Just a few decades ago, when you traveled somewhere you had to make a mandatory stop at the postcard rack at the grocery store. remembrances shift. Those very thoughtful and elaborate prints with which they wanted to promote the destination served to accompany the ink in the form of news from the first tourists who arrived with the boom of the second half of the 20th century. With the passing of the years and the advantages of the instantaneousness of the Internet, it seemed that this practice was going to disappear, but postcards still continue to survive in tourist areas.
To learn about the evolution of the promotional campaigns of the In Dénia there is nothing like getting lost among the postcards with which the city was sold. In them you can see the image that was wanted to be given to attract visitors, but also the one with which show off on vacation. And writing a few words to family and friends after an idyllic image of your eventual residence during the getaway is the best way to make your acquaintances envious.
The evolution of Dénia postcards
Gathering the large selection of postcards that accompany these lines, we observe an evolution both in their production and in what was chosen as an attraction. During the beginning of the second half of the 20th century, these member They promoted their postcards by choosing township portraits, from the urban fabric, further away from what was sought to be promoted shortly after: sun and beach tourism.
Among the first postcards we can already find the omnipresent castle. From different perspectives but it has always been the emblem with which the city has wanted to stand out. As will be seen, it is something that little has changed. But it is striking that the beaches they have no role. The municipality sells itself for what it is, for its neighbourhoods, its streets and, yes, its castle.
Among the first postcards you can see an unrecognizable Dénia beyond some building that endures and that serves to be located, such as the current National Police station or the veteran palm trees of the Cervantes esplanade.
In addition to the castle, also its Wall It starred in some postcards, highlighting the presence of the small homes that were built next to it. These no longer exist even though there was a time when we boasted about them.
It is also seen how they already sought to attract tourists through the Bous a la Mar. The plaza then was much more precarious and there was more public presence from the boats in a port that has little to do with the current one, but the idea was the same: the bull and the sea.
The time of selling the periphery and the city's water
Among the collection of postcards that the Arxiu Municipal de Dénia It preserves those that attract attention for having photographs that are also in black and white, but that have been colored later. And among these stands out a print of Les Rotes y the Montgo, the first that puts the focus outside the population.
Little by little, as tourism was established, more visibility began to be given to the waters that surround the city. Initially Port, with the usual capture from the north breakwater, this time with fishermen included. It is already beginning to look like the current port façade, although there are many changes ahead.
In fact, in one of them it has even been captured how the large buildings on the Cervantes esplanade were being built.
It didn't take long until the cameras began to point at the north coast and its beaches. As seen on the postcards, the life model based on the second residence began to be sold. They focus on top-of-the-line buildings, showing families spending the summer in landscapes that mix the beach itself with terraces, picnic areas or, in short, more everyday locations. The idea was no longer for them to visit Dénia, but for them to live in Dénia.
A present in which they last
Although it might seem that the postcard business from then on became stagnant in wanting to show the city's sandy beaches, the truth is that this has not been the case. Even today You can find postcards in souvenir shops, surely to acquire them more as a souvenir or for collecting than to use them as a letter. And the beaches are not the protagonists at all.
Castle and the port of Dénia continues to be the most recurrent. Also the Cervantes esplanade, with images almost identical to those of half a century before.
Now, the collage format has been imposed with which to optimize the space with the greatest possible number of photographs, having left aside the mime which for a time was intuited behind every postcard. Now you can find very low-quality images, very clumsy manipulations and even some photography of streets of Xàbia that sneaks into the promotion of Dénia.
However, they continue to endure despite the carelessness of their creators and, above all, of those who used them before. And, oddly enough, The image that Dénia seeks to print is still very similar to that of the first attempts to promote itself outsideThe streets of the town, its life, its port and its historyThe beaches remain in the background, as what's interesting about Dénia so many years later is still Dénia itself.
Dénia is now a horror.
Tourism impoverishes the majority and enriches a few.
Watching a sunset while walking with the girl of your dreams is wonderful.
I recommend it
Absolument d'acord avec le commentaire d'Alfredo. Comment on the detail of a pleasant little town in mini Benidorm. Certains ne comprennent pas que le tourisme à outrance tue tout