Alicante is a city and port in Spain on the Costa Blanca, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of Alacanti, in the south of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the metropolitan areawas 771,061 as of 2011 estimates, ranking as the eighth-largest metropolitan area of Spain.

Alicante enjoys mild winter temperatures, warm to hot summers, and little rain concentrated in equinoctial periods. Sun, sea and sand are the principal reasons why a great many people will visit Alicante. Amongst the most notable features of the city are the Castle of Santa Barbara, which sits high above the city, and the port of Alicante. Barrio de la Santa Cruz is a colourful quarter of the old city, situated on the south-west of Santa Bárbara castle. Playa delPostiguet is the main beach in the heart of the resort. San Juan is a where Alicante Golf Club can be found, likely to be of interest to those with non-beach related sports in mind. St Mary’s Church, built over three centuries on the site of a former Moorish mosque is one of Alicante’s most popular visitor attractions.L’Ereta Park is situated on the foothills of Mount Benacantil, on the way to the castle.

There are a dozen museums in Alicante. On exhibition at the Archaeological Museum of Alicante (MARQ) are local artifacts dating from 100,000 years ago till the early 20th century. The collection is divided into different rooms representing three divisions of archaeological methodology: ground, urban and underwater archaeology, with dioramas, audiovisual and interactive zones. The archaeological museum won the European Museum of the Year Award in 2004. Gravina Museum of Fine Artspresents a number of paintings and sculptures from the 16th century to 19th century. Asegurada Museum of Contemporary Arthouses a major collection of twentieth-century art, composed mainly of works donated by Eusebio Sempere.