Benidorm's Eco Form

Think of Benidorm and you will probably be imagining tall hotels full of touristst, fryups, lager and sunburnt shoulders. However, what about Benidorm as a top destination for eco-tourism ?

Well, firstly, it's now being widely recognised that an "eco" trip to the African Jungle, or chasing penguins in Antarctica, are actually expensive and big footprint eco-wise. You really ought to be thinking about leaving those places to your wild imagination while you are doing something just a wee bit more straight. Like relaxing on a beach in Benidorm.

The BBC have reported that there is a lot to commend the hotels and utilities in this Mediterranean town in terms of energy saving and local sourcing of food. Once you are there you can access all you need by walking around, you do not need to hire a car or motorbike.

You do of course use up a fair old whack of carbon getting their unless you go by foot pilgrimage style. But not many of us would do that, and Benidorm is not Lourdes or Santiago. Even so, you could have a look at different ways rather than flying. What about on horseback dressed in rags ? Maybe not for everyone - but the comparisons in Carbon Footprint work out like this:

Return Flight to Benidorm from Gatwick - 0.466 tonnes C02 per person

Drive in a Ford Fiesta 1.6 petrol (2 people) - 2500 miles round trip - 0.407 tonnes Co2 per person

Train - 2500 miles round trip - 0.242 tonnes Co2 per person

Coach - 2500 miles round trip - 0.358 tonnes Co2 per person

Figures courtesy of www.carbonfootprint.com