Gandia Mediterranean Seaside Town and Beaches Valencia Spain

Description:

Gandia (the official name, as in Valencian), with a population of over 77,000, is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Eastern Spain on the Mediterranean. Gandia is located on the Costa del Azahar, 65 km south of Valencia and 96 km north of Alicante.

 

It was an important cultural and commercial centre during the 15th and 16th centuries: in the 15th it had a university. It was home to several important poets including Ausiàs March, and produced the novelist Joanot Martorell, but it is perhaps better known for the Borgias, through their family title, Duke of Gandia.

 

Today, Gandia is one of the largest coastal towns and a thriving center of commerce and tourism in the region. There are two main zones, Gandia City, which has all the historical monuments, commercial activity, and shopping, and Gandia beach, where apartments and summer residences used during the summer season are to be found. The bars and nightclubs are concentrated in the beach area. As is normal for Spain, nightlife does not take off until well after midnight.

 

The beach and town are actually some 2 km apart which succeeds in separating summer tourism from day-to-day living.

Enveloped in a mountainous belt with the Mediterranean at its feet, Gandia transports travellers to past epochs with its majestic architectural setting.

The traces of distant cultures have left a rich cultural and historical inheritance that is perceived throughout the population, testimony of this meant that the town was named as a “court villa” a title awarded during the XV century thanks to Juan de Borja, the second Duke of Gandia.

The city maintains, besides a wide cultural offering, a formidable coastal tourist industry with spacious beaches composed of fine sand as its principal attraction.

Beaches that, during the summer months, enjoy a typically Mediterranean climate, with agreeable temperatures that provide the best conditions in which to enjoy all the resources of the locality.

The Beaches

More than seven kilometres of beaches, with all the necessary services, are the main attractions to visit the coastal area.

The Gandia sea front characterised by its seemingly endless and well-cared for promenade features a wide variety of facilities and beaches to suit all tastes: from the peaceful nudist beach furthest to the south to the cosmopolitan northern beach - almost 4 km long and 125 metres wide - in addition to two well-cared for and semi-urban beaches situated to the south of the port.

Seasonal facilities are installed on the north beach to hire all types of windsurf equipment. Sailing possibilities are complemented by a dinghy sailing school located in the yacht club. Hotels and restaurants, many pubs and discos are the main meeting points on pleasant summer nights.

One of the beaches, l'Ahuir, still maintains its sand dunes, which give a special beauty to the surrounding landscape. Beyond this, to the west of the municipality, is the open space of Gandia's marjal, an ecosystem of high natural importance, where a wide variety of birds have made the locality a nesting site.

At the other end of the territory, from mount Mondúver, there is a panoramic view of the littoral where it is possible to see the island of Ibiza. This natural environment is a refuge for different animal species and also proves to be a great attraction for potholing fanatics.

The valleys of the interior, sprinkled with villages, is another good excursion with which to discover the Safor region, with caves such as the Cueva del Parpalló, with its examples of Arco Mediterráneo cave art declared Patrimony to Humanity.

Fallas

The fallera week begins with the plantà of the monuments around which four days of intense celebration takes place, a party with concerts, floral offerings, fireworks, mascletaes and processions that finish on the day of San José, with the cremà.

Easter Week

The pasos (religious sculptures) used in the processions are famous for the richness of the costumes.

Castle of Bairén

This site has been populated from antiquity, as demonstrated by the archaeological remains found: Bronze Age, Iberian, Roman and medieval, as well as both Islamic and Christian.

 

In the construction of the castle visitors can appreciate the remains of the different cultures that occupied the former Bairén.

 

In the XVI century, the castle was named the castle of San Juan due its dedication to the hermitage, displacing the former Arabic name of Bairén. In the XVII century the castle was reduced to ruins.

Access

The A-7 motorway (exits 60 and 61) connects with the European motorway network, the N-332 connects Gandia with the rest of the towns along the coast, whilst the C-320 connects Gandia with Albaida in the direction of Madrid.

Ayuntamiento de Gandia
Plaça Constitució, 1
46700  GANDIA
(Valencia) Tel.:  962959400
Fax:   962959482