If you're looking to move to or buy a holiday home in Spain, you've made a great choice. Deciding exactly where in Spain, though, can be far more challenging: The options are endless, so how do you narrow it down?
The popular Costa Blanca is highly varied with something for everyone, so where would be the best area for the life you want to lead?
The Costa Blanca is one of Europe's favourite destinations – Moraira (pictured) is extremely popular with expatriates. Photo: Canva
The 'two Costa Blancas'
One of Spain's earliest destinations for foreign holidaymakers and now home to a long-established multi-national community, the Costa Blanca is as richly diverse as its inhabitants, who have unofficially divided 244 kilometres of the Alicante-province coastline into "North Costa Blanca" and "South Costa Blanca".
This article focuses on the North Costa Blanca, which extends from just above Alicante city to the border with Valencia province.
Finding the right lifestyle-location match is crucial, so here's an overview of life on the North Costa Blanca to aid your decision-making – but check out Best places to live on the South Costa Blanca, too, as a comparison.
How is the North Costa Blanca different from the South?
The North Costa Blanca - comprising the districts of Marina Baixa and Marina Alta - is more 'traditionally Spanish' than the South, and European expatriates are fewer and more scattered. The advantage of the North Costa Blanca for foreign residents is that it's a 'gateway' to an authentic Spanish lifestyle, yet with a safety net.
The main features that make the North Costa Blanca different are:
Urbanisations (purpose-built residential complexes) become fewer, smaller and farther apart the more northwards you travel, and are much closer to the main hub of their towns and villages.
Costa Blanca urbanisations usually have an exceptionally-high foreigner population, normally from northern Europe, whilst Spanish-owned properties on them are predominantly summer homes. The South Costa Blanca's extensive villa and apartment complexes therefore mean considerably more expatriates than in the north.
- More villages, much smaller towns
The North Costa Blanca is mostly made up of lots of villages a short distance apart and very well-connected to each other, whilst the southern half is much more densely populated. The North only has one town of more than 50,000 inhabitants – Benidorm – whereas the south has several big towns and two cities.
Generally, the north is greener, more forested, rural and mountainous, whilst the south, certainly along the coast, is flatter and more arid.
- Greater national mix in foreign communities
Areas with a high foreigner population in the North are more culturally-diverse. The large, multinational European communities are often outnumbered by expatriates from elsewhere in the world, opening up a world of diverse cultural exchange.
Read mroe at thinkSPAIN.com