Alicante, Jewel of the Costa Blanca. Join me on my city walkabout during carnival. I try local foods

Join me on a full walkabout of one the British' best loved holiday destinations - Alicante, a real jewel of the Costa Blanca. I find myself in the middle of Alicante Carnival and also take a look around the old town. I try out some local cafes, sangria and Spanish food and find amazing paella in the centre of the city. Also I take a walkabout down the famous promenade and check out the city market.

The Port of Alicante has been reinventing itself since the industrial decline the city suffered in the 1980s (with most mercantile traffic lost to Valencia's harbour). In recent years, the Port Authority has established it as one of the most important ports in Spain for cruises, with 72 calls to port made by cruise ships in 2007 bringing some 80,000 passengers and 30,000 crew to the city each year. The moves to develop the port for more tourism have been welcomed by the city and its residents, but the latest plans to develop an industrial estate in the port have caused great controversy.

Alicante is located in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula, on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Some orographic features rise over the largely flat terrain where the city is built on including the Cabo de la Huerta, the Serra Grossa, the Tosal and the Benacantil hills.

Alicante has mild winter temperatures, hot and sultry summers, and little rain, concentrated in equinoctial periods. Like the rest of the Province of Alicante itself, which has a range of dry climate types, the city has a hot semi-arid climate (BSh) according to the Köppen climate classification. Daily variations in temperature are generally small because of the stabilising influence of the sea, although occasional periods of westerly wind can produce temperature changes of 15 °C (27 °F) or more. Seasonal temperature variations are also relatively small, meaning that winters are mild and summers are hot. During the summer, due to the evaporation of warm Mediterranean waters, air humidity levels are high, making the day and night stuffy for much of the season. These high humidity levels increase the heat index.

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