Spain has often been one of the the favourite place in Europe for foreigners to buy a property, but there are several places in the Alicante province where they make up more than 50 percent.
Spain has long been a country popular with foreign property buyers, often looking to purchase holiday homes or homes to live in when they move here, and in fact there are some places where they far outnumber the number of local buyers.
The province where this happens the most is in Alicante, where in 2024 51 percent of all property transactions involved foreigners, including those purchasing with Spanish partners.
Surprisingly all these towns are not all located right on the coast but are all within easy reach of the Costa Blanca.
According to data from the Valencian Notarial College, purchases from foreigners in the province represented a total of €6 billion in 2024, bringing in significant income for the area.
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The town of Teulada leads the way, where last year foreigners accounted for almost 87 percent of the 508 homes sold in the town, with Dutch, British, Belgian, and German buyers purchasing the most.
Orihuela was a close second with 84 percent of property transactions (4,534 out of 5,398) involving foreigners. Here British buyers bought the most, followed by Belgians and Poles – one of the markets that has grown the most in recent years, particularly following the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine.
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The third place goes to Calp with 78 percent of sales going to foreigners (909 of the 1161 homes sold). Next up is Torrevieja, which is actually the municipality with the highest number of properties bought by foreigners with 5,595 last year, representing 18 percent of the total purchased in the Alicante province. When it comes to percentages compared with national buyers, foreigners made up 77 percent.
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The most numerous foreign clients in Torrevieja real estate agencies are now the Polish, while Ukrainians are in third place, reflecting the rise of Eastern European markets. Previously British buyers were on top followed by those from the Nordic countries.
And in Guardamar del Segura, foreigners accounted for 71.6 percent of housing purchases last year, with 986 bought out of the total 1,376 registered.
While these five towns represent the most extreme numbers, there are many towns in the Alicante province where foreigners make up more than 50 percent of property purchases. In Santa Pola, they represent 51.1 percent; in Vila de Santa Pola, 52.6 percent; in Xàbia, 66.7 percent; in l’Alfàs, 67.9 percent; in Benissa, 68.2 percent; and in Altea, 68.8 percent.
Last year alone, up to 31,010 foreigners signed property deeds in Alicante province representing more than 20 percent of all foreign purchases registered nationwide. This trend continued in the first quarter of 2025, with another 7,422 transactions by foreigners.
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When it comes to bigger municipalities in Alicante province, Benidorm was the highest with 43 percent of international sales.
The provincial capital of Alicante was next, which recorded 2,751 foreign transactions, accounting for 39 percent of the real estate market. The top buyers here were the Algerians, who bought 369 properties. And, in second place, were Ukrainians, with 327 operations.
Finally, in Elche notaries recorded a total of 738 foreign buyers, representing just 20.4 percent of the total. The nationalities who bought the most are the Moroccans and Romanians, although there are also Poles, French, and Dutch, who predominantly choose one of the coastal areas.
This new data by the Valencian Notarial College comes at a time when the Spanish government is considering introducing a 100 percent property tax on property buyers who don’t reside in Spain or anywhere else in the European Union, a levy which would for example see non-resident British and American buyers have to pay double the price for a Spanish property.
FACT CHECK: Yes, Spain’s proposed 100% tax doubles property price
