Villajoyosa (), in

Valencian Valencian can refer to: * Something related to the Valencian Community ( Valencian Country) in Spain * Something related to the city of Valencia * Something related to the province of Valencia in Spain * Something related to the old Kingdom of ...

: (), meaning "The Joyful Town", and officially / , is a coastal town and municipality in the south of the

Valencian Community The Valencian Community is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wit ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, by the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

. It is the historic and administrative capital of

Marina Baixa Marina Baixa (; ; lit. "Lower Marina") is a ''comarca'' in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is bordered by the ''comarques'' of Comtat on the northwest, Marina Alta on the northeast, Alacantí and Alcoià on the west and the Mediterranean Sea ...

county, and is located in the

province of Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: / ) is a province located in eastern Spain, in the southern part of the Valencian Community. It is the second most populated Valencian province, containing the second and third biggest cities in the Valencian Co ...

. The town is known locally simply as . It is the historic and administrative capital of the ''

comarca A ''comarca'' (, , , ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain, and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, mark ...

'' of

and is located 32 km from the city of

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

, in the coastal area known as

Costa Blanca The Costa Blanca (, ; , literally meaning "White Coast") is over of Mediterranean coastline in the Alicante province of the Valencian Community, on the southeastern coast of Spain. It extends from the town of Dénia in the north, beyond which ...

(''White Coast''). It has over three kilometers of beaches, including the ''Platja Centre'' (Central Beach), close to the town centre. The river of La Vila (incorrectly also known as Amadòrio) runs through the town. The area is famous for its chocolate industry and tourism. One of the most popular tourist attractions is its

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

Catholic church of the Assumption, with a

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

altar piece. Another popular destination, the Royal Palm Casino (formerly Casino Costa Blanca), is now closed. The town's festival of ''

Moros i Cristians ''Moros y Cristianos'' () or ''Moros i Cristians'' (), literally in English Moors and Christians, is a set of festival activities which are celebrated in many towns and cities of Spain, mainly in the southern Valencian Community. According ...

'', celebrated at the end of July, was declared an International Tourist Interest Festival. Currently, this festivity commemorates a boat landing from the Berber pirates that was repelled by the population of the town.Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine

Notable people

Marta Baldó Marta Baldó Marín (born 8 April 1979 in Villajoyosa, Spain) is a Spanish rhythmic gymnast and Olympic Champion. She won a gold medal with the Spanish group at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. The team was formed by Marta, Estela Gim ...

, rhythmic gymnast and

Olympic Champion This article includes lists of all Olympic medalists since 1896, organized by each Olympic sport or discipline, and also by Olympiad. Medalist with most medals by sport Summer Olympic sports Sports that will appear in the 2028 Summer Olympics ar ...

(1996, Atlanta) *

José Catalá José Manuel Catalá Mazuecos (born 1 January 1985) is a Spanish footballer who plays for CD Gerena as a central defender or a left back. Club career Born in Villajoyosa, Province of Alicante, Valencian Community, Catalá emerged through lo ...

, footballer *

Lucía Cortez Llorca Lucía Cortez Llorca (born 5 June 2000) is a Spanish professional tennis player. She has career-high WTA rankings, rankings of No. 309 in singles, achieved on 19 August 2024, and No. 411 in doubles, achieved on 18 September 2023. Early life Lu ...

, tennis player * Maisa Lloret, rhythmic gymnast *

Felipe Orts Felipe Orts Lloret (born April 1, 1995) is a Spanish road and cyclo-cross cyclist, who currently rides for La Vila Joiosa–Neteo in cyclo-cross. He finished second at the men's under-23 event at the 2017 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships. Fo ...

, road and cyclo-cross cyclist *

Maxim Kuzminov Operation Synytsia () was an operation conducted by Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence to facilitate the defection of Russian Mi-8 helicopter pilot Maxim Kuzminov (). After previously arranging his defection and the simultaneous escape ...

, Russian defector and helicopter pilot found dead in Villajoyosa *

Anthony Jung Anthony Jung (German pronunciation: ; born 3 November 1991) is a German professional footballer who plays as a left-back or centre-back for club Werder Bremen. Club career Early career Jung played youth football for multiple clubs in the Wiesba ...

, footballer who was born in Villajoyosa, Spain, to a German mother and Spanish father. He emigrated at the age of three with his divorced mother to Germany.

Twin towns

Vitré, Ille-et-Vilaine Vitré (; Gallo: ''Vitræ'', ) is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France. Vitré, a sub-prefecture until 1926, is the seat of a canton. It has 18,603 inhabitants (2020). It lies on the edge of Britta ...

, France, since 1989 *

Quesada, Spain Quesada is a Spanish municipality in the province of Jaén. It is in the Alto Guadalquivir comarca and its inhabitants are called ''quesadenses'' or ''quesadeños''. It has an area of 328.7 km² and 5483 inhabitants according to the 2016 cen ...

, since 2006 *

Bullas Bullas () is a municipality and town in the Region of Murcia, southeast Spain, located 53 km from the provincial capital, Murcia. it is the highest municipality in the Region of Murcia after Moratalla. The surrounding area is noted for th ...

, Spain, since 2006

References

External links

* Seaside resorts in Spain {{Valencia-geo-stub