Alicante Florist
Florist Alicante Flower Shop

Monjas-Santa Faz Square in Alicante.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of the Alacantí, in the southern part of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 331,750, estimated as of 2008, ranking as the second-largest Valencian city. Including nearby municipalities, Alicante conurbation was populated by 452,462 residents. Population of the metropolitan area (including Elche and satellite towns) was 757,443 as of 2008 estimates, ranking as the eighth-largest metropolitan area of Spain.
The area around Alicante has been inhabited for over 7000 years, with the first tribes of hunter gatherers moving down gradually from Central Europe between 5000 and 3000 BC. Some of the earliest settlements were made on the slopes of Mount Benacantil. By 1000 BC Greek and Phoenician traders had begun to visit the eastern coast of Spain, establishing small trading ports and introducing the native Iberian tribes to the alphabet, iron and the pottery wheel. By the sixth century BC, the rival armies of Carthage and Rome began to invade and fight for control of the Iberian Peninsula. The Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca established the fortified settlement of Akra Leuka, where Alicante stands today.
Alicante is one of the fastest-growing cities in Spain. The local economy is based upon tourism to the beaches of the Costa Blanca and particularly the second residence construction boom which started in the 1960s and reinvigorated again by the late 1990s.