A Mediterranean winter can indeed be a wonderful experience. You don’t get to experience the snowfall in the Pyrenees yet you are rewarded with a relatively warmer temperature than anywhere else in Spain – at about -3 degrees Celsius which is already the lowest. Yet through it all, you still need layers and layers of clothing to protect your body from the cold here in Benidorm. But you don’t need to carry these tons and tons of clothes. Just shop here. And what better place to shop in Spain except here in Benidorm of course. Benidorm has the highest number of skyscrapers in Spain, even encompassing Madrid thanks to the vision of Pedro Zaragoza Orts.

And of course synonymous to the skyscrapers are the presence here of several high end shops such as Fendi, Salvatore Ferragamo and Lacoste. There are also malls here with numerous duty-free shops which are found only in airports elsewhere. Benidorm is actually a shopping mecca. Also, another advantage here in Benidorm during winter is the presence of skyscrapers protects you from the cold. Inside, you can easily dash off and savor the warmth of the heaters. Even the structures themselves can already protect you from the heat.

To get to Benidorm, you need to disembark from the nearest international airport in Malaga which can be 12 kilometers away. You need to fill out some reservation forms here though since the holiday season is a pitiless line of queues here if you haven’t booked your flights earlier. Sure, Benidorm may not be as popular and as busy as Madrid but it certainly is what you can call as urban. And this may perhaps be the only urban city in the Mediterranean. This is actually a coast of contradiction. In the sea, you can enjoy yourself in some sailing yacht frolicking under the sun but a few meters away lay the skyscrapers.

Of course, the skyscrapers lining along the coasts mirror those that are located in Valencia. These are all beach hotels and beach resorts. Some beach resorts have their own golf courses and these are likewise located seaside. After all, it’s nice playing a game of golf along the Mediterranean during winter, right? I love being here in Benidorm. I have stayed two winters here already. The place is filled and mixed with the conservatives and the liberated folks.

The conservative ones are mostly the religious natives who go out to pray mass every day during Christmas season. Catholic celebrations during Christmas can be elaborate and long. They start during Advent and end on the first Sunday of January during the Feast of the Epiphany. However, the liberated ones here are mostly tourists or are foreigners who have come to embrace Benidorm as their home. They are mostly of Scandinavian descent who wants to stay in nudist beach resorts. They admittedly cannot construct a nudist beach resort in their home countries because of the extreme coldness there. But here along the Mediterranean coast, it is relatively warm during summer. However, during winter, these are all deserted and nudists flock to bars to enjoy Christmas music remixes and dance the night away.