A British expat who’s lived in Benidorm for more than two decades has warned tourists to be “vigilant” in certain areas.
Lucy Young, aka The Benidorm Enthusiast, who is originally from Leeds, has lived in the Spanish seaside resort for more than 20 years, initially visiting when she first left school, aged 16, to stay with her sister.
She explained that she moved to Benidorm on a gap year after college and has remained there ever since, highlighting how she loves the area’s “diversity” and has friends there from across the globe.
Lucy is also a presenter for the ‘Benidorm stuff‘ YouTube channel, on which she discusses everything from local life to travel tips and the best local restaurants.
However, with more than 832,000 Brits reportedly visiting the area in 2023 alone, it’s vital that tourists are aware of their surroundings when enjoying the popular Costa Blanca destination.
Lucy said: “Come with an open mind and be ready to make Benidorm whatever type of holiday you want it to be, but don’t leave your common sense on the plane.”
She also had some crucial advice for anyone thinking about heading out to enjoy Benidorm’s legendary nightlife and warned people to stay “well away” from one particular group who play a “centuries old game”.
The Benidorm Enthusiast continued: “I wouldn’t say there are areas to avoid, but there are areas you need to be more vigilant, and keep your wits about you more.
“Unfortunately, these days, those areas are the areas where nightlife bars are concentrated, like the strip. Pickpockets etc use alcohol to their advantage and prey on those under the influence.”
She went on to say: “Stay well away from the pea-men. They play a centuries old game where they hide a pea under some carved out potatoes and try to get you to gamble your money to guess where the pea is. You’ll never win it.
“Don’t even stop to watch as they operate in gangs with others scoping the crowd to see which pockets your phone/wallet is in, any jewellery etc and they transmit that info to other gang members around resort who may well attempt to rob you of your belongings at another location.”
The website Benidorm Seriously also warns people about the so-called pea men, describing the scam as the “oldest con game in the world” and similar to the popular card game Chase the Ace.
Spain has this year been gripped by widespread anti-tourism protests, including in the Canary Islands, with many locals taking to the streets to protest over-tourism and its impact on local housing.
Lucy, however, doesn’t believe it’s dissuaded Brits from travelling to Benidorm and says they didn’t see any anti-tourism protests in the area this year.
She added: “I don’t think they have dissuaded Brits from visiting Benidorm, we’ve had a record year. Perhaps knowing that they are not so welcome in places like Tenerife and Mallorca brought even more people to Benidorm.
“Maybe we’ll see less tourists next year to Spain in general. I think most of those that had already booked for this year still went ahead with their holidays even after seeing news about anti-tourism demonstrations, but whether they will book again for next year if they had a negative experience remains to be seen.”