One popular European holiday destination has been singled out as ‘The worst place on Earth’ – despite the fact that some 800,000 British tourists go there every year. In fact, some people say it’s the worst place because 800,000 British tourists go there every year.
Benidorm, and in particular its notorious “strip” lined with bars and clubs, has earned a reputation as an anything-goes, non-stop party town where drunkenness and public nudity are as much a part of the holiday as warm weather and sandy beaches.
YouTuber Ben Morris travelled to Benidorm to see if it deserves its shocking reputation, saying that many people believe the Mediterranean resort’s problem comes down to one factor: “Brits abroad.”
He says you’re more likely to hear English spoken in the streets of the picturesque Old Town than Spanish. “Lots of people refer to Benidorm as ‘Mini Britain,’ with the British far outnumbering the locals,” he explained.
The streets are incredibly crowded. Ben added: “I knew that this was a popular holiday destination but I was really thrown off by how busy it actually was.”
But while Benidorm’s streets are comparatively civilised by day, all hell breaks loose after dark. People selling illegal drugs and, for some reason, condoms appear as soon as the sun goes down and start trying to get tipsy tourists to part with their holiday money.
“I just couldn’t get over how different the energy was at night-time,” Ben said. “It was like feeding time at the zoo with Brits drinking and partying all down the streets.”
Nightlife centre Calle Gerona is really geared to the needs of one particular kind of holiday maker. “It’s just crazy walking down the strip; it’s pub after pub after sports bar after pub,” Ben said.
There’s a major effort under way to get drugs off Benidorm’s streets – Ben was subjected to a random search by Spanish police within minutes of setting off down the strip at night – but the area is still teeming with dealers offering Class A substances.
A drink in the famed Red Lion pub had almost become almost a rite of passage for young Brits on holiday. But the normally-lively bar was closed when Ben visited because, he said, of a recent drugs bust: “It had been and closed down over drug issues within the premises … this is a problem across the whole of Benidorm with issues of drug use skyrocketing in recent years.”
One notorious Benidorm attraction that was still open was Sticky Vicky’s. The neon-lit club offers a bizarre sex show in which unlikely and often painful-looking objects are pulled from a woman’s vulva, and it’s still operating despite its founder’s death late last year.
The club’s star performer is now María Gadea Aragüés, Vicky’s daughter, who started learning her mother’ unique craft when she was just 13. Ben managed about 10 minutes of the performance before bailing out.
But there is some respite from the gaudy spectacle of the strip. About 20 minutes away – or less if you hire one of the perilously fast e-bikes on offer – lies the unspoiled village of Altea. “It’s a completely different vibe to Benidorm,” Ben says. Worth knowing for when Sticky Vicky’s gets a bit much.