DJ Symphonic and pool nights light up Benidorm from Aug 21

Today's essentials (3 key points)

• Benidorm's weekend of Aug 21-23 is headlined by a DJ Symphonic concert blending a full orchestra with electronic hits on Aug 21, alongside late Summer Nights pool sessions at Terra Mítica.
• Alicante-Elche airport handled over 2.3 million passengers in July, an 11.1% rise on a year earlier that puts it on track for an annual record, according to operator Aena via Olive Press CB.
• In Elche, neighbours' complaints led police to a home where cocaine was sold straight from the garage, elperiodic reports.

Today's essentials

DJ Symphonic and pool nights light up Benidorm from Aug 21. Benidorm's big date this weekend is the DJ Symphonic concert on Aug 21, a symphonic-electronic show performed by the Royal Film Concert Orchestra with reworked hits from Coldplay, Daft Punk and Avicii, according to Benidorm's official tourism site.

The concert is billed as part of the Benidorm SkyFest and promises a genuine crossover: a live orchestra layered over club anthems, so expect film-score strings one minute and a festival drop the next. One thing worth flagging up front: the exact venue and start time were not confirmed at the time of writing, and no ticket price has surfaced yet, so check benidorm.org for the practical details before you set off rather than trusting a rumoured time slot.

If a seated concert is not your speed, Terra Mítica runs its Summer Nights on the same date. Life in Benidorm's weekly guide lists night swimming in the pool, a live DJ, a special show, food stalls and face painting for kids, with the rides in the Iberia zone staying open until 23:00. It is a good option if you have children in tow, since it turns a theme-park evening into something that works past sunset.

Terra Mítica sits on the hillside on the edge of Benidorm, so a car is the easiest way in; plan the drive back if you are staying for the late rides. For a cheaper, no-booking plan, the town's two big beaches, Playa de Levante and Playa de Poniente, are the obvious way to burn off a hot afternoon before the evening kicks in, and both are an easy walk from the centre.

A note of caution on the wider listings: the weekend was also flagged as having castle festivities, open-air cinema, urban flamenco and traditional verbenas, but those could not be pinned down to a confirmed date or place, so treat them as maybe-on rather than guaranteed and confirm locally.

What this means for you: you have two solid, very different anchors for Aug 21, a one-off orchestral-electronic show and a family-friendly pool night at Terra Mítica. Lock in whichever suits your group, verify the concert's venue and time on the official Benidorm tourism site first, and keep the beaches as a free backup if plans shift.

Weather today

Muggy and mostly grey across the Costa Blanca today. Alicante city sits between 25 and 30 degrees this Sunday, Aug 23, under an overcast sky with just a 5% chance of rain and light winds up to 16 km/h, according to Open-Meteo.

It is a warm, sticky day rather than a scorcher, so light clothing and water are enough; the cloud cover actually keeps the peak heat in check in the city.

Inland around Alcoy the morning starts cooler at 18 degrees, climbs to 29 and comes with fog and a higher 28% rain risk, so allow for reduced visibility on the drive up. On the southern coast, Dénia runs from 24 to 30 degrees with partly cloudy skies and a 25% chance of a passing shower, winds staying gentle at up to 16 km/h, per Open-Meteo. A morning swim is the smart move before the clouds and humidity build.

Transport & traffic

• Alicante airport's growth goes back years. The Alicante-Elche airport has been on a steady climb for a decade, with AlicanteOut recalling it welcomed its 12-millionth annual passenger back in 2016. That figure is a historical marker rather than fresh news, but it sets the scene for why the Costa Blanca's connections keep improving: more traffic year after year tends to mean more routes and more competition on fares, which is exactly what residents want when booking flights home or picking up visitors.
• Alicante airport headed for a record year. Alicante-Elche airport handled more than 2.3 million passengers in July, an 11.1% increase on the same month last year, operator Aena said on Wednesday according to Olive Press CB. Put plainly, the airport is on course to smash its annual record. For anyone living here, that busy summer traffic cuts both ways: strong demand keeps a wide choice of routes open, but it also means fuller terminals and tighter parking in peak weeks, so leave extra time and book airport transfers ahead if you are flying in August.

What's changing for you

• A tourist tax floated for Alicante and Benidorm. A tourist tax is reasonable for cities with a large floating population such as Alicante and Benidorm, Transport Minister Óscar Puente said, pointing to the pressure visitors put on local services, according to Informacion. Nothing changes today, but it is worth keeping on your radar: if either city eventually adopts such a fee, it would typically be charged per night on hotel and holiday stays, so residents hosting visitors or booking local getaways could see a small extra line on the bill. For now it is a political signal, not a rule, and no rate or date has been set.
• Objections filed over the Monnegre green corridor. The Valencian environmental scientists' association COAMBCV has filed formal objections to Phase 1 of the Monnegre river Green Corridor project, elperiodic reports, during the plan's public consultation stage. The takeaway is procedural: the project is still in its information and consultation phase, which is the window when residents and groups can lodge comments. If you live near the Monnegre and care how the corridor is designed, this is the moment the paperwork is open, not after the works begin.

Local news to know

• Cocaine sold from a garage in Elche. Neighbours' complaints led police to a home in Elche where buyers walked straight into the garage to swap cash for cocaine, out of sight of the street, according to elperiodic's account of the investigation.
• Alicante pushes its smart-city credentials. Alicante is presenting itself as one of Spain's most advanced smart cities, TodoAlicante writes, setting out a series of projects meant to reshape how the city works.
• A giant branch falls in Dénia, no injuries. A huge branch crashed down on Marqués de Campo in Dénia without hurting anyone, and crews had to saw the trunk into pieces before hauling it away because of its size, La Marina Plaza reports.
• Where you can sail to from Alicante. AlicanteOut rounds up the best spots you can reach by boat from Alicante, a reminder that one perk of living on this coast is easy access to Mediterranean day trips by sea.

See the full agenda, tonight and tomorrow