The genuine thalassotherapy of Benicasim
THE VALENCIAN BIARRITZ
The promenades of the tourist coastal towns are usually quite similar: top mantas, street artists and happy people who walk leisurely drinking iodine. But in Benicasim its long coastline has a very pleasant surprise. Is about The villages , a coastal area in which are aligned colorful mansions from the early 20th century . This is the germ of touristic Benicasim, with large properties whose owners were wealthy Valencians. In his day, his fame led him to earn the nickname of "the Valencian Biarritz" . It is, without a doubt, the most famous promenade in the city for this attraction, for the rush caused by finding architectural jewels among so much ugly brick and sixties awning.
Furthermore, it has the added bonus of being a place of stylistic experimentation . A century ago, the planning laws of the big cities were excessively restrictive and oppressive, so the tycoons gave free rein to their architectural weaknesses outside the city. That is why you can find French, colonial or even Basque style mansions. Postmodern? A little bit, yes, almost without knowing or wanting it. There is a certain pleasure in sticking your nose through the gates and admiring its facades, in dreaming of living in there together with, for example, Scarlett Johansson and spending the summer months in mansions that cost between four and five million euros.
Villa Amparo, part of the 'Valencian Biarritz'
Some of them breathe history, as is the case of Villa Amparo , which functioned as a hospital during the Civil War and which welcomed illustrious visitors such as Hemingway . Today the most enjoyable thing about the Villas is to get close to the Voramar, a hotel restaurant built in the 30s in order to host the soirees that got out of hand (for space, not for price) to the tycoons. Today it is the only building located on the beach, with the consequent advantages linked to the good life.
The most recommendable thing is that this restaurant ends a route that must be born in the Saint Vincent Tower , a 16th century defensive tower in whose surroundings a different, modern and surprising urbanism has been opted for with wooden dunes, colored lights and small chaotic constructions.
The beach soiree since the 1930s
THE GENUINE AND ORIGINAL THALASSOTHERAPY
The Palace It's not just the balcony with the best views in all of Benicasim. At the end of the 1960s, this hotel learned what was being done in France with sea water and applied it in Spain. In 1970 they opened considered the first thalassotherapy center in the whole country , taking advantage of its proximity to the sea. A situation that allows them to use Mediterranean water with which to fill your swimming pools and Jacuzzis and apply it for healing purposes. Apart from all the health advantages, thalassotherapy offers that regressive possibility of floating in the water and feeling like a child in its mother's womb. Or at least, play dead without fear of drowning.
Here thalassotherapy is done with water from the Mediterranean
THE DESERT THAT NEITHER IS NOR IS IT DESERT
Benicasim grows in a thin strip between the sea and the mountains. Going up these you reach the Desert of the Palms Natural Park . The name misleads a lot. Instead of a barren and lonely wasteland opening up, what is revealed are deep green velvety mountain slopes. Then, Why has Wikipedia been kicked? Well, because the only inhabitants of the place are the Carmelite religious They have a monastery here. This mendicant order has the habit of calling Holy Desert to the secluded places where they can pray freely, away from everything and in peace and harmony with nature.
old monastery
On a natural level, the park offers spectacular views from its highest point, the Bartolo ; routes between pines and capricious formations such as the needles of Santa Águeda. But perhaps what attracts the most attention is the human presence, with the always romantic touch that they give the ruins scattered among the small valleys . The skeleton of the first monastery rests there, made of reddish stone and large proportions, or the remains of some castles of the Reconquest like Montornés or Miravet.
In the current monastery, its museum dedicated to sacred art is surprising, where its tiles and certain religious paintings shine and reveal the modus vivendi of a somewhat hermetic and unknown order. But what is most surprising about monastic life are the hermitages , small buildings scattered throughout the park that can be rented for the night. The price ranges between 8 and 12 euros per night, depending on how religious the tenant is...
The castle of Benicassim
TO OROPESA BY BIKE
A priori, the concept of a greenway sounds hackneyed and unoriginal. However, the path that connects by the Oropesa and Benicasim coast is quite attractive . The old train tracks have given way to an ideal route for cycle tourism in which small coves are bordered and more defensive towers are discovered crowning the small cliffs. It is not a route for 'Induráins' of life, rather for all kinds of ages since the distance is 5 and a half kilometers and the environment is not very Pro nor the demanding profile.
The Greenway, the other side of Benicasim
THREE REASONS TO GO TO THE VILLAGE
Benicasim town is not one of those beauties eclipsed by the fame of its coast. But even so, it has some interesting places for which it is worth leaving aside the lizard life of the beach.
- The Carmelitano liqueur cellar : a space to visit, taste, buy and learn about a drink that the monks began to distill in the desert and that has now become the gastronomic bastion of the place.
- D take a stroll through the old train station, preserved as a relic with some picturesque building, like the old grape dock , today converted into a multipurpose space for workshops and exhibitions. It even functions as an occasional residence for visiting artists and musicians. And that is noticeable by scandalizing with its colors and shapes as the hippies did in the past.
- Benicasim has that good village custom of show off on friday and saturday afternoons . That's why streets like the Pau, Estatut and Santo Tomás they petan of hyper arranged young staff. Good alternative to the Georgiedanesque beach bars.
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- Surfers of the world, unite (in Biarritz)
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The main artery of Benicasim is its promenade