Alicanteos

Walking in the streets of Alicante you will hear people talking in Romanian, German, English, French on some rare occasion you will hear Spanish. Alicante has 318,000 inhabitants (31,000 foreigners mainly from United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Eastern Europe). You can live there without speaking any Spanish as most people in shops, restaurants; banks speak some English. In fact, learning English seem to be the priority of many Spaniard there as it offer more employment opportunity.
The staff of a bank may talk up to 4 languages. Tourism and services are the main economic activities.

The pedestrian will enjoy a walk passing around this entire seafront area, via the Paseo de Gómiz, Paseo de Conde de Vallelano and Paseo del Almirante Julio Guillén Tato. Parallel to these streets are other areas of interest, including the famous Explanada de España. This is a promenade lined with leafy palm trees, nearly half a kilometre in length, and paved with an enormous tri-coloured marble mosaic formed of 6,600,000 pieces. Everyone pass there citizens and tourists this is a vital place of the city . The Explanada is overlooked by historic houses, such as for example, the Casa Carbonell next to the Puerta del Mar. Nearby there is also the castle of Santa Barbara and the Postiguet’s beach. You will never get bored of this area of the city
Occasionally you will see big ferries going to north Africa.

Due to its size Alicante has all facilities of a modern city 4 large commercial centers
with cinemas and load of shops where you can buy virtually everything from Versace clothes to porcelain cups.

In the north of the city are San Juan and El Campello, this where property buyers are
interested to settle , the area is quieter than the center of Alicante except may be during the summer season. San Juan has a 7 Km blue flag white sandy beach during the winter in January the temperature is often around 18 to 22 degree having a walk on this beach free of tourist is a real pleasure. San Juan and El Campello are well served by tramway and bus. Take 10 minutes of bus from San Juan to be in the center of Alicante. Ticket price is less than 1 euro (0,85 euro - 2003 price) Additionally, there are enough shops that you will not need to go in Alicante often. In june, you have a big fiesta in the Hogueras de San Juan celebrating the arrival of summer with open-air dances, which culminated with the lighting of bonfires and were joined with the fiestas of St. John.

The real estate market is very dynamic in both San Juan and El campello with more new development taking place in San Juan than in El Campello, El campello tend to be very expensive and price rise are excepted in the future. A resale villa with 3 bedrooms starts at 300,000 euro. Nonetheless, if you have the fund to live in one of those high quality places go for it.

Altea a town of 15,910 inhabitants (as of 2004) located in the north of the province of Alicante. This town has a reputation of being one of the most charming. The presence of many antique dealers indicates a different style of tourism in Altea compared to other coastal town. If you want to buy an antique helmet Altea is the place.
The town has a medieval aspect to it, you usually find this aspect in the more inland towns but Altea has it too. Altea has a park called Cactuslandia, where you can find 1,500 species of cactus.

If you use internet to find a property in Altea, there a market of new development. Altea Natura offers f 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments in blocks of 4 storeys. All apartments come fully furnished, prices are between 170,000 euro and 350,000 euro for an apartment.
Residencial Oasis Beach offers duplex and appartement of high standing for 240,000 euro. Check their website for more info : http://www.residencialoasisbeach.com/

Benidorm is the capital of the Costa Blanca situated 41 km from Alicante. Benidorm became one of the most popular holiday resort in Europe during the 60’ with the boom of mass tourism. Benidorm enjoy visitors all the time during winter and summer. Benidorm get tourists from all over the world officially only 52,000 people live in Benidorm, but the town report more than 4 millions visitors per year. The micro-climate gives this town more than 3,000 hours of sun per year. The main tourist activity in Benidorm is spending time at the beach winter and summer, the Benidorm beaches are almost always sunny. The two main beaches of Benidorm are Levante beach(2,084-metre long Playa de Levante beach) and Poniente Beach (3,200-metre long Playa de Poniente beach stretches from the port as far as a point known Cabezo del Tosal, next to Cala Finestrat cove) .

Benidorm has its own theme park the well know TERRA MÍTICA on surface of 1 million square meters you will have the opportunities to enjoy attractions about the main civilizations of the Mediterranean: the mysterious Egypt, mythical Greece, the Roman Empire, the fun of Iberia, and the secrets of the Islands. TERRA MÍTICA has its own rail station and is easy to access with the Alicante-Denia F.G.V. line.

