Gay Guide to Alicante
Benidorm's first gay bar opened in 1962, in the old town, in the middle of Franco's dictatorship. Most accounts name it Pretex; locals still argue for Petit Vendome in the alley of Los Gatos or El David on Calle Mayor, but every version lands on the same year. That same year, as the local papers still tell it, the Diocese of Orihuela-Alicante put a cross on the hill above town as a warning about what Benidorm was turning into. The warning did not take. Benidorm, less than an hour up the coast, has grown into a long-established gay resort town, and its bars are listed here alongside Alicante's.
In Alicante itself the scene sits in the Casco Antiguo and the old Barrio at the foot of the castle of Santa Bárbara. Divina, Cienfuegos and Menuda Lagarta cover the old-town streets, Refugio sits a few blocks inland, Canibal is right on the Explanada de España, and La Cúpula Azul on Avenida Óscar Esplá takes the club nights.
In Benidorm the gay village fills the lanes of the old town, where Bar 69 sits on the Plaça de la Constitució and the Eagle on Carrer de la Santa Faç. Benidorm runs its own Pride each year, and in high season the old town stays busy until the early hours.
The saunas are in Alicante: Ipanema Thermas, Basaky and Steam, with DARK covering the cruising end. Diversitat LGTBI does the community work, and further inland Sultana holds the Elche end of things.
Alicante's airport serves the whole of the Costa Blanca, so most people split their time: the city for its old town and its esplanade, Benidorm for the resort nights. Winters are mild enough that the season never fully stops, and August is hot and packed.