From our first visit, we fell in love with Orihuela. The old part of the city especially appealed to us and made us realise that we were in real Spain and not some clinically clean place designed to appeal to British tourists.
We loved the decay and the fact that many buildings retained original features which had been left untouched since they were first incorporated. Sure, there are parts that need restoring but at least it hasn’t all been demolished to make way for something new and brash.
The city council considers that the city has something special to offer and are promoting Orihuela as a tourist destination at FITUR in Madrid. They have even gone so far as to revise the plan for the city (the Plan General de Ordenación Urbana -PGOU) to enable it to profit further from tourism.
One of the problems that the council have recognised is that there aren’t enough hotels to accommodate visitors; the new plan will try to rectify that. The plan will also aim to protect and expand the old part of the city because that is the major attraction.
There are plenty of events in the city to attract visitors throughout the year. The parades during Semana Santa (holy week at Easter)are recognised internationally and attract a large number of visitors to the city. The celebrations of Moors and Christians and the Medieval Market also play their part in attracting people to the city.
However, Visitors don’t just visit Orihuela for the special events. The city has a well marked out cultural trail which takes in the important buildings and features of the city. It would take you the best part of a week just to do those buildings justice and then you can move on to the outskirts and visit the palm forest etc etc.
There are a few issues to be resolved like access into the city, hotel accommodation and of course the major problems with parking. If Orihuela can get those things right, then it will be onto a winner.
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