Reports have suggested that a ‘messy’ breakup involving the show’s creator and one of its most well-known stars could prevent the legendary ITV sitcom’s revival.
Fans of hit ITV comedy Benidorm were delighted earlier this year when rumours suggested the iconic show was close to returning. Written by Derren Litten, the sitcom following holidaymakers at the Solana all-inclusive resort had been brutally axed from our TV screens back in 2018.
But rumours of a rift could scupper negotiations to bring back one of the show’s biggest stars. Jake Canuso, who played randy barman Matteo, was married to Derren, but they divorced in 2024 and the creator has now spoken out on X.
“I don’t really talk about my personal life here, but I’ve been a little quiet on social media because I’ve been going through a pretty miserable divorce for the past 18 months,” said Darren. So it’s obvious that I’m currently in poor shape. You argued, “We can’t possibly have more in common than we already do.” ! “
READ MORE: Benidorm return ‘in crisis’ after creator Derren Litten’s divorce from star Jake Canuso
Offscreen, the first UK visitors to Spain made their first appearance with a package holiday that included all singing and dancing in the Spanish sunshine, 70 years ago. And while recent protesters in Spain’s islands have urged tourists to leave, blaming them for the rising costs of housing, supplies, water shortages, and even climate change, Benidorm still welcomes them.
Last summer, anti-tourism protests erupted on holidaymakers in Spanish islands like Majorca, Menorca, and Ibiza. In the well-known Las Ramblas region of Barcelona, protestors were spotted chanting “tourists go home” while squirting tourists with water pistols.
The city’s mayor, Jaume Collboni, renewed his “firm commitment” to eliminating Airbnb style short-term rentals in the city within five years. His words would have had another famous Spanish mayor, Pedro Zaragoza, turning in his grave. Appointed Mayor of Benidorm in 1950, his appointment saw the resort transformed from a fishing village into the tourist mecca we know today.
And while the first British tourists on a package holiday to Spain in 1954 went to the Costa Brava, they soon discovered that they were visiting Alicante in droves in Benidorm. Pedro fought the strict morals of the Catholic Church, becoming excommunicated while overcoming Spain’s fascist dictator General Franco, to realize his dream.
He said in one of his final interviews that he had before passing away in 2008, at the age of 85, that a plaque stating “You live from your dreams” was unveiled, and it is still in use today. When he was first elected, a former railroad porter, said Tripadvisor, Benidorm, which now has 461 hotels, was a sleepy fishing town that still relied on mule to transport goods. The town’s first step toward resortizing to the town’s wealthy residents involved installing a water supply from a distance of ten miles.
He asserted that “people didn’t anticipate it.” However, one of the fountains suddenly gave birth to the first drops, which made people start to believe in me. Pedro appeared to be an unlikely influencer with his thick white moustache, receding hairline, and dark colored spectacles.
However, his ambitious plans to make Benidorm a “Sun and Beach” destination for those who reside in cooler European climates were visionary. Benidorm became the first Spanish town to break the tourism ban in 1953 when he issued a public order allowing women to wear bikinis on the beach.
The Catholic Church and other organizations reacted with fury and demanded that the mayor be excommunicated. He claimed that when I passed a decree authorizing the wearing of bikini within the town limits of Benidorm, it “caused a major scandal” throughout Spain.
The Bishop of Valencia initiated the excommunicating me, which in those days was a very serious matter and would have resulted in my losing any rights over my daughter and being barred from any positions in public office. “
Fed up with the flak he was getting, Pedro – who stayed in office until 1967 – woke one morning before dawn and set off on his trusty green Vespa scooter for a 500 km round trip to Madrid, to see the ruthless Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, and explain his bikini predicament. “I reached Madrid mid-morning and went to the palace to see Franco,” he said. “He received me and I explained what was going on. I said: ‘General, this is like trying to stop the Ebro river. It is a waste of time to fight what is going on in the world’.
“And then I explained to him that I had also issued a decree outlawing any offensive remarks and zero tolerance. You’re fine if you’re showing your belly button. No dirty comments, just an elegant response like “what a beautiful figure!” Franco made sense of my contention and said, “Go home, relax, and if you have any more issues, let me know.” “
Additionally, Pedro argued that constructing tall buildings would make it easier for more people to see the coastline and breathe the sea air. From that point on, Benidorm’s marketing to Brits, who were then unknowns, was “genius” according to Keith Betton.
Early travelers reportedly worried that what they were going to experience would make them feel more “outside” than “inside” the vacation, he says. My parents used to travel to Spain, but they were concerned about the food, the currency, the language, and the other-sided road driving.
However, Benidorm quickly persuaded people that “yeah, many people here speak English, and we will happily serve bacon and eggs, and it’ll be very, very good value for money and very cheap!” The government in post-war Britain imposed restrictions on the amount of money that residents could withdraw from the country, a policy that was scrapped in the late 1970s.
It is a sun, sea, and sangria lover’s paradise, and is known as “Spanish Las Vegas” for its nonstop entertainment and “Spain’s Manhattan” for its soaring skyscrapers. It will take more than a string of protests, in Keith Betton’s opinion, to put an end to the romance between Benidorm and Brits, as he foresaw it for 20 years.
Brits last summer weren’t abetted by reports of a deadly virus known as Crimean Congo haemorrhagic fever, according to Keith. He continues, “I don’t think that the recent wave of reports about Brits not being very welcome in Spain and all the medical scare stories are going to have any impact on holidaymakers going to Spain and places like Benidorm.” He is probably correct when he says that there were more than 18 million Brits visiting Spain last year.
With its 5 km of coastline, endless sandy beaches, 60 plus skyscrapers, some of which are over 100 meters high, one of the best climates in the Mediterranean, and opportunities for nonstop fun, today’s location looks like a favorite for British tourists for many years to come.
Whether it is supported by fact or imagination, the truth is that Spain will always be the number one package holiday destination for people to spend a week or two in the sun because it’s close to home, has good sunshine, people there generally speak English, and is typically very tourist friendly. Keith, who spoke on TV more than 1,000 times about travel news and changes during his two decades at ABTA, continues: “Whether it is a top package holiday destination, where people go for their week or two weeks in the sun,
Source: Mirror
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