BENICÀSSIM Festival has kicked off with four full days and nights of some of the hottest rock, pop and indie gigs on the east coast awaiting.
The Comunidad Valenciana's answer to Glastonbury – without the mud – Benicàssim International Festival (FIB) has been under British management for the past few years and is now more popular than ever with UK residents, who are expected to make up most of the 53,000 expected every day, many of whom are now setting up in the camping ground.
Top acts such as The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The Weeknd and Kasabian will be joined by the all-Spanish festival regulars Love of Lesbian, Joe Crepúsculo, Mala Rodríguez and La Casa Azul.
Other global artists and bands include The Jesus and Mary Chain, Kaleo, Stormz and Bonobo, all of whom will be playing at today's (Thursday's) warm-up concerts ahead of the main festival.
Heightened security measures will be in place in light of the recent spate of terror attacks, and for the first time the Guardia Civil at the entrance and on patrol will have a trained sniffer-dog to check every single person entering the festival grounds for explosives and drugs.
Individual searches will not be carried out, with only those flagged up by the dog frisked.
The Castellón province coastal town makes its annual fortune in four days due to the massive influx of music-lovers combining festival fever with beach relaxation – it is practically impossible to find a vacant hotel room without booking months in advance.
This year's FIB weather is mostly expected to be very warm but bearable in the second half, with highs of around 28ºC to 30ºC, although today (Thursday) and part of Friday will still be gripped in the heatwave sweeping across Spain.
