San Juan Beach Alicante
Located eight kilometres north of the capital, San Juan de Alicante combines agricultural tradition with an active tourist industry, concentrated mainly on the vast, seven-kilometre-long beach known as Playa San Juan or San Juan Beach.
San Juan beach is a long, open beach about 7 kilometres in length and with an average width of 85 meters. The beach corresponds to the two municipalities of Alicante and El Campello, but is part of the town of San Juan.
San Juan Pueblo
The historic quarter of San Juan features several interesting monuments, such as a 17th-century parish church and a number of hermitages (monasteries): the 18th century Calvario, the 16th century Santa Ana, and San Roque.
Very close to San Juan and of notable importance is the Monastery of Santa Faz, where it is said exists a piece of cloth that was used to wipe the face of Jesus. This site us the traditional scene of an annual pilgrimage that takes place on the second Thursday following Holy Week.
The town of San Juan celebrates its local holiday honouring Santo Cristo de la Paz from the 12th to the 16th of September. Another important event takes place on the 24th of June, with the famous Bonfires of San Juan.
The Beach at San Juan
Located outside of the town of San Juan, the beach is located in a residential area, which is lively in the summer months and generally peaceful during the rest of the year.
Facilities
There are many facilities at the beach, including showers, volleyball nets, beach bars (chiringitus), pedal boat hire, parking, children's playground, etc. There are dozens of restaurants lined all along the promenade, allowing beach goers to not only spend the day on San Juan Beach, but also to enjoy some gastronomy of the Costa Blanca.
There is also a golf course located about 5 minutes from the beach, Alicante Golf.
A Blue Flagged Beach of the Costa Blanca
As in previous years, this year the beach has been awarded the Blue Flag of the European Union. This is the maximum level a beach can be awarded in Europe.
Events
Festival Internacional Playa de San Juan
Getting to San Juan Beach
The beach can be reached by car, by bus (numbers 21 or 22) or by tram, offering a nice trip from Alicante.
More Information
Plenty of other websites provide information about the Playa San Juan,including the official website for the Comunidad Valenciana's page on the Playa San Juan.
Spain Info provides a brief write-up about San Juan, which also includes - in the links to the right on the page - a listing of restaurants and hotels in the area.