Since Nueve Desconocidos became known back in 2021, the post-punk and darkwave project of Valencian Ares Negrete has published two interesting albums dedicated to darkness, ‘First album by Nueve Desconocidos called Nueve Desconocidos’ (2021) and ‘Toque of souls’ (2023). ‘Gremlin’, ‘All my crystals’, ‘Llagas, ‘Soledad’ or ‘Preguntas’ together with The Last Neighbor have created their own universe in which there has also been a curious version of ‘Me pongo rosada’ by Papa Levante (which It was already a dark song).
Negrete was born in Alicante and Benidorm fascinates him. For this reason, the musician delves into his love for Benidorm in a new edition of “Meister of the Week”, the JENESAISPOP section sponsored by Jägermusic in which artists talk about their extra-musical interests. Negrete remembers his experiences in Benidorm as a child, explains why Benidorm is worth visiting in winter and recommends his favorite bar in the city.
Why have you decided to talk about Benidorm?
Because it freaks me out!
Where does the concept of current Benidorm come from?
Apparently there was a mayor in Benidorm, during the Franco regime, who saw in his city the potential to make a tourist city, a destination for European tourists. The problem is that, at the time, the bikini was not legal. So, that man traveled on his Vespa from Benidorm to Madrid to convince Franco to legalize this bikini practice. At the time, Spain was opening up to trade with the United States, so the leader did not think it was bad and gave him the necessary permits to create Benidorm.
Fun fact: the church opposed all this exploitation of the city (at that time town) since it glorified lust and the degradation of human beings, but since the government of the dictatorship gave its approval, they could not do much to prevent it. . What they did do was place, at the top of the morning, to the left of the Paseo Marítimo of Poniente beach, a gigantic neon cross so that we sinners could see it and repent of our sins. It still stands today!
You are from Alicante and Benidorm is just a stone’s throw away. Did you spend summers there in your childhood? Are you still doing it?
I have memories since I was little of going to the El Cisne trail on Saturdays. I remember seeing the sign for the Penélope nightclub and asking my parents if that nightclub was named after the actress. I remember going with my parents to concerts in bars and rallies of motorcycles and classic cars in the area also since I was a kid. I don’t spend the summer there because I already lived on the coast a few kilometers from this city.
When I moved to Madrid I realized that I didn’t really hate my city or anything like that. Let me explain: when you are a teenager from a small city in which, furthermore, there is not much support for art in general, you feel imprisoned and limited and you begin to assume that the fact of making a living from your own music is a dream, and that As you get older you will have to settle for having a normal job and having music as a hobby. For this reason, many people from communities without much support for the arts end up moving to the capital. However, now living in Madrid, every time I went to Alicante to visit my parents I felt more connected to my Mediterranean roots. It is increasingly clear to me that my identity is being Mediterranean.
Are you a fan of Benidorm or do you have a love/hate relationship with the city?
I am absolutely a fan, it is my FAV Spanish city
What are your first memories of Benidorm?
Well, what was said above! Go to the El Cisne flea market, walk along the city’s Paseo Marítimo, go to concerts by friends of my parents or my father in pubs in the area, go to Terra Mítica, Terra Natura and Aqualandia, see posters for cabaret shows in the Benidorm Palace… and be amazed by the island of Benidorm and its legends, like the one that says that the stone that is missing from Puig Campana is the island itself. In fact, perhaps that was one of the first “mysteries” that sparked my interest in the world of the occult and the paranormal.
«All of Alicante has a quite palpable aura of mystery, as if you were in Spanish-style ‘Twin Peaks’»
Do you know Benidorm at other times of the year, for example in winter?
Yes, I go intermittently throughout the year since it is next to my parents’ house. I have a super strong memory of Benidorm. One day, shortly after confinement, in 2020, I met up with my friend Rodrigo and we went with his father to dinner at a pizzeria in Benidorm. It had been a year or so since I had been in the city, and it coincided with all the renovations they were doing: they made it more pedestrian-friendly and filled it with some very strange light halos and gigantic LED screens. That image of the city had a great impact on me and made me see, for the first time, that Benidorm is a kind of cyberpunk city or, at least, a city in which a dystopian cyberpunk future would be incredible to see. Apart from the impact of all this change, there was not a single person on the street, which made you really feel like you were in a society from a dystopian novel.
