The Southeast Places
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Dénia
Widely known as the gastronomic capital of the Costa Blanca, Dénia is a good place to sample Mediterranean seafood—try picaetes(tapas in the Valencian dialect) de sépia y calamar (squid and cuttlefish), suquet de rape (stewed monkfish), or gambas rojas de Dénia—a special breed of shrimp found in the waters around Dénia that are served simply boiled or grilled and are nearly as coveted as truffles.
The northernmost beach resort on the Costa Blanca, Dénia is also a busy tourist town known for its fishing boats and fiestas, which culminate in the midsummer Hogueras de San Juan (June 23, St. John's Day eve bonfires). Backed by the Montgó massif, rising to more than 2,100 feet to the west, Dénia's beaches to the north—Les Marines, Les Bovetes, and Les Deveses—are smooth and sandy, whereas the coast to the south is rocky, forming calas (tiny secluded inlets that recall the Costa Brava, north of Barcelona).
