In Alicante, a photo exhibition opens in the Municipal Archive window display on Calle Labradores and also on the ground floor of the municipal building. The collection revisits how the beaches and the seaside scene have evolved from the early 1900s to the era of leisure that followed. The event is led by the Cultural Advisor Nayma Beldjilali, who opened the exhibition this Wednesday together with the Director of the Municipal Archives, Susana Llorens, welcoming visitors to a journey through memory and place.
This presentation of archival photographs traces the period from the beginning of the 20th century up to the 1970s, offering a visual record of how daily life, entertainment, and habits around the coast and coastside towns changed for residents and visitors of Alicante as summer became a longer, richer experience.
These images provide a window into a city shifting its relationship with the sea. The display highlights how the coast, once a working waterfront, gradually transformed into a public arena for recreation and social life. The seaside began to function as a facet of city life, complementing landmarks like Canalejas Park and the popular waterfront along Paseo de los Mártires. In this transformation, sea bathing emerged as a common pastime, inviting people to enjoy the coast beyond its traditional maritime uses.
For the exhibition, Llorens notes that the images were carefully selected from postcard photography collections. These selections include photographs by noted local photographers Manuel Cantos, Francisco Sánchez, and Eugenio Bañón, accompanied by a municipal proclamation dating back to 1847 and an informative article from the Alicante Gráfico journal published in 1933. The curated set presents a cohesive narrative that connects visual history with documented context, inviting viewers to reflect on the cityscape and social life of the time.