also agree to set up a platform for sharing information and communication between the two groups. This will allow them to share world data each year about film productions and other information to evaluate the economic impact of filming in Alicante.

This protocol also provides that the Alicante City Council, through its unit specialised in meetings tourism (MICE), Alicante Convention Bureau, makes all its promotional tools available to the City of Light to publicise the spaces and facilities that allow this type of tourism to be attracted to the studies.

The two parties will create training programs for the audiovisual business to develop a group of skilled professionals. This will help production companies in the Valencian Community find qualified people for their projects.

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TRAM d’Alacant will start a bus service between the Hospital Vila and Benidorm stops and will restart the straight route to Dénia tomorrow.

Starting tomorrow, Tuesday, 28 January, Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana (FGV) will provide a bus service between the Hospital Vila and Benidorm stops on Line 1 (Luceros-Benidorm) of the TRAM d’Alacant until the end of April.

Line 9 (Benidorm-Dénia) will return to normal along its whole route after the new Algar and Mascarat bridges are finished. This means you won’t need to make any transfers for the journey.

The train service on this part of Line 1 is stopped because workers are adding more tracks and installing electric lines. As an alternative, FGV has planned a bus service on this section with stops in Benidorm, Cala Finestrat, Hospital Vila, Costera Pastor and Creueta that will connect with the railway service in circulation, at the stops of Creueta (direction Luceros) and Benidorm (direction Dénia). The Terra Mítica stop will not have bus service in the affected area.

For more information about our services, you can check the schedule, stations, and TRAM stops by calling Customer Service at 900 72 04 72. You can also find this information on our website www.tramalacant.es and in the official app.

Opening of the Altea-Calp part of Line 9.

The new Algar and Masacrat bridges are finished, so the Altea-Calp section, which has been closed since last April, is now open again. Also, the upgrades to Line 9 are complete, allowing trains to run directly between Benidorm and Dénia without passengers needing to change trains.

The new Algar and Mascarat bridges complete the major makeover of Line 9 that began in 2014. This project by the Generalitat has caused disruptions in service in various parts of the line for the past ten years.

New bridges

The project on the Algar River involved making a new bridge next to the old one, which was built between 1913 and 1915. The old bridge is now used as a walkway, according to its classification as a Local Relevant Asset.

The Algar project involved building a bridge with a concrete slab that is 226 meters long and 6 meters wide.

The new Mascarat viaduct is a straight metal structure that weighs 114,000 kilogrammes and is 43.20 meters long. It crosses the valley with a single support and has the same design as the original deck, which is a PRATT-type metal structure.

Mascarat’s work includes replacing the railway platform’s structure with slab track for about 1.5 kilometres. They are also protecting and covering 12,475 square meters of slopes with strong triple torsion meshes around the three tunnels that the TRAM d’Alacant travels through in this area.

The new bridges will allow for the removal of the diesel trains, which will be replaced by newer dual-fuel trains. These new trains will be used on the Dénia-Calp section starting in 2023 and will operate along the entire line.

Features of the projects between Hospital Vila and Benidorm.

The ongoing projects are in the towns of Vila Joiosa, Finestrat, and Benidorm, covering a distance of 6.23 kms. The project has a budget of about 40 million euros, including VAT, and is funded by the European Union’s MRR.

The project involves building a second track, which includes making a new bridge over the Barranco del Murtal, laying down the track structure and adding electricity.

In this project, we will upgrade the Cala Finestrat and Terra Mítica stops to meet new accessibility standards. We will also improve access to the Hospital de la Marina Baixa from the Hospital Vila stop by adding a lift to make it easier for everyone to get to.

The project is set to start by the end of 2025 and will need to pause train services for a while.

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Strong Wind Warning

On Tuesday, January 28, 2025, high winds are expected to trigger yellow-level warnings, according to the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET). The Iberian Peninsula’s east and southeast will be affected by maximum gusts of 70 to 90 km/h that are predicted to come from the west-northwest.

Be aware that these notices may be raised to higher levels or extended to further places as the date approaches. We advise to take the following precautions:

protects items against wind-driven displacement.
Steer clear of open outdoor spaces.
Follow instructions from authorities and stay updated via official sources.

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Alicante and Benidorm might get a Wetherspoons pub.

Wetherspoon’s CEO and founder, Tim Martin, wants to open new Wetherspoon pubs in other countries.

We believe there are around 100 to 200 franchise groups in the UK. Now, it’s a matter of considering going abroad, and it could happen. Martin said, “Now there’s a chance to have franchises in other countries.”

What plans does Wetherspoons have for the future? The pub chain is focussing on popular Spanish vacation spots for Brits, like Majorca, Benidorm, and Alicante. According to Martin, these are good choices for the company’s first move into Europe.

Wetherspoons wants to grow internationally after doing well with franchise partnerships in the UK.