Exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months hits record 47% in Spain

Today's essentials (5 key points)

• Hotels and tourist apartments across Alicante province filled 90.6% of their places in August, four tenths of a point above the same month in 2025, according to APHA figures reported by elperiodic.
• The Costa Blanca faces a hot, hazy Friday, with highs of 30°C in Alicante city and up to 37°C inland around Alcoy, Open-Meteo reports.
• Alicante is trying to ease downtown congestion by expanding public transport and steering cars onto the bypass motorway, according to TodoAlicante.
• A resident has reported alleged sea dumping during beach-cleaning work at El Portet in Moraira, with the local council logging a complaint on 27 August, according to La Marina Plaza.
• Benidorm Pride 2026 is under way and runs from 1 to 6 September, with a Pool Party, parade and Main Stage After-Party among the headline dates, according to Life in Benidorm.

Today's essentials

Exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months hits record 47% in Spain. Exclusive breastfeeding at six months in Spain has reached 47%, its highest level on record and up eight points since 2017, according to the Ministry of Health's 2023 national health survey (Encuesta de Salud de España).

Weather today

Hot, hazy Friday with up to 37°C inland. Expect a hot, hazy Friday across the Costa Blanca, with highs of 30°C in Alicante city and up to 37°C inland around Alcoy, and no rain in the forecast, according to Open-Meteo.

In Alicante city, Open-Meteo puts the low at 23°C and the high at 30°C, with morning haze, a zero percent chance of rain and a gentle breeze of up to 11 km/h. It is a day for light clothing, sunglasses and a water bottle, with the sea breeze making the seafront the most comfortable spot in the afternoon.

Inland the heat bites harder: Alcoy swings from 21°C at dawn to 37°C under a cloudy sky, with wind up to 22 km/h, while the southern coast around Torrevieja sits between 23°C and 31°C with morning haze and breezes to 18 km/h. With maximums at or above 34°C in parts of the province, keep water on you and stay out of direct sun in the early afternoon.

Transport & traffic

• Alicante airport, past the 12 million mark. Alicante-Elche airport passed its twelve millionth annual passenger back in 2016, a milestone AlicanteOut cites as a sign of the Costa Blanca's strong tourism health. For anyone flying in and out of the region, that scale matters in practice: a busy airport means denser route networks, more low-cost connections and more competition on fares, which is exactly what makes the Costa Blanca so easy to reach from northern Europe. AlicanteOut frames the figure as evidence that the area's visitor economy is in robust shape, though the twelve million reference points back to 2016 rather than the latest season.
• Alicante's plan to unclog the city centre. Alicante wants to ease congestion in the city centre by expanding public transport and diverting through-traffic onto the bypass motorway, according to TodoAlicante. The approach pairs a carrot and a stick: make buses and public transport a more attractive option while pushing cars that are only passing through onto the ring road rather than the central streets. TodoAlicante does not give figures for the plan, but for residents and commuters the direction of travel is clear, expect quieter central streets and stronger incentives to leave the car at home when heading downtown.

What's changing for you

• Pego care home under strain. The Sant Joan de Déu municipal care home in Pego, which offers 36 residential places for older people, is in what elperiodic describes as an unsustainable situation. If you have an older relative in or around Pego, this is worth keeping an eye on: the home, run by the town council, provides individual, personalised care across its 36 places, and pressure on that kind of facility can affect waiting lists and continuity of care. There is no closure announced, but families relying on municipal elderly services in the Marina Alta should follow how the council resolves the funding and staffing squeeze.
• August occupancy across the province at 90.6%. Hotels and tourist apartments across Alicante province filled 90.6% of their places in August, four tenths of a point above the same month in 2025, according to APHA figures reported by elperiodic. The practical takeaway if you are hosting visitors or planning a late-season getaway nearby: demand is running as high as ever, so book accommodation well ahead rather than counting on last-minute availability. The definitive rate comes from data supplied directly by the hotels and tourist apartments in the APHA association, which makes it one of the more reliable snapshots of just how full the coast has been.

Local news to know

• Dumping complaint at El Portet, Moraira. A resident has reported alleged discharges into the sea during beach-cleaning at El Portet in Moraira, with the Teulada-Moraira council logging a complaint on 27 August and the man saying he later filmed the practice repeating four days on, according to La Marina Plaza.
• Day trips by boat from Alicante. One of the perks of being on the Alicante coast is the choice of Mediterranean destinations you can reach by boat, from nearby islands to neighbouring stretches of coastline, as AlicanteOut sets out in its round-up.
• Benidorm Pride runs to 6 September. Benidorm Pride 2026 is under way and runs from 1 to 6 September, with a Pool Party, the Ñ Divas Disco, a White Party, the parade and a Main Stage After-Party among the headline dates, according to Life in Benidorm.
• Local band on the hunt for a bassist. Alicante band Satisfighters is looking for a bass player to help write original Spanish-language songs drawing on 1980s rock and 1990s funk, per a post on the r/Alicante forum.

Things to do today

• Benidorm's late-summer nightlife. Benidorm is closing out the summer with a full slate of nights out, from beach festivals at the Gran Hotel Bali to closing parties, as Life in Benidorm's weekend guides regularly flag.