Costa Blanca Confidence
42 towns and micro-zones · from Dénia to Pilar de la Horadada

Where will you feel at home on the Costa Blanca?

Between Dénia and Pilar de la Horadada lie 42 towns and micro-zones, each with a rhythm of its own. Somewhere among them is the place that fits your life. I help you find that place first, then the house. It makes your search sharper, and a lot more relaxed.

Why the place first?

Free · around 5 minutes · no account · your coast profile and top town appear on screen straight away

Sailing boat in front of the Peñón de Ifach on the Costa Blanca
The essentials in 30 seconds
  • The place first, then the house: it makes searching sharper and choosing easier.
  • 42 towns and micro-zones compared, from Dénia to Pilar de la Horadada, with an honest view of each.
  • Free, around 5 minutes; your coast profile and top town appear straight away.
Let's do the maths
±11%1

Buying costs on top of the price: transfer tax, notary, land registry, lawyer and gestoría. Costs you would rather pay only once: for a house in the right place.

€62,0002

Worked example: that is what a €350,000 purchase costs in buying and selling costs alone, if you were to move again after a few years. Exactly why it pays to choose the right place straight away.

183

Every town gets a score on that many characteristics, from winter life and healthcare to the rental rules. So not just "north or south".

Notes and sources

1. Comunitat Valenciana: 9% transfer tax (ITP) on a resale property since 1 June 2026 (Ley 5/2025, 10% before that; 11% above one million), plus notary, land registry, gestoría and lawyer. Usually 10.5 to 12.5% together.

2. A worked example, not a fixed figure. A resale property of €350,000, sold again a few years later at the same price. On the way in: 11% buying costs = €38,500. On the way out: 5% agency commission = €17,500, plus 21% IVA on that = €3,675. Together €59,675; rounded to €62,000 including municipal costs (plusvalía) and smaller selling costs, which vary by town hall. Loss of value is not included here, and neither is capital gains tax: with a sale price equal to the purchase price there is no gain. Buy a new build from a developer and IVA applies instead of ITP, which changes the sum.

3. The eighteen characteristics and their source per town are listed in your report.

My approach

You are not buying a house. You are buying the neighbours, the baker and the month of January.

Most people start with the houses: a few evenings on idealista, twenty tabs open, and viewings in towns they know from one summer holiday. Completely understandable, that is how I started too.

But you only truly know a town once you know how January feels there. Where you buy your bread in the morning. How far the hospital really is. And whether you will end up speaking Spanish, or mostly hearing English around you. Those are the things that decide whether a place feels like home, and none of them show up in a photo.

The good news: you can know all of that in advance.

Pick two or three zones that genuinely fit you first. Your viewings get sharper, you negotiate with a clear head, and the search itself simply becomes more enjoyable. That is what this test is for.

Why this goes deeper than a guide

Two towns a five minute drive apart, and still a completely different life.

Most guides stop at "Costa Blanca North" or "Costa Blanca South". The real story sits one layer deeper: within 10 kilometres the price per m² changes, the language on the street changes, and so does whether a terrace is open in January.

1.
Moraira or Teulada

Four kilometres, another world

Moraira is the manicured coast, with a large Dutch and Flemish community and one of the highest price levels on the north coast. Teulada is the Valencian town behind it: market on Wednesday, and a very different price tag. They share a town hall and remarkably little else.

2.
Altea or Altea Hills

Same postcode, another life

Down in the old town you walk over cobbles to the bakery. Up in the Hills you get a panoramic sea view, a gate with a camera, and a car for a loaf of bread. I treat them as two separate dossiers, because they suit very different people.

3.
La Mata or Torrevieja

Next door, and still not the same

La Mata kept its village centre and has a nature park at its back. Torrevieja is a proper town, with its own hospital and everything open all year. Both lovely places to live, but for very different people. That is a difference worth knowing before you choose.

The report

A personal dossier, down to neighbourhood level.

Every town has a score on eighteen characteristics, and your answers decide which of those weigh heavily. From beach, peace and sea view to schools, healthcare, winter life, golf and rental potential. You get all 42 towns and micro-zones ranked, with the reason number 19 sits below number 3.

For your top zones you get the full dossier, down to neighbourhood level. Which area sits where, which beaches, which schools, where the hospital is, when the market is, how the town looks in January, and what the rental rules do there. And what your budget buys there, in square metres.

And I am honest about it: whatever fits you less is in there too. So you choose with open eyes, knowing your favourite will still feel right in November.

Straight answers

Why you can trust this

01

The figures are verified, the scores are an opinion

Population, prices per m², schools and hospitals come from public sources, and that source is listed per town in your report. The character scores are my own assessment, as an agent who lives and works here. I would rather point out that difference than pretend all of it is science.

02

The honest side is in there too

Every dossier has a section with the things you want to know in advance: how busy high season gets, whether you need a car, how the town feels in January. Not to put you off, but so your choice still feels right in November. To me, that is where trust starts.

03

I live here myself

I am Nick, Belgian, and I moved to Calpe myself. Plenty of people dream about that, few actually do it. I now work here as an estate agent in the Calpe, Moraira and Benissa area. This test exists because I want you to start the way I would have liked to start myself: with someone who knows the area inside out, tells you honestly what fits you, and genuinely thinks along with you.

Before you start

What you probably want to know

Is this really free?

Yes. All I ask is your email address, so I can send you the report. And I am open about why: I am an estate agent on the northern Costa Blanca. If you look for a house in my area later on, I hope you think of me. If you do not, you still keep a report that is worth having.

Am I about to get ten sales calls?

No. You get your report, and beyond that you only hear from me if you tick that box yourself. Leave it blank and it stays at that one report.

Either way your details go to nobody else. I do not sell or share addresses with other agents or third parties, and one email is enough to unsubscribe.

I already know which town I want.

Then you are done in five minutes and you know whether you were right. That happens regularly, and it is simply confirmation. Worth something too, because you carry on searching with a clear head.

It also happens that someone has their heart set on Moraira and ends up at Benissa or Jávea, because that fits better with what they themselves marked as important. Useful to know before you start driving around.

I am not buying for another two or three years.

Then this is actually the best moment. Choosing the place is the one part of your search you can already do properly, without committing to anything.

And you will probably fly over a few more times before then. With a shortlist of two or three zones you get far more out of such a trip than from a tour of everything that looks pretty.

Is my town included?

The test covers 42 towns and micro-zones between Dénia and Pilar de la Horadada, so essentially the whole Costa Blanca, coast and inland. Where it matters they are split: Altea and Altea Hills are separate dossiers, as are Moraira and Teulada, or La Mata and Torrevieja.

If yours is missing, send me an email. I add zones as I get to know them well enough to write something useful about them.

How reliable are the prices?

They are asking prices per m², as of August 2026, not sale prices. Asking prices sit structurally above what is finally paid, and they date quickly in this market. I use them as a guide to show roughly what your budget buys somewhere, not as a valuation. The source is listed per town, and I refresh them every quarter.

Does this work if I am buying to rent out?

Yes. Say that you will rent out (partly) and you get extra questions about how, and rental potential is weighed into the ranking. The dossiers set out demand per zone and what to watch for with tourist licences, which have been considerably stricter in the Comunitat Valenciana since 2024.

I want to sell, not buy.

Then I have something else for you. On the seller side you work out what you keep after commission, capital gains tax, plusvalía and the 3% retention for non-residents. Also free and without obligation.

Shall we start with the place?

Around five minutes of work. Your top 3 appears on screen straight away, the full report follows. The link keeps working, so you can go through it again later.

Costa Blanca Confidence