A Geographic Guide to the Costa Blanca for Property Buyers

Published September 2026 · Data verified September 2026

The Costa Blanca runs about 200 kilometres from Pilar de la Horadada to Dénia, and asking prices across it range from €1,946/m² in Elche to €4,509/m² in Moraira. The spread within the coast is wider than the gap between the Costa Blanca and the Costa del Sol.

The coast divides cleanly. The south is flat, low-density and the cheapest entry in coastal Spain. The centre is urban, close to the airport and works year-round. The north, the Marina Alta and Marina Baixa, is villa country at roughly double the southern price.

The whole coast on one page

These are asking prices. Alicante province's average deed price is €1,978/m² and the average purchase €203,488, which is what buyers actually paid — the two series answer different questions, as our guide to reading Spanish property prices sets out.

Access, by zone

Alicante airport is the single access point for most of the coast. The far north sits an hour and a half away and is closer to Valencia for some routes, which matters if you fly often.

What each property type means here — a bungalow is a unit in a complex, never a detached house — is in our guide to property types on the Costa Blanca.

1. The south — Vega Baja

Pilar de la Horadada, €3,241/m². The southern gateway, including Torre de la Horadada and Mil Palmeras: modern stock, quieter beaches and a strong new-build presence. Suits easy-to-maintain second homes and family stays.

Orihuela Costa, €2,911/m², up 8.6%. A large resort corridor from Punta Prima and Playa Flamenca to La Zenia, Cabo Roig and Campoamor, with golf at Las Colinas and Villamartín. Suits scale, amenities and resale liquidity.

Torrevieja, €2,553/m², up 9.9%. The south's largest and most liquid entry-price market, with city services, beaches, salt lakes and year-round international communities. The province's most active municipality for new construction, and its largest registered tourist stock.

Guardamar del Segura, €2,649/m², up 12.4%. Dune- and pine-backed beaches at lower density, with more of a local-town feel than the resort strips.

Ciudad Quesada and Rojales, €3,054 and €2,236/m². Villa-led inland resort around La Marquesa Golf — space, private pools, established international living, no frontline beach.

The inland cluster, €2,565–3,250/m². San Miguel de Salinas, Los Montesinos, Algorfa, Benijófar. Golf, villas, low density, and car-dependent.

What to watch. The Vega Baja is 40–50 minutes from the airport. Density of similar product means resale competes with a lot of comparable stock, so specification and position inside an urbanisation matter more than the headline €/m².

2. The centre — Alicante and its corridor

Santa Pola, €2,739/m², up 13.7%. A working port and beach town beside the airport, with Tabarca ferry traffic and a genuine local base. Ten to fifteen minutes from the terminal.

Gran Alacant, €2,981/m², up 7.8%. Large residential developments above Carabassí beach, close to the airport. Newer apartments and townhouses with easy fly-in access.

Alicante city, €2,721/m², up 6.8%. City beaches, university, employment and transport. Home to EUIPO, the largest decentralised EU agency, with more than 1,000 staff and an estimated €452 million of annual regional economic output. The strongest short-term yields on the coast, and a long-term rental fallback beneath them.

Playa de San Juan and El Campello, €3,325/m², up 10.4%. The premium family beach corridor north of the city, connected by tram.

San Juan, Mutxamel, Busot, €2,112–2,521/m². The residential and villa belt behind the coast — schools, plots, lower entry prices. Suits relocation; walk-to-beach living sits on the coast itself.

Elche, €1,946/m², up 12.0%. A major employment and university city near the airport. Urban value and long-term demand, a different use case from the coast.

What to watch. Alicante city caps new tourist registrations. An existing registration is the route in — the position by town hall is in our Costa Blanca rental rules guide.

3. Benidorm and the residential hills

Benidorm, €3,807/m², up 12.6%. Spain's most established high-rise resort: year-round tourism, compact apartments, deep service infrastructure. Hotel occupancy averaged 79.9% in the first half of 2026. The deepest rental liquidity on the coast.

Finestrat, €3,328/m², up 3.8%. The inland village plus the Sierra Cortina and Balcón de Finestrat new-build belt overlooking Benidorm. Modern homes, views and resort amenities.

