Benicàssim is a traditional holiday centre, thanks to its six kilometres worth of sandy beaches, and its high mountains, from which we can gaze at the sea.

Benicassim Beach

These heights, which protect the town from the wind, are a part of the Desert of Las Palmas and Sierra de Santa Agueda, where we find the Bartolo peak (729 m). This spiritual retreat, founded by the Carmelites, nowadays offers interesting routes to cover by foot, or bicycle. The old Camelites’ distillery, which used aromatic herbs to elaborate their liqueurs, was eventually moved to the urban centre.

Modernist and colonial-style holiday villas began to emerge in the Benicàssim beach area towards the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. Of these, the oldest that still stands is Villa Pilar, from 1860. The Neoclassical parish church, built in the 18th century, is the most emblematic building in the historic quarter. Other historic monuments include the watchtower of San Vicente, located down at the beach, and the medieval castle of Montornés.

Seventy kilometres north of Valencia, this tiny port town on the Costa del Azahar morphs into hotbed of indie-electronica for four scorching days in July. The sheer heat of the Spanish midsummer makes Benicàssim a mostly nocturnal affair - things get going at about nineish, rarely finishing before daybreak the next day. Yup, that means tucking up in a freshly baked tent each morning. The music is British indie-heavy, so the average patron is more likely to be cockney than Castilian.