Calpe (Calp in Valencian)

Calpe is an ancient fishing port full of culture, tradition and history. Today’s Calpe is also a high-rise beach resort managing to maintain its medieval streets and at the same time accommodate the demands of this age’s tourism industry. Calpe offers a wide variety of all types of accommodation for today’s traveller, from apartment rentals to large modern hotels.

Calpe enjoys a perfect climate, is close to many attractions and has become extremely popular. Many came as tourists and stayed. Calpe has 11 kilometres of coves and beaches, some of which have an excellent range of restaurants serving food from all over the world. Calpe has a rich historical and cultural past with it’s old town murals, monuments and museums. The Peñon de Ifach, a huge rock that has an eerie likeness to Gibraltar from some angles, is Calpe´s most famous and recognized landmark. The rock is a protected nature reserve. If you are in shape and do not suffer from vertigo it is highly recommended to hike to the top of the Peñon for the spectacular views of this part of the Mediterranean coastline. The Peñon has been designated a nature reserve and is one of the most unique and beautifufl geographical features in the Mediterranean. It is ideal for climbers and scuba divers who come to Calpe from all over the world to test their resistance on the Peñon’s walls and crevices and discover the underwater world around the Peñon.

Upon visiting Calpe´s ancient streets, some of the sights include the Forat de la Mar gateway; the Plaza Miguel Roselló which leads to the town’s defence tower, Torreo de la Peca. There is also the Moorish quarter and the Arrabal nearby. The Museum of Archaeology is the place for exhibits from the nearby excavations. And only Spain could have a museum dedicated to the “fiesta”. In Calpe the Festival Museum displays a colourful collection of elaborate costumes worn by the Moors and the Christians during the festivities.

The quay and port area is the place to buy fresh fish after 6pm when the fishing fleet arrives and there are also many restaurants around the port area serving fresh fish daily.

There is plenty to do in Calpe at night offering different entertainment throughout the town. There are bars, restaurants and clubs. In the summer months, if you want to dance or merely sit, relax and listen, there are always bars offering live jazz, blues, soul, rock and roll and country music. Most of the hotels in the summer also have traditional two-piece dance nights which although there may be many paso dobles playing are not only for the older folk and in Spain the young and the old tend to mix in the same venue regularly and dance to the same music. If partying all night is on the agenda then Benidorm is only a 20-minute drive south.

Benidorm with its theme parks: Terra Mitica – Spain’s largest park; water park – Aqualandia; Terra Natura and Mundomar are a great place to take the family for rides and fun everyone. In the opposite direction about half an hour’s drive from Calpe is the Vergel Safari Park with its tigers, lions and sea lions. Also not far from Calpe is the Cova del Rull at Vall d'Ebo with spectacular stalagmites and stalactites. The drive to the caves is a fantastic, scenic journey through the mountains. At the Cueva de las Calaveras they have discovered remains of prehistoric life.  

Like all villages in Valencia, Calpe is not without its fiestas. To name but a few, there is San Juan on June 24, where everyone spends the evening eating and drinking on the beach, making wishes for the year to come. Then on July 16, there is the Virgen del Carmen fiesta. September sees Calpe’s Moors and Christians parades with their dramatic music, marches and costumes. This festival pays an impressive tribute to the region’s centuries of Arab occupation and the battle against the Arab invaders. In October there is the German Beer Fest. During all the fiestas the streets become a riot of colour, lights, streamers, banners and firecrackers. It is quite normal to see dancing in the streets and open-air theatre performances during the summer months in the old town. a stage is constructed for a musical show of bands and there are processions, parades and fireworks.