Benidorm's High Rise Cemetery

The mere mention of the word Benidorm immediately conjures up an image of its Chicago like, high rise waterfront. The inhabitants of Benidorm are by now used to living as high as 30 storeys or more, but soon those who have shuffled off this mortal coil will be housed similarly high.

Read here why Benidorm is so high.

The problem is that the town's cemetery is too small for a burgeoning population and the only solution is to build upwards even further. If you didn't already know, Spanish cemeteries don't have graves underground, but consist of 'niches' in the walls, usually 3 or 4 levels high.

Now the Benidorm cemetery is to be expanded to a height of 6 niches, which solves the space problem, but then makes it difficult for relatives of the deceased who want to come and leave flowers and other decorations. The answer is to build a series of galleries, just like in a big library, so that visitors can easily access the niches.

31 May 2006 Stephen White.