Benidorm

Benidorm is, plainly put, a first-rate scene destination, the great gay-friendly resort of the Spanish Mediterranean alongside Sitges and Torremolinos, and the favourite of the British crowd. Its gay quarter lives in the Old Town: more than thirty bars and clubs packed into a few pedestrian streets, with an identity strongly marked by cabaret, drag and live performance.

The scene is above all a night-time one and very international. By day, life turns around Levante beach. Do not expect an LGBTQI+ residential neighbourhood in the style of Chueca, but a concentrated, festive leisure core. For more beach and more calm, Poniente is a stroll away, and for a big-city scene, Valencia is close.

Benidorm Pride is one of the big dates on the Spanish gay calendar. In 2026 it ran from 1 to 6 September: a week of parties in the old town bars, pool parties at the hotels and themed nights, with the parade on Saturday the 5th as the central event, running along Levante beach from the Rincón de Loix to the Julio Iglesias Auditorium, where the shows carry on.

It is a very international Pride, with an enormous British presence, and it works as a showcase for the cabaret and drag scene that defines the city. It is worth booking accommodation ahead, because Benidorm fills up.

Benidorm has two sides. The Old Town, on the headland between the two beaches, is the gay heart: pedestrian lanes —above all Santa Faz, Cuatro Esquinas and Carrer d'Alacant—, bars and cabarets, and the Balcón del Mediterráneo viewpoint. It's compact and very walkable.

Below it, two big Blue Flag beaches: Levante —the one for buzz, sun and nightlife, with Rincón de Loix at its British end— and Poniente, quieter and more residential, next to the small Mal Pas cove. The whole seafront is flat and accessible; the old-town core is a bit steep.

Benidorm rests on the Valencian regional framework: the Generalitat Valenciana's LGBTI equality law (Law 23/2018) recognizes rights and anti-discrimination protection, and the city institutionally backs Pride. The scene's fabric (bars, businesses, gay-friendly hotels) is dense and decades deep: Benidorm already had gay bars in the 1960s, with Franco's regime still persecuting homosexuality, and soon became, alongside Torremolinos, a gay refuge on the Mediterranean.

For health, the reference public hospital is Hospital Marina Baixa (La Vila Joiosa, ~10 km, regional health service), and the private Clínica Benidorm is in town. PrEP and HIV/STI testing are available through the Valencian system and health centres. Emergencies: 112. EU citizens: the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) covers necessary care.