Since then, the Costa Blanca has become a highly popular tourist
destination for people from around the world, especially for British and German
tourists. The area consists of Denia, Costa del Tarongers, Torrevieja and Costa
Calida. One of the most popular tourist cities now is Benidorm which is also in
the Costa Blanca.
Coming
through Gibraltar in the year 711, the Moors first invaded Spain and occupied the entire region of Alicante by 718. The
occupation lasted almost four centuries, greatly shaping the history and
culture of the land, introducing oranges, almonds and peaches and proper
irrigation. The numerous terraces seen on the hillsides are a good example of
Moorish influence in the area.
It wasnot until 1492 that the Moors were finally expelled fromSpain, when the Catholic monarchs, Ferdinand and
Isabella came to power inGranada.
Until then, the Moors and Christians had been fighting on Spanish lands over
control of the area from the year 1095, withSpain remaining part of the Berber
Empire.
In 1248,
Jaime I ofAragon finally
achieved the return of Alicante toSpain, but even after their defeats and
expulsion fromSpain, the
Moors continued to try to get Spain
back. Right up until the mid seventeenth century, Arab pirates frequently
attacked the Spanish coast.
Many
years later, in 1812, the Spanish constitution was created and the provincial
borders of Spain were
formally created, establishing Alicante andMercia as we
see them today.
In 1936, the Spanish civil war erupted with
Alicante and Murcia supporting the Republicans.
By 1939, General Francisco Franco, of the Nationalist movement, finally took
control ofSpain.
From the 1960s, the tourism industry
increased enormously, eventually reaching four-million visitors per year in the
1970s.
Costa
Blanca, orWhite Coast in English, is an area of
coastline spanning over 200 kilometres. Part of Spain’s
province ofAlicante,
it got its name from a promotional campaign when the BEA launched a flight
programme betweenLondon andValencia for
about £40 in 1957.
