Property News from Spain

Spain's mainland Mediterranean coast is where some of the best beaches, warmest weather, greatest choice of homes for sale and most diverse mix of nationalities are found. The Costa Blanca, about halfway down this coast, encompasses the entire shoreline of the province of Alicante and a few kilometres inland from it. It's one of Europe's favourite destinations: Holidaymakers and foreign residents have been visiting, returning to and settling there for generations.

When deciding on the best Costa Blanca location to move to, it helps to know which areas are most suitable for your chosen lifestyle.

The Costa Blanca's split personality

In reality, there are two Costa Blancas. Whilst not their official titles and never referred to as such in Spanish, expatriates of various nationalities have been identifying their part of the coast as North Costa Blanca and South Costa Blanca for decades. Those who live in one half, after visiting the other for the first time, are stunned at the contrast and struggle to believe they're both in the same province.

The invisible border invented by foreign residents is broadly considered to be just north of the Alicante metropolitan area, known as the Campo de Alicante or L'Alacantí. The North takes in the districts of the Marina Baixa, which backs onto the metropolitan zone, and the Marina Alta, which finishes where Valencia province starts. Alicante city, and everything between it and the next region, Murcia, is the South. This includes the Vega Baja del Segura district and the Baix Vinalopó.

North and South Costa Blanca: What's the difference?

As a general rule, the farther south along the Costa you travel, the greater the expat influence and presence is. Whilst the far north of the coast remains much more unspoilt and 'traditionally Spanish', the far south is swallowed up by huge urbanisations, or residential complexes, occupied almost exclusively by northern Europeans. The main differences are:

• South Costa Blanca expatriates are generally – although, of course, not always – less integrated, since they are heavily clustered together and have limited contact with the local Spanish community. North Costa Blanca expatriates live in or close to small towns and villages, and are more thinly spread, so they interact more with Spaniards.
• Foreigners on the Costa Blanca South are more likely to be part-time expatriates, spending several months per year in their holiday homes, although foreigners of many years' or decades' permanent residence are the majority on the Costa Blanca North.
• In the southern half, the dominant, and often only, language among locals is Spanish, whilst in the northern half, Spanish coexists with or even takes a back seat to the co-official regional tongue, valenciano.
• The North Costa Blancais greener, more mountainous, forested and rugged, and the South Costa Blanca drier, flatter and more desert-like.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com