ARCHIVED - Free parking for shoppers in Benidorm to kickstart trade

The offer will begin on June 6 to boost business in Costa Blanca's Benidorm in the Marina Baixa comarca of Alicante province.

Shoppers who spend €20 or more in Benidorm stores will get a free parking for an hour in one of six central car parks.

Four public car parks - Aigüera, Tomás Ortuño, Mercado and Ametlla del Mar - offer a combined 1,100 spaces in the town centre.

And there are a further 630 available at Europe and Ruzafa private car parks after trade associations themselves negotiated more spaces.

This is the first measure proposed within the 'Benidorm + cerca' program, aimed at promoting parking, mainly in the central area where new pedestrian spaces have been created, and to reactivate trade throughout Benidorm.

While boosting business for local traders, shoppers can also save up to €2.10 by not having to pay for their first hour of parking, depending on the car park.

The local authority is now working with business associations to improve signage so that shoppers now exactly where the participating car parks area.

A meeting will be held next week, on Wednesday, June 2, to agree on the where to place digital screen and information boards.

The parking initiative will coincide with another positive move for shops in Benidorm which will be able to open on Sundays and holidays from mid-June to January 5, 2022, after the resort was descalred a 'Long-term High Tourist Influence Area'.

IMAGE: Ayto de Benidorm