EXCLUSIVE Benidorm's battle lines: How tourist town is split in two with Spanish holidaymakers avoiding Brits like the plague

Daily Mail​

22-06-2025

Locals in Benidorm have revealed how Spanish tourists avoid Brits in the town at all costs and branded them 'rude and disrespectful'.
For many Brits, Benidorm is the neon lights of late night bars, cheap pints in the sun, raucous stag parties and football on big screens.
But for Spanish holidaymakers flocking to the Costa Blanca for a relaxing getaway visitors from the UK are the very symbol of the scurge of over-tourism.
The battle lines in Benidorm are drawn between the traditional quaint streets of the 'Old Town' where native visitors go to unwind and the buzzing pub-packed strips of 'the New Town' where Brit drinkers party the night away.
Stephen Critzov, who has lived and worked in Benidorm for three years, told MailOnline: 'The British stay in one area and the Spanish stay in one area.'
While Ariadna Perez, 22, who works at an ice cream shop in the old town, said the tourist divide keeps Benidorm peaceful.
She said: 'I want them [the Brits] to stay away from this area, not many people like the British tourists.
'Some British tourists are rude they're drunk and sometimes they're very rude and disrespectful.'
Ms Perez's distaste towards Brits comes as anti-tourism protests have been raging across the country.
This month, thousands marched to tell Brits to 'go home' as part of widespread protests against so-called 'over tourism'.
One of their biggest issues is that as the tourism industry has grown in Spain, the demand for BnBs and holiday accommodation has risen, causing rent for locals to soar.
Meanwhile, other protesters have taken matters into their own hands - spraying British tourists with water guns in the middle of the day.
While Brit holidaymakers in Benidorm are yet to be soaked by rampaging protesters - the sentiment is shared.
Hotel receptionist Gosec Torres said: 'I think tourists now are not the right tourists it has to change
'The flats are mostly for tourists and the people that are working here have no flats.
'The British when they're drunk they're not good.'
Alex Perez, 37, who has lived and worked in Benidorm his whole life, said the behaviour from a certain 'type' of British tourist attracted to the 'New Town' has gone significantly downhill in recent years.
He said: 'It's gotten worse in the last 10 years or so. The main issue is they've started bringing stag dos and turning it into Magaluf in general, it's been really bad.
'It used to be more families and now it's drugs and drugs on drugs.
'They're not respectful, you can see them straight away they're p****** everywhere and walking across the streets with drinks.
'I don't have anything against the Brits but the ones who come to this area are the worst.'
Ana Cordero, who works in the local pharmacy in 'New Town', has to begrudgingly deal with British tourists everyday.
'This is a very delicate area, our opinion is there are different types of tourists,' she cautiously explained.
'We have the young people that come for weddings and they are rowdy.
'First of all we have to tell them please get dressed inside our chemist they never have a t-shirt.
'They have wee'd outside our shop and some days when we come in the morning we find a surprise.
'They drink a lot a lot a lot. But this is how we live from tourist people, it has changed in the last 10 years the type of tourists. We want the old tourists but every hotel must be full. '
Robert Topolewski, who has lived and worked in 'New Town' Benidorm for decades, said the tourist demographic used to be the same as the 'Old Town'.
He explained: 'The first time I was in Spain we used to have cabaret and it was couples who were well dressed now we have groups.
'The Spanish were very well dressed sitting with one tonic water back in the day, then they changed it all for the British because there's more money to be made.'
And while locals benefit off the money that British tourism brings, Brits who have moved to the area for a better life feel it's ruining their reputation among their new Spanish neighbours.
'They create a very bad reputation I get a lot of s*** off everyone in school there's a stereotype of English being drug addicts alcoholics fat noisy fighting all the time,' explained Millie Redrup, 17, who moved to Benidorm with her family four years ago.
'They have a very bad name because there are a lot of bad ones.
'Oh my god they're like tornados just this morning I had some boy passed out in one of my columns he was pissed just finished partying at 10am.
'The Spanish hate the English tourists but without the tourists the economy would crash.'
And much to the dismay of Spanish locals, the Brits abroad consider Benidorm a home away from home and have no intention of holidaying elsewhere.
Wendy Carhartt, 56, from Plymouth said: 'We keep your economy going and you in business.
'If anyone sprays me with water you get a fist.
'I'll be honest we come from Plymouth and we can be a bit anti our own people coming to our neck of the woods but at end of the day people's jobs depend on it so you can't have the best of both worlds.
'Without tourism Benidorm would die. You say Benidorm to anybody in England they know where it is.'
Susan Willis from Cheshire visits Benidorm every year, and while she understands why the Spanish are unhappy, she thinks British tourists aren't that bad.
She said: 'I'm on the Spanish side people do take over once they get in but at the same time it's not our fault it's the government who should do something about it to stop selling.
'We come here for a fortnight every year and we have a nice time and we find the Spanish people friendly.
'I wouldn't like to be sitting and having a meal and have someone squirt water at me it's rude I wouldn't dream of doing that in my country.
'I can see how they've had enough but it's not our fault we just come here to spend our money.'
Tourism is the biggest industry in Benidorm and several locals that work here want 'generous' Brits to continue to visit.
Carolina Dip, who works at a cafe in the 'Old Town' said: 'I like the tourists because they're very generous.
'For me the best tourists are the English. They are very nice very happy and very generous.'
Mr Galera even wants to see more Brits daring to set foot in the 'Old Town'.
'We prefer English tourists in our bar because Spanish people are saving their money they won't tip and English tourists drink and tip,' he added.
Meanwhile, Ash Copus who moved to the seaside town from Milton Keynes five years ago, thinks the relationship between the Spanish and the British in the area is evolving.
He said: 'Brits love the sun and cheap drinks. No matter where you go you get a bad bunch.
'The Spanish think we're crazy they think we're mad because we can drink in the sun sitting in the sun all afternoon, you wouldn't see a Spanish person sitting in the sun in the afternoon.
'We do get on though, Covid was massive, Spanish before Covid were going against Brits but after it's made a huge difference because they needed Brits for their businesses to survive.'
So can you expect to be sprayed with a water gun when visiting Benidorm? It's unlikely. But in order to keep the peace, it may be worth sticking to the designated Brit zone.