Kim’s surreal copy of Benidorm: North Korea’s Spanish-style resort opens (and it’s as bizarre as you imagine)

Imagine for a moment the vibe of beautiful Benidorm, in Spain: sunny beaches, high-rise hotels, lazy afternoons by the sea.

Now transplant that stunning image to a militarised, secretive state with a rich history of human rights abuses. Sounds strange? It gets stranger.

Now you’re in Wonsan Kalma, North Korea’s newest resort in the east of the country, hailed by Kim Jong Un as a “world-class tourist and cultural destination.” And it just opened its doors to foreign tourists, with the initial goal to attract over one million holidaymakers, primarily from Russia and China.

A Spanish resort reimagined in dictatorship

The story behind Wonsan Kalma is quite surreal. Back in 2017, Kim Jong Un himself reportedly sent a big team of North Korean architects and officials on a fact-finding mission to Benidorm.

They took notes on everything in the Spanish town: hotels, theme parks, the marina, and even the artificial lake concept.

The result? Wonsan Kalma, a bizarre echo of the Spanish coast, dropped into one of the world’s most closed-off countries. The resort includes 43 beachfront hotels, guesthouses on an artificial lake, campsites, and even an aquatic park with towering yellow slides. It’s all designed to mimic a Mediterranean-style escape.

A Benidorm in North Korea, but with no freedom

So, Wonsan Kalma was inaugurated last month and now welcomed its first foreign tourists. Well, to be precise, we are talking about 12 Russian tourists, on a week-long trip that cost them $1,800 (around €1,550), according to the BBC.

Of course, there’s a catch: unlike Benidorm, freedom isn’t part of the package. You’re always being watched, and the water park doesn’t quite hide the scars of forced labour.

The brutal story behind Wonsan Kalma

And unlike Benidorm and Spain, where tourism drives opportunity, North Korea’s version is haunted by the brutal conditions under which it was built.

Satellite images, internal documents, and testimonies from North Korean defectors, compiled by BBC, point to the systematic use of forced labour. Workers endured hunger, extreme hours, and in some cases, even death.

Kang Gyuri, a defector who lived in Wonsan, says her cousin volunteered for construction hoping to earn favour with the regime. What he got instead was exhaustion, near-starvation, and no compensation. “He could hardly sleep. They didn’t give him enough to eat. Some people just died while working,” she told BBC.

Could Wonsan Kalma become popular among Russians?

Despite its big ambition, Wonsan Kalma is far from becoming the new Benidorm. It would be impossible, right?

North Korea remains tightly sealed off, while Russian tourists have far easier and safer options in countries like Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam or Egypt.

Still, three Russian agencies are now offering North Korea tour packages, with more scheduled for August. But experts remain reserved. “It’s highly unlikely to become seriously popular with Russian visitors,” says Andrei Lankov, a Seoul-based expert.

But what remains is that North Korea built a resort inspired by Benidorm, a sign that you can take inspiration even from what the capitalists and imperialists do. Quite ironic, isn’t it?

So, tempted to book a trip? Tell us in the comments.

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