The building and its past
Benidorm Palace: history since 1977
From opening night in July 1977 to the mirror-clad building of today: how Benidorm Palace grew from a new cabaret theatre into a fixture of the Costa Blanca.
Reserve your Palace night ↗Opening night, 12 July 1977
Benidorm Palace opened its doors on 12 July 1977. The venue's own history page describes the night as the opening chapter of a new story for culture, music, dance and the performing arts, in a society just beginning to enjoy freedom with the arrival of democracy. More than 1,500 spectators came in, and a voice on the stage welcomed them to a dream that had finally come true. Staff had tested the lights, the microphones, the stage lifts and the kitchen several times beforehand.
The first decade
After the first years of success, the venue established itself as a prestigious party and show venue, with what it calls an unbeatable and unique offer on the eastern coast of the peninsula. The programme in that first decade included international musical artists, renowned orchestras, ballets, and vedettes from countries with a long tradition of this kind of show.
1990: new owners, a big name and big productions
During the last decade of the twentieth century the venue changed owners and management. In August 1990, powered by the expectation around a performance by the ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev, it invested again in big shows and productions. The history page names Like the Wind, Beautiful Girls and Imagination among the shows that decade remembers, each built around a thematic concept.
2005: the mirror-clad building
In 2005 the venue carried out its latest great refurbishment, inside and out. The new facade turned the building into one of the most admired and most photographed in Benidorm, and the light and sound equipment was updated. The infrastructure for serving dinner to large numbers of guests was renewed as well, and the number of social and company events multiplied. The curved, mirror-bright walls you see in photographs today are the result of that work.
More than one kind of night
Revues are only part of the programme. The venue hosts concerts, tribute acts, galas at Christmas and New Year, and company events and conferences. Its own artists page lists a long run of Spanish and international names who have played there across decades. That breadth explains why the building has a large stage and a big room, and the regular revue is the night this site covers. Special galas are sold as separate events with their own rules, so check what is on sale for your date.
A new chapter
For the current season the venue has launched a production called Trivium, which it presents as a new chapter with a fresh creative vision, driven by a newer generation of people. It is a reminder that the building stays while the shows change. Productions arrive and leave with the seasons, so the programme described in older reviews and older guidebooks may not be the one on stage. Check which production is on sale for your date on the booking page before you plan around a particular act.
Sixteen million guests
In 2019 the Olive Press reported that the venue had welcomed its 16 millionth guest, noting it was the first time Benidorm Palace had counted its audience since opening in 1977. The paper's interview with the venue's co-owner says the theatre was revived during a wider decline in cabaret theatre and went on to gain international acclaim. Treat the figure as a milestone from that autumn, not as a running total, but it gives a sense of how many people have sat in the room.
A resort that was already growing
The Palace opened into a town already built around visitors. According to Wikipedia, tourism in Benidorm began in 1925, the town became a summer destination for people from inland Spain in the 1950s, and in 1954 the mayor of the time introduced a building plan that required leisure land for every building. By its opening the town was an established resort, and visitors with evenings to fill are exactly the audience a cabaret theatre needs.
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