Alicante, or Alacant in the local dialect, is a famous holiday resort on the Costa Blanca coast in the region of Valencia. The city has a distinctly cosmopolitan and elegant character, which is not found in other cities on the coast. Alicante has close to 350,000 inhabitants, which makes the city Spain's eighth largest.

In Alicante there is much to see and much to do. A day in Alicante can start with a dip in the sea, a lunch at a cozy cafe on the beach, a sightseeing tour among all the city's archaeological remains and then, finally, a full evening in the city's entertainment district.

However, many are devoted to this city. Some consider it to be a genuine Spanish city, with a metropolitan pulse and exciting history. Others believe that the best thing about the city is its airport…

For the vast majority of Swedes who visit the Costa Blanca, however, Alicante is mostly a city for a day trip. Most people usually go on (the slightly quieter, cleaner and nicer seaside resort of Torrevieja is most popular) after they land at the airport. But of course there are a lot of nice sights and good shopping in the city!

Entertainment Alicante

Alicante, like all other cities in the south of Spain, has an entertainment life that is well lived. During the slightly cooler months, entertainment is focused in the city center, while during the warm months it is mainly the beach Playa de San Juan that is the center of entertainment.

Alicante especially comes alive during any of the festivals that are organized every year. Fogueres de Sant Joan is a festival that is organized at the summer solstice and the following week a light festival is celebrated on the beach Playa del Postiguet. Moros i Christians is another festival that alone is worth the ticket.

Shopping in Alicante

The shopping is good in this city and there is a lot to choose from at very good prices on most things. Leather products are the local specialty, and leather is therefore of high quality at low prices. You will find most shops and large department stores on Avenida Maisonnave. Even in the old town and central Alicante you will find a smaller number of clothes shops, shoe shops, craft shops, etc. If you want to shop all in one place, of course El Corte Ingles on Avenida Federico Soto applies. Or why not, even better, the large shopping center Panoramis, which is located by the marina.

Personally, we like going to a traditional Spanish market the most. Best market in Alicante is Mercado Central . It is open from about 7:30 to 2:30 every day except Sundays and public holidays. Address: Avenida de Alfonso X El Sabio.

Sights Alicante

Benacantil mountain with the Castell de Santa Bàrbara castle is the main historical attraction in Alicante. It is practically impossible to miss the castle as it is located high above the city. Another historical attraction worth a visit is the Basilica of Santa María. For a more condensed experience of all the attractions in the city, there are no fewer than ten museums, several of which are award-winning.

Another attraction is the promenade Explanada de España, which runs from the harbor into town. Do as the Alicante people do; take a lovely paseo on the palm-lined promenade to work up an appetite for dinner!

History of Alicante

Alicante, like so many other cities in Spain, was founded by the Romans. When the Romans later left, the Moors took over. In 1246 Alicante was then incorporated into the growing Kingdom of Castile and shortly thereafter the city became part of the Kingdom of Valencia.

Alicante's more modern history is not immediately cheerful reading. For several hundred years, Alicante was at the center of the unrest between Castile and Aragon, and when King Philip II between the years 1609-1614 threw out the last remaining Moors, the city lost a whole cadre of skilled professionals and Alicante suffered major financial problems as a result. The slump stood through the war of the Spanish succession, through the civil war and right up to Franco's last days.

Since then, however, Alicante has flourished. Tourism has grown steadily since the 1960s and the port is a major source of income, especially for cruise ships.

Housing in Alicante

 

In 2013 (which also applies to 2015 and a few more years) several heavy international players considered the Alicante province, which is on an upward curve, to be one of the most affordable areas in the world for property seekers. This is because a lot of positive things are happening in the area at the same time as prices fell by almost 50% during the crisis years.

Nearby Torrevieja is most popular with both holiday home buyers and investors. In Alicante itself, there are still a lot of bank objects by the way. However, these are often in need of renovation, and are not located near beaches (then the prices rise significantly) etc. Write to info@spanskafastigheter if you are interested in knowing more about the situation on the housing market in and around Alicante. Archive with examples of our homes in and around Alicante province.

Article with statistics on rentals, ROI, etc. Best areas to invest in Spain.

Communications, weather, hotels, rental cars and flights

Alicante may be the second largest city in the region of Valencia after the city of Valencia itself, but Alicante-Elche Airport, located approximately 10 km south of Alicante, is significantly larger than the one serving Valencia. It is possible to fly both regularly and with low-cost airlines to Alicante from Sweden. Several low-cost companies have routes from several locations in Sweden. Read more about the cheapest way to fly to Spain, including Alicante.

Communications by car, bus and train to and from Alicante are very good because the city is located in the middle of the transport routes along the coast towards the Mediterranean.

It is also very cheap to rent a car in the area. Read more about which car rental companies are the cheapest and most reliable (as well as what to consider when it comes to traffic in Spain).

There is plenty of affordable accommodation in the city. We usually recommend that you book through Hotels.com, which has a price guarantee!

Weather in Alicante

The area has very mild winters, pleasant spring and autumn temperatures and hot summers - that's how you can sum up the weather in Alicante. Or as our realtor in the area put it last year at the end of January "I read about the number of hours of sunshine in Stockholm during January and realize that I get more sun here in two days than during the whole of January back home in Sweden". It rarely gets chilly in the city, not even around December-January, and the sea is suitable for swimming more than six months a year. The weather on the Costa Blanca is comparable to the Costa del Sol (although it blows a bit warmer on parts of the Costa del Sol when you get African winds).