A free castle, 7.5 million tiles and a stopped clock

Alicante's centre is a strip between the port and Mount Benacantil. Everything below is a walk from the Poniente car park.

1. Take the lift up Santa Bárbara

Castillo de Santa Bárbara is free to enter; the lift costs €2.70. From 17 June to 4 September it stays open until 23:00. I'd ride up at sunset and walk down through the Ereta park.

2. Walk the Explanada end to end

The wave pattern on the Explanada de España is about 7.5 million marble tesserae in three colours: Alicante red, Marfil cream and Marquina black. Walk it from Puerta del Mar to Canalejas.

3. Find the stopped clock

Mercado Central opened in 1922 and has 292 stalls. A clock inside stopped at the moment of the 1938 bombing.

4. Give MARQ an afternoon

MARQ was European Museum of the Year in 2004. The TRAM stop is called MARQ-Castillo, and the castle shuttle stops there too.

5. Swim at Postiguet

Playa del Postiguet is the city beach right under the castle, and the castle lift's entrance faces the sand.

6. Walk the old town, don't drive it

The Rambla de Méndez Núñez is the western edge of the closed Ring I. Everything uphill from it is for walking.

The castle at sunset is the one thing in Alicante I wouldn't skip.

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Arroz a banda by the boats, a bar on a renamed street

1. Order arroz a banda at Dársena

Dársena in the marina has cooked rice since 1961 and lists up to 23 rices on its seasonal menu. Arroz a banda, rice cooked in fish stock with cuttlefish and prawns, is the safe order.

2. Sit at the bar of Nou Manolín

In December 2025 the council renamed calle Villegas after Vicente Castelló, the founder of Nou Manolín. Spain's Royal Academy of Gastronomy called its counter the best bar in Spain. I'd eat at the bar, not at a table.

3. Buy salted fish at the market

The Mercado Central is where to buy salazones, the salt-cured fish of this coast, and mojama, cured tuna.

4. Take hard turrón home

Turrón de Alicante is the hard almond bar; the soft one is from Xixona. Both travel well in a hot car.

Rice is a lunch dish here; I wouldn't order paella at night.

Bonfires in June, mascletàs at 14:00

1. Book June 2027 now

The Hogueras de San Juan run 20–24 June 2027, according to Spain's tourist board. At midnight on 24 June the bonfire monuments are burned across the city.

2. Avoid Luceros at 14:00

Mascletàs, the daytime firecracker barrages, go off at 14:00 in Plaza de los Luceros from 19 to 24 June. The Alfonso el Sabio car park runs right up to that square, so I'd park at the port that week.

3. Don't plan the castle on 24 June

The castle closes all day on 24 June and shuts at 21:00 from 25 to 29 June.

Hogueras week is loud, and the port car parks are the calm way in.

A market bombing and a seafront laid in stone

1. Stand in Plaza 25 de Mayo

On 25 May 1938 Italian aircraft bombed Alicante, and bombs hit the market. The council puts the dead at more than 300. The square behind the market carries the date.

2. Read the Explanada as mid-century work

The marble wave looks timeless, but the promenade as you walk it today was built in the mid-20th century.

3. Look for the market's two architects

Francisco Fajardo Guardiola began the Mercado Central and Juan Vidal Ramos finished it. It closed for renovation from 1987 to 1992, when the stalls moved to La Lonja.