Strains of the Beijing genotype family of Mycobacterium tuberculosis have been associated with outbreaks and multidrug resistance. We performed a retrospective thirteen-year surveillance study (1993 - 2005) on the occurrence of this strain in Elche, Spain. Only one of the available isolates from 332 cases of tuberculosis tested positive for Beijing strain. The case, detected in 2001, was that of an immigrant patient from Senegal with pulmonary tuberculosis. The strain was not drug resistant and besides six close contact persons that were infected no secondary cases of this strain were detected. In the Elche area, the incidence of Beijing strains is very low and there is no evidence of transmission or higher virulence.