Alicante Step by step - Universidad de Sevilla

PARKS, PROMENADES AND PLAZAS
Alicante, with its arms open to the Mediterranean, has a number of areas intended for recreation
and enjoyment where visitors command wonderful panoramas of the sea.
Canalejas Park is the oldest park in the city. It was designed in 1886 by the architect
González Altés. The entranceway is guarded by stone sculptures of lions and dogs, and
inside is a spectacular hundred-year-old ficus of enormous proportions, a small monument
by Daniel Bañuls as an allegory to the Alicante writer Carlos Arniches, a map of Spain
carved in wood and various fountains.
On the southern outskirts of the city, next to the sea, there is a palm tree plantation
which has been used as a natural film location. Today it is one of the most delightful
green zones of Alicante, called the El Palmeral park. It has waterfalls, ponds, flowerbeds
showing a range of local flower and plant varieties, a children’s playground, a cross-
country biking circuit, an auditorium, promenades, a café, etc.
On the eastern slope of San Fernando Castle is the so-called Monte Tossal Theme Park,
a large leisure area covering 63,000m 2 distributed over the terraced slopes of the
mountain, and named after local districts of the Land of Valencia. It has installations
for minigolf, bowls, skating, giant chess, a biking track, a rock climbing practice wall,
etc., all set on a spectacular lookout point over the sea and the city.
On the northwestern fringe of the city, far from the centre, is the largest green zone for
leisure and recreation in Alicante, called Parque de Lo Morant, with promenades,
playgrounds, an open-air auditorium, etc.
The city’s green lung, however, is undoubtedly the hill called Monte Benacantil, carpeted
in pine trees in a large proportion although populated with eucalyptuses as well. The
area is located next to the new Jaime II Avenue and Vázquez de Mella Street. Using the
access road to Santa Bárbara Castle, visitors can stop at various lookout points for fine
views of the town through the pine trees.
On one of the slopes running down to the old quarter of town towards the southwest, an
innovative area to be called Parque de La Ereta is soon to be completed. Designed by the
French architects Marc Bigarnet and Frédéric Bonnet, winners of the European architecture
competition EUROPAN, this park will be a natural kind of recreation area to be kept as
rough and wild as possible, with terraced slopes, and populated with native plant species
in keeping with the colours of the local terrain. There will be plants, shrubs and trees,
stone pathways flanked by shady trees, fountains with drinking water, a kiosk with a
pergola, a café on the flat central area of the park (a former threshing ground), which
will be used for open-air shows, and a multifunctional classroom, with all buildings fitting
in appropriately with the natural surroundings.
The most popular of Alicante promenades is without doubt La Explanada de España. Built
over the ancient port quay, this promenade was conceived in 1867 by the municipal
architect José Guardiola Picó.
The current three-colour pavoirs dating from 1958
show the varieties of marble found in the area:
Alicante red, Ivory cream and Marquina black. There
are 6.6 million 4x4cm tiles tessellated together to
form a gigantic mosaic measuring over half a
kilometre in length, flanked by four rows of palm
trees forming one central and two side walkways,
ending in a monumental fountain (1960) by Carlos
Buigas, who also designed the Montjuich fountains
in Barcelona. And a monument to the assassinated
turn-of-the-century liberal party leader Canalejas
(1914) by the Alicante sculptor Vicente Bañuls.
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