SPANISH LANGUAGE COURSES IN ALICANTE
ABOUT ALICANTE
Alicante is a fine city on the Mediterranean coast with a population of about 300,000 inhabitants - big enough to have all services and small enough to find your way around it easily.
From the top of the Santa Barbara Castle there is a magnificent panoramic view over the city, the harbour and the bay with its excellent beaches of white sand and clear water.
The harbour is the focal point of the city and there has been a harbour here since the Phoenecians first stepped ashore several thousand years ago. They were followed over the centuries by the Carthaginians, the Romans who called it Lucentum – city of light, the Moors who named it Alicante – “God sings”, and latterly by north European tourists.
While it is very much a maritime city, it also has many tree lined streets and squares and many fine historic buildings. The hinterland has many interesting features also and there are several smaller towns and villages which are worth a visit, such as La Marina, Benissa, Javea, Dénia or the white village Altea. Castles, fortresses and towns like Elche and Orihuela each have there own attractions.
It is also a lively place with and an excellent shopping precinct with all the best national and international stores. There are some excellent bars and restaurants offering both local food and dishes from further afield (including a fine Galician restaurant near the Ayuntamiento)
Alicante has a lively nightlife – if you have the stamina for it – with the bars and discos going on ‘till the small hours – particularly in the port area.
There is a great emphasis on music with many public concerts during the year. The Santa Barbara castle is also the scene for nightly fireworks displays during fiestas. The most famous of these is “Las Fallas” towards the end of June when local team compete to build massive floats and effigies which are burned after the winner has been chosen.
While there is much talk of the “costa” being spoiled by the influx of tourists, Alicante has stubbornly maintained its characted as a very Spanish city. You will hear lots of Spanish spoken here (and the local “Valenciano” dialect)
Alicante's Airport at at El Altet, which is one of the busiest in Spain. It is about 10 minutes from the city centre and is served by several European Airlines.
The city is also comprehensively served by road, bus and rail.