Costa Blanca Property
An area distinguished by its fine climate and that prestigious recommendation from the World Health Organisation, it has fine commercial centres at Valencia, Spain's third largest city, Alicante the main city on the Costa Blanca, Cartagena a former naval base and of course Murcia, a lively university city. Tucked away to the south is the almost unknown area called the Costa Calida and to the north the Costa del Azahar. The principal holiday resorts are Benidorm and Torrevieja.
Close to the sea there are several scenic nature reserves - the freshwater lagoons of L'Albufera, the saltpans of Torrevieja and the limestone crag of the Penya d'Ifach. Inland the mountains around Alcoi await discovery, but the green Jalon Valley is now a magnet for over-development.
Having warmer winters than the Costa Brava, cheaper and less fashionable than the Costa del Sol, the Costa Blanca occupies a prime stretch of Mediterranean coastline with Alicante's airport and main line railway station a major communication hub. Long sandy beaches, in places lined with hotels and apartment blocks, are a feature of the area.
There are two parts to the Costa Blanca. The northern Costa Blanca is the prettiest part with rocky coves backed by rugged green mountains around its main towns of Denia, Javea, Calpe and Altea. Benidorm dominates the central Costa Blanca. Europe's largest single resort has an image problem. Build on success they say . . . and they do, bigger, higher, each hotel more luxurious than the last.
The southern Costa Blanca, below Alicante, one of the fastest-growing areas in Spain for holiday home purchases. Anyone looking for property will invariably come across the town of Torrevieja and Orihuela Costa, the fastest expanding region in Europe where, since the mid 80s, houses have been built at a prodigious rate. In the next five years new homes are to be built at the rate of 6,000 units per year. Selling these homes either for permanent residence, holiday, or to let is a major marketing exercise with companies all over Europe competing with a portfolio of detached, semi-detached, terraced and apartment style properties. What is the attraction? Properties here are cheap, the climate excellent and communications are good. The downside - in summer it is wall to wall with people. The beaches are packed and the restaurants are full. In winter the white urbanisations are mostly uninhabited. Since virtually everything here is new, this is not an area to assimilate Spanish culture.
