I've been meaning to read this, actually, as indirect quasi-research for the book I'm off/on writing about the somewhat strange and overlooked history Benidorm.

Ballard was a big fan of its otherworldly verticality, I believe. And I imagine also of the bizarre juxtaposition of the beer-bellied lager drinkers and the swanky million-euro penthouses and 4-star hotels.

I'm wondering if the ground level debauchery in the shadow of the mile-high luxury there might also have influenced this work. Not that you really have to go beyond London to see examples of that.

Thanks for the recommendation. I suppose in the interests of authenticity I should try to track it down in a second-hand bookstore in the English quarter of downtown Benidorm. There must be one somewhere.