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Brand new pedalos arriving 
Last week I wrote about the new attractions on Levante beach.... and made a comment about the rather steep prices being charged. Well I have now discovered why it is so expensive - in a nutshell, Benidorm Town Hall is charging the contractors 125,000 euros rent for the Summer season. They are attempting to generate income to help clear the huge debt that has accumulated - I don´t think that there is anything left to charge for now. Maybe they will start selling bottles of seawater to take back.. there is already someone selling jars of Benidorm air believe it or not!

The City Council awarded a 2 year contract, extendable for a further 2 years to the company "David Vicente Sellers" for the pedalo rentals. Up until 2007 there were pedalos along the beach but they disappeared after the previous company said that there was little demand for them. After 5 Summers without Pepe Marcet, Councillor for Beaches said that they had had many comments about the lack of facilities on the beach. "Many people told us that the beach was dead and that it needed more choice, especially for children, hence the re-introduction of the licences. The City Council will receive 51,000 euros for 4 rentals points on the Levante and 3 on the Poniente beaches, which is why they cost so much to rent - 18 euros per hour for a basic pedalo and 24 euros for one with a slide.

Floating pontoon on Levante
Another company has the contract for the floating activity pontoons -  it is a joint venture between 2 companies, one of which is a subsidiary of the official beach first aid/life saving outlet. They are being charged 50,000 euros for the platforms, one of which is on the Levante beach and the other on the Poniente beach, hence the need to charge 8 euros per hour to recoup the licence fee charged - but remember that they do provide a free life vest in that price.

A further licence has been granted for the rental of jet skies.... but this has not yet started as the final location has yet to be decided and jet skies still have to be delivered - there was no indication of what the price would be either, which is decided by the contractor and not the Council.

Those that know Benidorm will be aware that at the Rincon end there is already a cable ski available which costs 20 euros per hour. You ride on a zip wire which looks like great fun.... There is also a banana boat and for the more adventurous you can paraglide on the Levante for 70 euros.

Although the new concessions have only been operating for a couple of weeks, the Councillor acknowledged that they had already received complaints about the high prices being charged for their use. He was quoted as saying "It is true that they are somewhat expensive but it is the companies that put the price on. Personally if you ask me, it seems expensive".  However, in defense it has generated about 30 jobs for people over the Summer and it has addressed the criticism about lack of activities on the beach. It is not obligatory to use these facilities... but obviously very difficult if you have children wanting to go on them.
In comparison to beaches in other municipalities the complaints seem reasonable. For example, in La Cala the pedalos are only 10 euros for a basic one and 15 euros for one with a slide - so maybe pop down to the quieter sandy cove in La Cala if you plan on hiring a pedalo and save some money!

Comments  

0 #1 Nikolay Avdeev 2013-02-23 16:17
Benidorm Town Hall is charging the contractors 125,000 euros rent for the Summer season ???

What???? are they crazy???? its too much even for the whole beach.
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