The culture clash in Benidorm

Although there are notable cultural differences between the British and the Spanish, for 60 years they have been ¹thrown together by the pound and the sun in tourist resorts such as Benidorm where, according to the Benidorm Tourist Information Office, the British account for 50% of the city’s visitors.

This ²odd relationship began in the 1950s when the town’s ³mayor Pedro Zaragoza ⁴hopped on his scooter and rode to Madrid to ask General Francisco Franco ⁵to allow foreign female tourists to wear bikinis. Curiously, Franco gave his permission, but local girls in bikinis continued to be ⁶fined for indecent exposure.

Nowadays, the region of Valencia attracts more than 1.5 million tourists a year, many of whom descend on Benidorm – the Manhattan of Spain which is said to have the highest density of ⁷skyscrapers per inhabitant in the world. There, they continue to behave in a way that is ⁸out of step with the locals.

An ⁹action-packed destination, with five theme parks, shows, ¹⁰quizzes, competitions, Benidorm Pride and vast quantities of chips, Benidorm has a UK comedy series named after it which laughs at the type of Brit who goes there.

The compound where the TV series Benidorm takes place

The series ¹¹takes place in a fictional ¹²all-inclusive resort where an ¹³assortment of UK ¹⁴budget holidaymakers spend their days turning red around the pool and performing karaoke after drinking liters of Sangria in the evening. Few leave the ¹⁵compound in case they have to spend money – one family refuses to tell their son there’s a beach down the road ¹⁶in case they will be required to buy him an ice cream. The show is so popular, it has won two national TV awards and a nomination for a BAFTA and is now on its 10^th season.

So is this a true ¹⁷portrait of Spain’s most popular summer city? “Benidorm has many different faces,” Conrado Jimenez from the Benidorm Tourist Information Office tells Nómadas Solidarios. “There is the ‘Zona Giri’, then there are around 50 gay bars and clubs and, in the old town, you can find corners with a more authentically Spanish feel, though you do have to look quite hard for it.”

Apparently, Benidorm, the comedy, has had a positive rather than a negative effect on tourism with many tourists wanting to visit the compound where it is filmed.

With such an invasion of British culture, it is not surprising that the locals have trouble remembering they are in Spain. “They live from the tourism but they also want to maintain their identity and it’s not always easy,” says Jimenez.

It should be said, of course, that the kind of British culture exported to Benidorm represents only a ¹⁸slice of the UK, just as flamenco and bullfighting only represent a slice of Spain.

¹⁹Needless to say, many Brits want to distance themselves from this slice, even if they are happy to laugh at it on TV. But how do the Benidorm locals feel about it? “There are the young people who drink too much and lose decorum,” says Jimenez. “They do things they wouldn’t normally do in their own country and no one likes that. But this is balanced by the older tourists who are very polite.”

And do the Brits mix with the locals? “The young people are starting to venture into each other’s areas,” he says tentatively. Maybe. But it is far from a ²⁰melting pot. The fact there is a ‘Zona Giri’ tells you all you need to know.

Audio (click to listen)

TRANSLATIONS

clash: choque

¹to throw together: meter en el mismo saco

²odd: raro

³mayor: alcalde

⁴hopped on: montarse

⁵to allow: permitir

⁶to fine: multar

⁷skyscraper: rascacielos

⁸out of step with: alejada de

⁹action-packed: cargado de acción

¹⁰quiz: concurso

¹¹to take place in: tener lugar en

¹²all-inclusive: todo-incluido

¹³assortment: surtido

¹⁴budget holidaymaker: turista económica

¹⁵compound: instalaciones

¹⁶in case: por si

¹⁷portrait: retrato

¹⁸slice: trozo

¹⁹needless to say: evidentemente

²⁰melting pot: crisol de culturas