In the 1950s, the transformation of the sleepy little town of Benidorm began when Pedro Zaragoza was appointed mayor.
He started by getting pipes built to allow running water, then went on to pass a decree which allowed women to wear bikinis.
Now, every year millions of tourists arrive in Benidorm, on Spain’s Costa Blanca.
This episode was produced by Simon Watts in 2018, using recordings of Pedro Zaragoza. (Photo: Tourists flock to the beaches in Spain. Credit: David Ramos via Getty Images)
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Folge vom 19.06.2024The beginning of Benidorm
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Folge vom 18.06.2024How Cancún became a tourist destinationIn 1969, Antonio Enríquez Savignac was given the go-ahead to transform a secluded Mexican island into a world-beating tourist destination.The technocrat believed tourism was a cost effective solution for fixing the country's faltering economy. He was given funding from the Mexican federal government to create infrastructure on the island, including an airport. The resort would be called Cancún.More than 50 years later, Cancún welcomes more than 20 million guests to its shores every year, with over 30,000 hotels scattered across the island.However, the island has become a crime hotspot and there are major pollution problems in the area.Antonio's son, Juan Enríquez, shares his memories with Matt Pintus. (Photo: Cancún. Credit: Getty Images)
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Folge vom 17.06.2024The first budget transatlantic flightsIn 1955, a small Icelandic airline, Loftleioir Icelandic, slashed the cost of flying across the Atlantic.For the first time, thousands of young Americans were able to afford air travel to Europe on what became known as the 'Hippie Express.' In 2017, Mike Lanchin spoke to Edda Helgason, whose father, Sigurdur Helgason, launched the ambitious scheme, and Hans Indridason, who ran the company's sales and marketing department at the time.(Photo: Icelandic Airlines plane, with passengers disembarking, 1965. Credit: Smith Collection / Gado / Getty Images)
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Folge vom 14.06.2024Orelhão: Brazil's iconic egg-shaped telephone boothIn 1971, a female architect called Chu Ming Silveira created Brazil's iconic egg-shaped telephone booth, Orelhão. More than 50,000 of the booths were installed across Brazil and the design was so successful that other countries decided to use it.Chu Ming was born in China and moved over to Brazil with her family in 1949, following the end of the Chinese Civil War.At a time when not many architects were women in the country, she was tasked with creating a design for a cheap, light-weight and visually attractive public phone booth.Chu Ming died in 1997, aged 58. In 2017, Google decided to celebrate her life by creating a doodle. Her son, Alan Chu, has been sharing his memories of Chu Ming with Matt Pintus. (Photo: Chu Ming using an Orelhão phone booth. Credit: Chu Ming Silveira’s Collection - Ouvio.arq.br)