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Denia is the judicial seat of the comarca of La Marina Alta, in the province of Alicante, Spain, on the Costa Blanca halfway between Alicante and Valencia. It has a population is 36,200 (as of 2003). A partial ruin of a fortress stands right in the middle of town. In the days of Al Andalus, Denia served as the capital of a taifa kingdom, ruling over part of the Valencian coast and Ibiza. The Slavic slaves, saqaliba, managed to free themselves and run the taifa. The Moors originally built the fortress, and the French, who occupied the city for four years during the War of the Spanish Succession, re-built it in the early 19th century. A community of English raisin traders lived in Denia from 1800 until the time of the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s.

The ferry to Ibiza and the other Balearic Islands departs from Denia. It also serves as a terminus of a picturesque metre gauge railway line through the mountains from Alicante (popularly known as the Limón Express), run by FGV. Nearby is the popular resort town of Javea.

Several times a year, the town of Denia is full of festivities. The popular fiesta Fallas is celebrated each March. Huge paper mache statues, called fallas are set up throughout the town, and then set ablaze. July brings the popular Bous a la Mar or Bulls at the Sea The highlight of this week long festival is watching bulls run down the main street Marques de Campo, only to be chased into the Mediterranean sea by those daring enough to enter a makeshift bull ring with them.

Located between Valencia and Alicante on the Spanish Mediterranean coast known as Costa Blanca, Denia is something special. It has a way of making everyone feel at home. Many people over the centuries have made it their home. And they still do. With its benign climate (mean annual temperature 19°C) and an average of 300 days of sunshine per year, Denia, along with its neighboring communities, has a reputation of being among the world's healthiest places, a fact which has been officially recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Denia offers something to everybody: sandy beaches, spectacular rocky coves, colorful fiestas (no other town in Spain has more of them), five nearby 18-hole golf courses designed, among others, by Spanish world class players Seve Ballesteros and José María Olazábal and a million possibilities to enjoy the crystal clear waters of the Mediterranean. Year after year, Denia's beaches have been awarded the prestigious "Blue Flag of Europe". Las Marinas, situated to the north, boasts 15 km of fine, uncrowded, sandy beaches - ideal for swimming, wind surfing or sunbathing, while to the south of town, the rocky beaches and coves of Las Rotas with the nearby Marine Reserve of the Cape of San Antonio are a paradise for scuba divers and snorkelers. Getting hungry after all these activities? Dozens of fine restaurants and literally hundreds of tapas bars will satisfy even your wildest cravings. Try the delicious "arroz a banda" rice dish or the famous "gamba de Dénia" prawn, gourmets claim it's simply the best in the world!