Alicante, or Alacant in the local dialect, is a famous holiday resort in Costa Blanca coast in the region Valencia. The city has a distinctly cosmopolitan and elegant character, not found in other cities on the coast. Alicante has nearly 350,000 inhabitants, making it the eighth largest city in Spain.

There is a lot to see and do in Alicante. A day in Alicante can start with a swim in the sea, lunch at a cozy café on the beach, a sightseeing tour of all the city's archaeological remains and then, finally, a full evening in the city's entertainment district.

However, many people are divided on this city. Some believe it is a genuine Spanish city, with a metropolitan vibe and an 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 further (the slightly quieter, cleaner and nicer seaside resort Torrevieja is most popular) after they land at the airport. But there are certainly a lot of nice sights and good shopping in the city!

Nightlife Alicante

Alicante, like all other cities in southern Spain, has a lively entertainment scene. During the cooler months, the entertainment scene is focused in the city center, while during the warmer months, the beach Playa de San Juan is the entertainment town center .

Alicante especially comes alive during one of the many festivals that take place each year. Fogueres de Sant Joan is a festival held on the summer solstice and the following week there is a festival of lights on the beach of Playa del Postiguet. Moros i Christians is another festival that is worth the ticket alone.

Shopping in Alicante

Shopping is good in this city and there is a lot to choose from at very good prices for 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. Also in the old town and central Alicante there is a smaller abundance of clothing stores, shoe stores, craft shops, etc. If you want to shop everything in one place, El Corte Ingles on Avenida Federico Soto is of course the place to go. Or why not even better, the large shopping center Panoramis, which is located by the marina.

Personally, we like to go to a traditional Spanish market the most. The best market in Alicante is Central Market. It is open from approximately 7:30 am to 2:30 am every day except Sundays and public holidays. Address: Avenida de Alfonso X El Sabio.

Attractions Alicante

Mount Benacantil with the castle Castell de Santa Bàrbara 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 less than a dozen museums, several of which are award-winning.

Another attraction is the Explanada de España promenade that runs from the port into the city. Do as the Alicante locals do; take a lovely paseo on the palm-lined promenade to work up an appetite for dinner!

History of Alicante

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

Alicante's more modern history is not exactly cheerful reading. For several hundred years, Alicante was at town center of the unrest between Castile and Aragon, and when King Philip II between 1609-1614 expelled the last remaining Moors, the city lost a whole cadre of skilled professionals and Alicante suffered major economic problems as a result. The weakness lasted through the War of the Spanish Succession, through the Civil War and right up until 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 when it comes to cruise ships.

Housing in Alicante

 

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

Nearby Torrevieja is most popular among both holiday home buyers and investors. In Alicante itself there is still a lot of bank repossession . However, these are often in need of renovation , and are not located near beaches (then 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 the province of Alicante.

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

Public Transport Connections , weather, hotels, car rentals and flights

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

Public Transport Connections by car, bus and train to and from Alicante are very good as the city is located in the middle of the transport routes along the coast towards the Mediterranean Sea.

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 you should consider regarding traffic in Spain).

There are plenty of affordable accommodations in the city. We usually recommend booking via 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 real estate agent 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 realized that I get more sun here in two days than in the whole of January back home in Sweden”. It rarely gets cold in the city, not even around December-January and the sea is suitable for swimming for more than six months a year. The weather on the Costa Blanca is comparable to Costa Del Sol (although it blows a little warmer on parts of Costa del Sol as you get African winds).