Villajoyosa, €3,539/m². A colourful old town and a long beach, increasingly pulled into the Benidorm price orbit. The exceptional annual rise recorded in May 2026 reflects a batch of new-build coastal apartments entering the portals, with older town stock largely unchanged.

Polop, La Nucía, l'Alfàs del Pi, €2,507–3,128/m². The residential hills behind Benidorm and Albir — villas, international schools, sports facilities. La Nucía and l'Alfàs both recorded double-digit growth to August 2026.

What to watch. Benidorm apartments are compact by international standards, and the hills need a car for everything.

4. The premium north — Marina Alta

Moraira and Teulada, €4,509/m², up 6.1%. The highest-priced zone on the coast: a compact marina, premium villas, a mature northern-European buyer base. Capital preservation and high-end lifestyle.

Jávea / Xàbia, €4,183/m², up 5.8%. A three-part market — old town, port and Arenal — plus villa areas around Montgó and the coves. Appraisal values rose 13.3% over the year.

Altea, €3,486/m², up 2.5%. A whitewashed old town, marina and villa hills at Altea Hills and Mascarat. Refined and lower-density.

Calpe, €3,470/m², up 2.4%. A high-density resort around the Peñón de Ifach, two long beaches, a marina and a deep apartment market. The lower northern entry point against Moraira or Jávea.

Benissa Costa, €3,578/m². A low-density villa coast of coves and hillside urbanisations between Calpe and Moraira. Privacy and sea-view villas.

Cumbre del Sol, €3,326/m². A master-planned sea-view resort in Benitachell, dominated by villas and new-build product.

Dénia, €3,348/m², up 8.8%. A real regional town with a marina, castle, long sandy beaches and ferries to the Balearics, and a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy. The broadest lifestyle market in the north with the strongest year-round services.

The villa market across these enclaves is analysed in our premium north analysis.

What to watch. Jávea and Altea now cap new tourist registrations, and Dénia limits them by zone. Villa resale depth in the north turns on price, views, access and planning status, so a valuation there is property-specific and €/m² alone will mislead.

Matching the zone to the purpose

The three things that change the answer most

How far you will be from the airport. Ten minutes at Santa Pola against ninety at Dénia. It decides how often a second home actually gets used.

Whether income is part of the plan. Alicante city, Jávea and Altea cap new registrations, and Dénia limits them by zone. Establish the position before the area, because it removes whole stretches.

Whether you need a car. The southern resorts and the central corridor work without one. The hills behind Benidorm and the villa coast in the north do not.

How Directimo works

Directimo represents the buyer, never the seller. Listing agents in Spain are contracted by the vendor and paid to protect the vendor's price.

We shortlist across every zone on the coast, beyond any single agency's inventory, value against deed comparables in the specific street, and check the licence and statutory position for the address before you commit. The properties we source average 13.5% below area market prices. We have completed more than 1,000 transactions since 2011, totalling over €300M in property sold.

Narrow the coast down to a shortlist: directimo.com/advisory-call

The purchase process is in our Costa Blanca buyer's journey, the full costs in our Costa Blanca costs and taxes guide, yields by market in our Costa Blanca rental yields analysis, and the equivalent guide to the other coast in our Costa del Sol geographic guide.

Sources. Directimo Costa Blanca Market Report, September 2026 — asking prices and annual changes by zone, access and amenity ratings, and municipal licence status. Consejo General del Notariado — average transaction price and average purchase amount, Alicante province, twelve months to mid-2026. Generalitat Valenciana and municipal ordinances — tourist registration position by town hall, September 2026. Instituto Nacional de Estadística — hotel occupancy, Alicante province, first half of 2026. Directimo transaction record.

Method. Zone figures are asking prices per built square metre and are not comparable with the provincial deed average, which covers every property type across the province and runs below coastal asking prices. Entries marked as proxies in the source use the wider municipality, which includes inland stock. Villajoyosa's annual change is excluded because the recorded rise reflects new-build stock entering the portals. Municipal licence positions are stated as at September 2026 and are reviewed quarterly.

This guide is market research, not investment, legal or tax advice. Prices, licence positions and services are specific to each address and should be confirmed before any offer.