The word Benidorm has its root in the arab words Benid HarHim because this territory used to be owned by the arab family Dharmin. In the streets of Benidorm you can see some reminiscence of the arab root. Have a loot at the Calle de Alameda, El Passeig de la Carretera.
2 miles away from the coast, there is an small island, there is a boat to go on this island every hour for visit.

Tourism is the main business more than 35,000 beds in the hotels, 210,000 flat for holiday let, campings capacity for 5,000 people. Benidorm is the third hotels place in Europe after Paris and London. Benidorm has also a large selection of pubs, discotheques, bars, shopping malls and restaurants. Benidorm has a museum of Agriculture, dedicated to the work in farm and countryside.

Benissa a small town of 10,000 inhabitants (as of 2004), located 12 Km from Calpe and 71 Km from Alicante , situated at 274 m from the sea level, denominated el mirador de la Marina (the view of the Marina).

Temple of quietness has beautiful antique streets and a micro-climates that keep this city hot , Benissa has 4 km of coast and cobbled alleys, walls hundreds of years old, Moorish trellis-work, heraldic shields and ancient manorial homes. Benissa stands between 400 and 800 meters in an mountainous amphitheater, where there are Las sierras de Olta , Bèrnia, Lloma Llarga, la Solana and el Castellar. Under the 300 Meter, a large number of precipices are forming an abrupt landscape, , where almonds tree and olive trees bloom supported in stone walls which they have been made with extreme care by the local farmers.

During the winter, Calpe enjoy enjoy a good climate having a walk in the streets or on the beach you will hear the people talking in French, English or German , people in the shops and restaurants often speak English and French. Calpe is very appreciated among the expats. Calpe is known for its rock called the peñon the Ifach often compared to the Peñon of Gibraltar. Calpe keep a strict old Spanish architecture style with not that many modern building compared to Benidorm. In fact, Calpe is more relaxing place to be than Benidorm . Real estate in Calpe tend to be expensive with apartment price starting at 120,000 euro for a 2 bedrooms, a newly developed duplex villa with 3 bedrooms will cost you around 250,000 Euro, a similar will cost you around 150,000 euro in Torrevieja.

Choosing Calpe over a cheaper place is really a matter of taste. Calpe has a lot of charm and it worth visiting, the number of new development is still important so for sure you will find something. Calpe is the ideal place to buy a second residence for holiday or investment.

The word Denia come from the goddess Diana (also as Artemis for the Greek, goddess of the hunt). The city has Roman origin and was dedicated to that goddess.
Denia is located 20 Kms from the sea, the city is known to be a good holiday resort where visitors can practices sports such as sailing, Windsurfing, Diving, Fishing, Tennis, Golf (18 hole), Riding, Hiking, Biking, Karting. Historic monument includes The Castle of Dénia, Church and Convent “San Antonio” and a few museums.
From Denia you can take the ferry to visit the Balearic island, there is also a special railway line(Limón Express) that link Denia to Alicante. The city of Valencia is also not too far away from Denia less than 30 minutes of driving.

If you love nature the natural park of Montgo is a must see. Montgo is establish on the territory of Denia and Javea almost parallel with the coast line, the highest point reaches the altitude of 753 M. There is rich a flora with more than 600 species with many of them being endemics. Denia has a speciality for fishes and seafood , One of its most popular specialty is the gamba roja (red shrimps), popular restaurants are El poblet , El Pegoli, Drassanes.

Denia has 39,000 inhabitants (as of 2004) and a fair share of British and German ex-pats. Like many places on the Costa Blanca , Denia is in real estate boom, there are an estimate 40,000 apartements to let for holidays. Many new development of villa, duplex and appartements also take place in Denia. Unlike some other city Denia is not phantom during the winter. If you are interested to settle there, I encourage you to visit the city during December or January. You will see the real Denia with less tourists but still many foreigners. There is an English school around in the town of Javea for student between 7 and 11 years old. The programme is based on the British National Curriculum. More info at http://www.firsprimary.com/educ.htm

In that desert area Elche is a real oasis you will understand that statement when you will be in the Palmeral of Elche (listed in UNESCO’s World Heritage List) on a surface of 507′4 ha (5.074.193 m2). The Palmeral is definitively the landmark of this place. This is a very green city with 12,39 m2 per inhabitants they are so much park and green space there, that make Elche a very pleasant environment to live and may be work. Elche has close to 167,000 inhabitant this is the biggest city of the area with Alicante ( 318,000 inhabitants).

