Summary This paper deals with the geomorphology and sedimentology of hitherto undescribed dissected Pleistocene alluvial fans of the Benidorm/Alicante region of southeast Spain. A coalescent fan complex is described in detail and two main phases in its development are identified. The early phases, predominantly of fan accumulation culminated in the formation of large coalescent fans where upper surfaces are capped by a well developed caliche crust. Deposition was by fluvial processes, both within channels and on open fan surfaces, and by mass movement. There were spatial and temporal variations in sedimentation with periods of caliche formation on fan surfaces between periods of deposition. There is evidence of numberous cut and fill sequences during the fan accumulation, some of which appear to be local and others which appear to reflect major environmental changes. One such sequence occurs towards the end of the accumulation phases when large channels were cut in the fan surface then filled with gravel. The later phases of fan development were predominantly of fan dissection but include major valley cutting and filling sequences, which postdate the formation of the main caliche crust on the upper fan surfaces. The dissection sequences differ between the various valleys trenched into the fans, the most complex of which has four distinct valley fills, two of which are widespread. A broad chronology is suggested, based in part on the relationships between fan deposits and Pleistocene marine and aeolianite deposits. The accumulation phases appear to be pre-Wurm and the dissection phases Wurm and Holocene in age. The chronology of fan sequence is complicated by the problems of differentiating between the results of major environmental change and those of a complex geomorphic response, characteristic of fan environments in semi-arid areas. These problems are illustrated in relation to the modern morphology on a small fan. Localised erosion and deposition are seen in relation to channel form and slope, but the locations of dominant erosion or deposition have changed during the more recent phases of fan development.