The city of Alicante will host the annual GeocoinFest Europe event, a sport-game for locating objects using GPS. It is the first time that this event has been held in Spain and Alicante is the chosen location, having been held in such iconic settings as the Pitzal ski resort in Austria, Nantes, in France, and Portugal.
From September 20 to 22, some 1,500 people will descend on Alicante, with participants from across Spain, France, Portugal, the United Kingdom and Germany meeting to participate in the GeocoinFest Europe, according to the brief from the organisers.
Geocaching is a sport-game that consists of locating objects with the help of a GPS that another player has hidden anywhere in the world, always in public places. According to Gustavo Moltó, spokesperson for the organisers, “it is a game or sport for the whole family that consists of locating ‘caches’ that are ‘small treasures’ that are accompanied by record books where it is recorded that the object has been found, although it is also recorded in the geocaching website.” The player can leave another object or “cache” in the same place and does not usually take the one they find, it is only recorded in the book and on the website to verify that they reached the “hidden” place.
The GeocoinFest Europe will be held in September in Alicante and the main event will take place at the Castle of Santa Bárbara, where it is planned to install a store for “caches” and collectible coins and give talks and organise workshops and activities related to geocaching. In addition, two routes with “hidden treasures” will be enabled for participants in the event.
Moltó highlights that “the world of geocaching is very aware of the preservation of the environment, which is why biodegradable jars are used when caches are hidden in rural areas.” “And when organised events are held, a day is usually dedicated to cleaning the places where the routes run,” he adds.