Elche is a very cultural city. They are a lot of things to do there even if you are not a tourist and live there on permanent basis , Elche has various festivals such as el Festival Internacional de Teatro y Música Medieval(Festival international of theater and medieval music), Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente de Elche (Festival international of independent films)and the Festival Internacional de la Oralidad. The excellent climate (average : 17 °C during the winter and 26 °C during the summer) of the area make it possible to practice outdoor all the time during the year. They are infrastructure to practice football, rugby, athletic, climbing and roller-staking . The various natural parks, the zoo, the museums, the antiques buildings and the calm and peaceful atmosphere make of Elche a pleasant place to live. If you speak Spanish you have more chance to find a job there. In fact, I have a few British friends working in Elche.

Elche has it own industrial area (Elche Parque Industrial ) with more than 80 companies, job seekers may consider to apply to one of those companies , the list is available at http://www.elcheparqueindustrial.com/index_in.asp. Shoes making, construction, tourism, agriculture are the sectors that work well in Elche.

If you want to settle in the expat community Elche may not be for you. It is very necessary to speak Spanish there, but then Elche has it advantage cheaper price for to buy or rent a house or flat, job opportunity, well located near Alicante airport and the various freeways, good infrastructure and of course, Elche is the so researched real Spain.

Located 92 Km from Alicante , Javea-Xàbia has 18,753 inhabitants. The town has some interesting monuments such as the San Bartolomé’s church of gothic style, it was built in 16th century by Domingo Urteaga, there are also the old military towers built in the 14th century. Javea- Xàbia enjoy en excellent climate located near the natural park of Montgo and deserved by a railway line (Limon Express) that link Denia- Javea and Alicante and some other cities on the coast line.

Large and spacious villa is common in Javea/Xabia, this situation tend to attract rich expats from all part of Europe. Properties prices for a villa with seaview are between 600,000 Euro and 1,200,000 euro, without a seaview more inland villas are between 300,000 Euro and 500,000 euro, but it is still possible to find cheaper house in the new development market. Some neighborhood of Javea seem entirely new and some seems older in fact the center of the town is older classic Spanish architecture but the closer you are from the sea, the newer the building are. Even some entire streets seem to only be populate by newly build houses and apartments. Hopefully, they are not tall building in Javea that’s the difference with town like Benidorm and Calpe. Even if there are new construction they respect a certain style.

Ondara’s bullring in the avenue Dr. Fleming is what made Ondara a famous town has most notable bullfighters performed there. Nowadays, Ondara organize another varitiey of game involving bulls but this time they aren’t hurt. The game involves picking flowers from the bull’s ears, running across the ring wearing a rubber tyre and fishing eels out of a bucket, all without touching or being caught by the bull.
The animals will wear rubber balls on their horns to avoid any injuries. But La tauromaquia (bullfighting) is still the main fiesta.

Ondara has affection for bulls as you can see. When the bullring was destroyed during
the Civil War it was later rebuilt in 1957 as this city is definitely a matador heaven. This is also demonstrated by the Plaza de Toros built in 1801. Ondara is located 16 Km inland from the coast near Denia and Benidoleig in the mountainous Marina Alta.
If you love hiking and sport related to mountains the area is worth a visit and consideration. The town is adding facilities for people who which to practice climbing. They are also improving the lodging capacity.

There are not a lot of foreign tourists in this town of 5,511 inhabitants. This is the real Spain with all the tradition that you have better to respect or adopt if you want to have good relationship with the locals. Ondara’s economy is based on services and trade. They have a lot good restaurants with more than 20 different type of Tapas.

The real estate market in Ondara is dynamic with offers for flat, apartment, villa. Prices are in the average of the Costa Blanca , around 130-170,000 Euro for apartment with 3 bedrooms (annual price rise is 9 %).

Orihuela (Oriola)

Orihuela has 54,000 inhabitants (as of 2004), located inland 54 km from Alicante and 15 km from Murcia, Orihuela is in the south of the Alicante’s province. An ideal location for traveler because they have the choice between Murcia Airport (15 minutes by car) and Alicante airport (40 minutes by car).
Orihuela is one of the most if not the most monumental city of the province. The river Segura crosses the city doing good (for the agriculture) and bad (floods) for the population. Orihuela is the most monumental city of the province of Alicante, the street of Orihuela have churches, palaces, museums , this is an authentic art show off.
Even the office of tourism is located in the Palace of Marqués de Rubalcava building of neo-baroque style a large part of building is open to visitors. In the same building you can find the Museum of Reconquest , dedicated to the celebration Moors and Christians.
(more…)