Scene every summer on Levante

One of the main reasons millions choose Benidorm for their holidays is because of the miles of golden sandy beaches - and Benidorm has the added bonus of not one but three; Levante, Poniente which includes Mal Pas and La Cala.

First Aid point on Poniente - Levante have yellow ones

They are spotlessly clean and safe, with each stretch patrolled by a lifeguard - obviously in season and also have first aid points, which are manned all year round, but with reduced hours between October and April. These are the candy stripped beach huts which you may have seen at the end of the Levante, near Heartbreak bar and on the Poniente.

The staff here are not volunteers such as Cruz Rojo (Red Cross) but are employed by the Town Hall - and have now achieved the classification of "Cardio Resuscitation Area" thanks to the addition of six defibrillators. A defibrillator is a life-saving machine that gives the heart an electric shock in some cases of cardiac arrest.

Demonstrating the new machine on a dummy

These new third generation machines will allow the trained staff to attend a suspected heart attack victim in less than four minutes. The Councillor for Beaches, Vicente Juan Ivorra yesterday announced that three would be located on Levante beach and three on Poniente beach, supplementing those which are kept in the ambulance, which is always on standby next to the first aid huts.

All the lifeguards have been trained to use this latest model and the aim is to ensure that all people working on the beach have received full training before the start of the holiday season. Signs will be installed along the beaches notifying both tourists and residents exactly where to go in the case of such an emergency.