Apart from this anecdote, there is usually tourism in Benidorm all year round. Last year a video of a British woman who was naked on the promenade celebrating the new year went viral.
What is the perception of Benidorm by its locals, or by Valencian society in general?
My friends from Benidorm, who are my age, usually leave the city and other places in Alicante, but I don’t think it is only a phenomenon of this specific city, people simply move to advance with their education or profession. People who were born there, my age, love their city, at least the ones I know. I also have the feeling that they value her even more for having left, as happened to me.
The people of Alicante (region) sometimes forget that Benidorm is a thing that exists and that we have very close, just a few kilometers away. There are not so many people from the central area of Alicante who go out through Benidorm, even though it is relatively close, about half an hour by car. I think it’s so incredible that a place like this is so close that people around it can’t quite figure it out.
It also happens with incredible natural destinations such as the pink lagoon of Orihuela or the dunes of Santa Pola. However, other cities such as Altea, Javea or Moraira are very visited by people from the surrounding areas.
«In the bars of Benidorm there is a lot of xenophobia towards the Spanish on the part of the British»
For you, what currently differentiates Benidorm from other similar tourist destinations?
None of the other few cities that offer this kind of tourism and landscapes impact the eye as much as Benidorm: I love the concept of a city with brutalist and sixties but colorful architecture mixed with ultra-modern buildings and neighborhoods with old houses. Furthermore, all of Alicante has a very palpable aura of mystery, as if you were in Spanish-style ‘Twin Peaks’ or something like that. Proof of this (if you haven’t been able to experience it yourself) is a study that came out a few years ago in which it was said that Alicante is the place in Spain with the most dangerous sects in the entire national territory.
Do you agree with the statement that Benidorm has become a kind of “theme park” for tourists?
Clear.
As in other cases, the presence of hotels and skyscrapers in Benidorm has good and bad things. What is your opinion? Do you think that tourist massification has gone too far?
It happens with many places in Mediterranean coastal cities, it also happens in part of Galicia, although tourism there is more national. In the specific case of Benidorm, tourism has been the way it is for so many years that no one debates whether it is right or wrong for the city to be exploited in the way it is exploited. Nor is it raised by the fact that the entire city was actually designed by and for tourism. I personally feel sad that historic buildings in the area that I love are demolished to build skyscrapers and hotels.
The most popular Benidorm beaches are Levante, Poniente and Mal Pas. Do you prefer any in particular? Don’t you like the beach?
I prefer coves. If I’m honest, I think I’ve never been to a beach in Benidorm, I’m going to be amazed by the city in Benidorm, because it makes me super happy to go. I once went to Racó del Conill, which is at the end of Vilajoiosa, almost in Benidorm. It is the closest I have come to bathing in Benidorm.
“I am sad that historic buildings in the area are demolished to build skyscrapers and hotels”
How do you rate the nightlife of Benidorm?
Very cool, although it is true that you have to be smart sometimes so that they don’t rob you, at least not very drunk. Oh, and there are bars in which there is a lot of xenophobia towards Spaniards on the part of the British, bars in which if you are Spanish you have to wait in a non-existent queue: the queue is for the doorman to let you in whenever he feels like it while you watch him go by. dozens of English tourists inside. But hey, it doesn’t bother me personally, if you don’t want to go to that joint you don’t go and that’s it.
What bars in Benidorm do you recommend to go to at night?
I really like Café Benidorm, on Avenida Mallorca. I have good memories of him. I remember being with my friend Mitch in Benidorm partying and telling a colleague who lives there who took us to this place. Since then every time I go out there I usually go. There is an incredible DJ who usually plays disco and in the bathroom you meet a man who offers you a lot of things like perfumes and a long etcetera of crazy things. In addition, the inside is entirely made of wood and there is a dance floor. It is a place that has been open for many years and has maintained almost all of the original decoration.
Do you think Benidorm should, as a tourist destination, improve in any aspect?
I think it has been the way it is for many years and that we have all accepted the kind of tourism that this city attracts.
