In this short video we will travel to the first half of the 20th century to find out more about the history of this emblematic place.
Voramar was born in 1930… from that time forward it has witnessed a number of historical events.
From bathhouse to restaurant, from restaurant to Hotel, temporary hospital, film setting…
To date it is still adapting to the present time, changing, improving, and writing its own history. A history that each and every one of us, is taking part of.
Joaquín Coloma Grau, engineer in charge of the construction work of the “Railway of the North”, decided to build a villa where his wife could rest during the construction.
The villa was called Villa Pilar, since it was built with the 15000 pesetas that Mrs. Pilar Forts Mas had contributed to the marriage.
Juan Pallarés Picón
Juan Pallarés Picón, businessman in graphic arts, together with other summer visitors, considered the idea of creating a social club where they could gather.
Since they couldn’t reach an agreement, he decided to carry out the idea by himself, so in 1929 he submitted the request of licence to build on a permanent basis a bathhouse and a cafe-restaurant in Las Villas of Benicàssim Beach.
The success of the idea was proved in May 1931, when Juan Pallarés Picón requested an extension of the concession to build within the construction sites a hotel and a terrace towards the sea.
A year later, the City’s Public Works Department approved the petition and in 1933 the hotel was reopened becoming to this day the flagship of the provincial hotel business.
The start of the Civil War in the summer of 1936 made the owners abandon their villas, scared by the gravity of the event.
The perfect communication channels together with excellent and healthy weather and location situation, caused military authorities to seize every villa and rent the hotel.
In May 1937, a great hospital complex attending preferably International Brigades soldiers injured during the Battle of Teruel was installed in the hotel.
A year later, the Voramar changed of hands after the occupation of Benicàssim by Franco’s soldiers. But it kept being used as a temporary hospital until the end of the war.
During the post-war period, Voramar became a Social Assistance residence and later the Women’s Section residence (women’s branch of the Falange political movement in Spain). Meanwhile Benicàssim recovered little by little its usual visitors and in the 50s it became once again a booming summer spot.
It was during this decade that the Pallarés family recovered the hotel’s control, and the founder’s son, Juan Pallarés Soldevilla, took over the hotel.
The end of the 50s and the 60s witnessed one of the biggest social revolutions taking place last century: mass tourism.
Benicàssim stopped being an exclusive resting place for Valencians and summer visitors from Castellón to welcome a growing influx of foreigners looking for sun, beaches and low prices in Spain.
These were golden years for tourism that allowed an unstoppable development along the entire coast. This meant the construction of apartments, new hotels and the extension of old ones.
After the death of Juan Pallarés Soldevilla, his son, Juan Pallarés Tena, brought to the management a strong initiative in accordance with the new times, enlarging the hotel’s facilities to cope with the increasing demand.
The constructions were carried out in record time, since the hotel was closed after summer season and reopened in June of the following year, so that regular clients could come back as they normally did every summer.
During this period, there was a significant change in the origin of Benicàssim’s visitors. The foreign tourism lead to a more national tourism and hotel constructions were paralyzed, since summer visitors mainly occupied rented apartments or their own.
The traditional landscape was completely transformed by urban development, because of that, old photographs of Benicàssim seem practically unrecognisable.
Since the 90s, Benicàssim has made a great effort to improve its tourist image. The creation of the promenade, the improvement of all beaches and the construction of sport facilities are only a few of the changes carried out in the municipality in order to adapt to our visitors demands.
The tourism industry can’t fall behind in the task of updating its offers. Our guests demand the highest quality care and modern facilities.
Rafael Pallarés Dols, current manager of the Voramar, supports a policy of ongoing improvement completely renewing the hotel’s facilities focusing on sustainability and Economy for the Common Good. In addition, the hotel holds the Quality Certification for Tourism Companies.