Alessia D'Angelo Benidorm is no longer just the city of beaches and skyscrapers. It's concrete proof that even a mass tourist destination can reinvent itself and become a model of sustainability. We went to see up close what this means.
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From above, with skyscrapers facing the ocean and light reflecting off glass, it looks like Miami. But we’re actually in Spain, on the Mediterranean coast, in Benidorm: the city that in 2025 won the title of European Green Pioneer of Smart Tourism, an award given by the European Commission to destinations that combine sustainability, innovation and inclusion.
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Once a symbol of mass tourism, today Benidorm has become the laboratory of a new way of traveling: intelligent, efficient and deeply connected to the territory.
An idea born in the fifties: the vertical city
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Benidorm’s transformation isn’t improvised. Its roots go back to the 1950s, when the then-mayor Pedro Zaragoza Orts conceived a revolutionary urban plan: the “vertical plan”. While other Spanish coastal towns expanded horizontally, consuming land and fragmenting the landscape, Benidorm decided to grow upward.
The idea was as simple as it was visionary: concentrate the population and services in skyscrapers, but leave free space between buildings, guaranteeing light, air and livability. The rule was clear: only 20-30% of the land could be built on, the rest had to remain designated for gardens, pools and wide streets. A model we would call sustainable today, but which back then was pure urban intuition.
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The result is a compact but livable city, with wide avenues, broad sidewalks and neighborhoods that are easily crossed on foot or by bicycle. In Benidorm you don’t need a car: the waterfront is pedestrian, bike paths reach every neighborhood and the hills that embrace the city. We ourselves explored the Sierra Helada, a natural park overlooking the sea, with an e-bike tour that allows you to go in just minutes from urban frenzy to the absolute silence of nature.
Water management with a European record
If there’s one statistic that tells the story of Benidorm’s transformation better than any other, it’s this: the city wastes only 5% of its water. In a country where the average water efficiency stops at around 70%, Benidorm has managed to reach 95% recovery and reuse thanks to an integrated control and purification system.
Over the past 36 years, despite a 40% increase in population and 26% increase in tourist overnight stays, water consumption has decreased by 18%. An achievement obtained thanks to a network of smart technologies that monitors in real time the pressure, distribution and quality of water. But the secret isn’t just technological: 36% of treated water is reused to irrigate green areas, clean streets and support local agriculture.
Benidorm has also installed storm tanks and drainage systems that protect the coast from the effects of climate change, reducing the risk of flooding and erosion. It’s a model of urban resilience that combines engineering and environmental protection, and which many European cities are now watching with interest.
The breathing sea: Posidonia oceanica meadows
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Benidorm’s sustainability doesn’t stop on land. Below the sea surface lies a natural heritage of invaluable worth: Posidonia oceanica, an endemic Mediterranean plant considered an indicator of marine health. Its underwater meadows – true “water forests” – host over 4,000 plant species and 700 animal species, producing five times more oxygen than the Amazon. Thanks to the digital project “Projecte Posidonia”, Benidorm constantly monitors and protects these meadows, avoiding damage from anchoring and pollution.
This care for the marine environment is also reflected in the daily management of beaches: cleaning without chemical products, eco-compatible services and continuous monitoring to reduce human impact. Benidorm has understood that a clean and living sea is not a side effect of tourism, but its essential condition.
The microclimate that turns off the heaters
Benidorm enjoys a unique microclimate, due to its privileged position: south-facing, sheltered by mountains and open to the sea. This means constant sunshine and mild temperatures all year round. In winter almost no one turns on the heaters, and in summer you just need to open the windows to let in the wind coming from the Mediterranean.
Urban planning, once again, follows the logic of nature. Buildings are designed to capture light and exploit natural ventilation, thus reducing the need for artificial energy.
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Almost all buildings have photovoltaic systems on their roofs, contributing to local and clean electricity production. And the results are visible: the city has already reduced energy costs by 51.8% related to public lighting and municipal buildings.
Total accessibility: a city designed for everyone
There’s another aspect that makes Benidorm a European example: universal accessibility. Beaches, public buildings and tourist areas are designed to welcome anyone, without physical or sensory barriers.
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On the beaches, walkways and amphibious chairs allow direct access to the sea even for those with mobility difficulties. There’s dedicated staff to assist bathers with disabilities, tactile paths for the visually impaired, and flags with inclusive symbols to help even colorblind people interpret sea conditions. In the city, traffic lights talk, sidewalks are wide and entrances to museums or public buildings open automatically.
In 2024 Benidorm received recognition as “Spain’s Most Inclusive Destination” at the Fitur 4All Awards, an award that certifies an approach to accessibility considered among the best in Europe.
A smart city with a Mediterranean heart
Benidorm has been able to use technology intelligently, not to impress but to simplify daily life. Sensors on beaches count visitors in real time, avoiding overcrowding. An app updates citizens and tourists on traffic, weather and marine conditions. And a network of 83 miles (134 kilometers) of bike paths allows you to move quickly without cars.
Sustainable mobility is an integral part of the urban project: there are free parking lots, pedestrian zones and incentives for using electric bicycles. All municipal buildings and public lighting are powered 100% by renewable energy. It’s a smart city model that doesn’t lose its Mediterranean spirit: social, sunny and human-sized.
A laboratory for the tourism of the future
Benidorm is today proof that mass tourism can also be sustainable, if planned with intelligence and respect. Here modernity coexists with the sea, technology merges with tradition and sustainability is not a label but a daily practice.
The European recognition doesn’t just celebrate the results achieved, but a different way of thinking about the city: dense but livable, innovative but human. And as the sun sets behind the skyscrapers reflected in the sea, it’s easy to understand why many call it the Miami of Europe. Except that here, unlike Florida, the future has already arrived and its name is Benidorm.
