A home in Alicante, the city one
The Costa Blanca’s capital: a real Mediterranean city with a castle over the port, a palm-lined seafront, and a long sandy beach a tram ride north. Here is what Alicante is really like to buy in, and how it works from abroad.
Alicante is the one genuine city on this stretch of coast, and that changes everything. It has year-round working life, a university, hospitals, an old town that fills at night and an international airport twenty minutes out. People buy here to live, not just to summer.
It really runs as two places. The city itself, around the Explanada, the marina, the market and the castle-topped old town, is urban apartment living with everything walkable. Then, a few kilometres north, Playa de San Juan is a long sandy beach with its own quieter world of apartment blocks and villas, part resort, part suburb.
Because it is a city, the market is broader and steadier than the resort towns: more year-round demand, more rental depth, and a wider spread from characterful old-town flats to new builds by the beach. It suits buyers who want Spain as daily life, not only as a holiday.
City or beach, mainly. Here is who each tends to suit.
The old town & centre
El Barrio, the market, the Explanada and the marina under Santa Bárbara castle. Characterful apartments, everything walkable, real city life day and night. The pick for living in Spain, not just visiting.
Playa de San Juan
The long sandy beach a few kilometres north: apartment blocks and villas, calmer and greener, part resort and part suburb. Beach living with the city a tram ride away.
Albufereta & the coast road
The coves and slopes between the centre and San Juan: sea-view apartments and villas, a middle ground between city buzz and beach calm.
Vistahermosa & the north suburbs
Newer, greener residential districts inland of the beach: family homes and modern blocks, quieter, popular with people living here full-time.
A city market, broader than the resort towns. A few things worth knowing.
You can buy as a non-resident
No restriction on foreigners owning here. You will need an NIE and a Spanish bank account, which we help you set up early so nothing stalls at the notary.
City flat or beach at San Juan
They are different lives: walkable year-round city versus a sandy-beach base a tram ride out. We are straight about which suits how you actually want to spend your days.
Old stock and new build both exist
The centre has characterful older apartments that sometimes need work or lack a lift; San Juan and the suburbs have newer builds. Each has its checks. We help you see which you are really looking at.
Community and the building’s state
Most homes here are apartments in a community. Fees, the state of the block and any pending works matter. We gather the community accounts and the nota simple so your lawyer can check before you commit.
Is Alicante a good place to buy?
If you want a real city, year-round life, an airport twenty minutes away and a long beach nearby, it is one of the best on the coast. It suits living in Spain more than a pure holiday base, which is exactly why many buyers choose it.
City centre or Playa de San Juan?
The centre for walkable, year-round city life and character; San Juan for a sandy beach and a calmer, greener setting with the city a tram ride away. We weigh them against your day-to-day.
Can foreigners buy in Alicante?
Yes, with no nationality restriction. You will need an NIE and a Spanish bank account. Non-resident mortgages work differently, and we can introduce you to a broker who handles them.
Is it good for living there full-time?
It is one of the best on this coast for it: a working city with a university, hospitals, year-round shops and culture, and an international airport close by for getting home.
How far is the airport?
Alicante–Elche airport is about twenty minutes from the city, one of the shortest airport hops on the whole coast, which is a real advantage if you will be travelling back and forth.
Tell us what you are picturing.
A characterful flat in the centre or a place by the beach at San Juan, to live in year-round or escape to. Tell us the plan and you will get a straight, useful answer, not a sales pitch.