Villajoyosa (ˌbiʎaxoˈʝosa) or La Vila Joiosa (la ˈvila dʒoˈjoza) is a coastal town and municipality

Municipality

A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 in the province of Alicante, Valencian Community

Valencian Community

The Valencian Community is an autonomous community of Spain located in central and south-eastern Iberian Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Valencia...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, by the Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

.

It is the historic and administrative capital of the comarca

Comarca

A comarca is a traditional region or local administrative division found in parts of Spain, Portugal, Panama, Nicaragua, and Brazil. The term is derived from the term marca, meaning a "march, mark", plus the prefix co- meaning "together, jointly".The comarca is known in Aragonese as redolada and...

of Marina Baixa

Marina Baixa

Marina Baixa is a comarca in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is bordered by the comarques of Comtat on the northwest, Marina Alta on the northeast, Alacantí and Alcoià on the west and the Mediterranean Sea on the east....

 and is located 32 km from the city of Alicante

Alicante

Alicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of Alacantí, in the south of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 334,418, estimated , ranking as the second-largest...

, in the coastal area known as Costa Blanca

Costa Blanca

Costa Blanca refers to the over 200 kilometres of coastline belonging to the province of Alicante in Spain. The name "Costa Blanca" was devised as a promotional name used by BEA when they launched their air service between London and Valencia in 1957. It has a well-developed tourism industry...

 (White Coast). La Vila Joiosa literally means Joyful Village, although the inhabitants often abbreviate it to La Vila. It has over three kilometers of beaches, including La Platja Centre (Central Beach), close to the city centre. The river Amadòrio runs through La Vila.

The area is famous for its chocolate

Chocolate

Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...

 industry and tourism

Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

. One of the most popular tourist attractions is its Gothic

Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

 Catholic

Catholic

The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

 church, with a Baroque

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

 altar piece. Another popular destination is the Royal Palm Casino (formerly Casino Costa Blanca). The town is also important for its festival of Moros i cristians, declared an International Tourist Interest Festival.

Twin towns

Vitré, Ille-et-Vilaine

Vitré, Ille-et-Vilaine

Vitré is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in north-western France.Vitré, a sub-prefecture until 1926, is the seat of a canton of around 17,000 inhabitants . It lies on the edge of Brittany, near Normandy, Maine, and Anjou...

, France, since 1989 Quesada, Spain, since 2006 Bullas

Bullas

Bullas is a municipality and town in the Region of Murcia, southeast Spain, located 53 km from the provincial capital, Murcia. it is the highest municipality in the Region of Murcia after Moratalla.The surrounding area is noted for the production of wine....

, Spain, since 2006

External links

• Official website
• Villajoyosa Guide Travel guide for the city of La Vila from a local citizen.
• Photos of La Vila taken by an English tourist over the past 3 years.
• Villajoyosa News, in Spanish and Google English, French ,German...