Where to buy property in Spain: zones by profile

There is no single best place to buy in Spain: it depends on why you are buying. A retiree after mild winters and a GP nearby, a family that wants a holiday home and a buyer counting on rental income end up in different towns on the same coast. This guide goes profile by profile: what to look at, what you trade off and which of the zones we cover usually fits. The table of zones on this page puts the same figures side by side for every place (price per square metre from MIVAU, winter climate from AEMET, the share of foreign residents from the Padrón and the IBI rate), so you can check each point against the data rather than take our word for it.

The areas in figures

Map of Spain. Highlighted: Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol. The Canary Islands are in the inset. — Maps: © Instituto Geográfico Nacional (BDLJE), CC BY 4.0; adapted by flatin.es.

Area	Average appraised value	Average January temperature	Share of foreign residents	IBI property tax rate
Costa Blanca	€2,299.39/m² Combined figure for the zone · 11 of 26 municipalities with data · 84% of the population · Q2 2026	11.1 °C – 11.9 °C 21 of 26 municipalities with data · climate normals 1991–2020	29.4% Combined figure for the zone · 26 of 26 municipalities with data · 2025	0.71% Combined figure for the zone · 26 of 26 municipalities with data · 100% of the population · 2025
↳ Costa Blanca Norte	€3,018.68/m² Combined figure for the zone · 6 of 12 municipalities with data · 74% of the population · Q2 2026	11.3 °C – 11.9 °C 7 of 12 municipalities with data · climate normals 1991–2020	37.6% Combined figure for the zone · 12 of 12 municipalities with data · 2025	0.78% Combined figure for the zone · 12 of 12 municipalities with data · 100% of the population · 2025
↳ Costa Blanca Sur	€2,082.44/m² Combined figure for the zone · 5 of 14 municipalities with data · 87% of the population · Q2 2026	11.1 °C – 11.9 °C 14 of 14 municipalities with data · climate normals 1991–2020	26.5% Combined figure for the zone · 14 of 14 municipalities with data · 2025	0.68% Combined figure for the zone · 14 of 14 municipalities with data · 100% of the population · 2025
Costa del Sol	€3,536.01/m² Combined figure for the zone · 9 of 14 municipalities with data · 94% of the population · Q2 2026	12.5 °C – 14.6 °C 12 of 14 municipalities with data · climate normals 1991–2020	20.9% Combined figure for the zone · 14 of 14 municipalities with data · 2025	0.54% Combined figure for the zone · 14 of 14 municipalities with data · 100% of the population · 2025

Retiring to Spain: what to look at

Living somewhere all year depends on things you will not notice in a week in August. Before you choose a town, check:

the climate all year round, not just in summer: in the table of zones, look at January;
flat ground and short walks to shops: many urbanisations are built on hillsides and you need the car for everything;
a health centre and a hospital within reasonable reach, and pharmacies, shops and buses that keep running out of season;
an airport nearby for family visits and trips home;
the foreign community: where many people from your country live there are services in your language and a social life, but also prices set for visitors.

Health care: buying a home does not give you access to Spanish public health care. That depends on your residence and on how your country's pension system works with Spain's; before you move, check with whoever pays your pension how it gives you access to Spanish public health care. Without it, the alternative is private insurance, which some residence permits require anyway: the options are in the visas and residence guide.

Which zones tend to fit: the Costa Blanca South (Torrevieja, Orihuela Costa) is flat, with Alicante-Elche airport close by; the Costa Blanca North (Dénia, Xàbia, Altea) is greener and hillier, with steep roads in many urbanisations; the Costa del Sol has Málaga airport; the Costa Cálida around the Mar Menor is flat. The table of zones shows the share of foreign residents and the price per square metre in each place. See the zones: Costa Blanca and Costa del Sol.

Where most foreign residents live, town by town: ranking by share of foreign residents, from Padrón data, which only counts people who have registered.

Recorded crime by town: safety ranking. It divides crimes by registered population, so coastal towns with many seasonal visitors look worse than they are for residents; where the data exists, the ranking adds a second measure.

Wintering in Spain: where, and what to expect

The mildest winters on the Spanish mainland are on the south-east coast and the Málaga coast: the Costa del Sol, the Costa Blanca South and the Costa Cálida. In the table of zones, compare the AEMET figures for January rather than summer highs: they decide whether life is pleasant from November to March.

A real Spanish winter means sunny days and chilly nights. Near the sea the humidity makes it feel colder indoors, and many homes were built for summer: tiled floors, little insulation and no central heating. People heat with a heat pump (the air-conditioning unit) or portable heaters, and the electricity bill goes up. When you view a home, check which way it faces (south is best), the insulation and double glazing, whether every bedroom has a split unit, and the energy certificate rating. A new build is designed to the current energy rules of the Spanish Building Code: see the new-build catalogue.

Winter has another side: in urbanisations of holiday homes many houses stand empty and some restaurants close. If you live there all year, a town with a life of its own matters as much as the temperature. And a few kilometres inland, at altitude, the nights are noticeably colder.

Towns ordered by average January temperature from AEMET: warmest winters ranking.

Buying on a budget

If the budget leads, the table of zones on this page shows that inland towns, the Costa Blanca South and Murcia tend to be cheaper per square metre than the Costa Blanca North or the western Costa del Sol. Check it place by place: the figure is an average for the municipality (the MIVAU appraised value), and the seafront or the old town can be well above or below it.

The price is not the cost. A resale home pays the regional transfer tax (ITP); a new build pays IVA and AJD. Work out the total with the purchase costs calculator. Then come the yearly costs: IBI, community fees, the rubbish charge, insurance and, if you are not resident, tax on imputed income even when you do not let the home. All of it is in the owner's tax guide.

A cheap country house has risks of its own: buildings without a licence on rural land, homes with AFO status in Andalusia, no habitability certificate or occupancy licence, water from a well. Before you pay a deposit, read the risks guide. And budget for a car: inland, almost everything is too far to walk.

Towns ordered by price per square metre: cheapest places ranking, using the MIVAU appraised value, an average of bank valuations rather than asking prices.

Buying to let

Gross yield is a year's rent divided by the price. What matters is net yield: what is left after IBI, community fees, insurance, maintenance, empty months, management and non-resident income tax (IRNR). A non-resident pays tax on the rent: residents of the EU or EEA can deduct expenses, everyone else pays on the gross income. Run the numbers in the rental yield calculator.

Buying a flat does not give you the right to let it to tourists. The region (registration), the town hall (whether planning allows it) and the community of owners, which since April 2025 votes on it by a three-fifths majority, all have a say, and the seller's registration usually does not pass to the buyer. The rules by region are in the holiday lets guide.

The coast fills up in summer and empties in winter: a holiday let has dead months, while a long-term let is steadier but falls under the Urban Tenancies Act. The figures in the table are averages, and past yields guarantee nothing. This is information, not financial advice.

Towns ordered by gross rental yield: rental yield ranking, which divides the annual rent from the state rental index (SERPAVI) by the MIVAU appraised value, before costs and tax.

The zones we cover

Costa Blanca North: from Dénia to La Vila Joiosa; mountains down to the sea, hillside villas and the towers of Benidorm.
Costa Blanca South: from Santa Pola to Pilar de la Horadada; flat, with pool complexes and golf courses.
Costa del Sol: the Málaga coast from Nerja to Manilva; with Málaga's international airport.
Costa Cálida: the coast of the Murcia region, with the Mar Menor, Cartagena, Mazarrón and Águilas.
Valencia province: the city of Valencia and the province's larger towns, such as Gandia or Sagunto.

The table also includes the larger inland towns of these provinces. Developments on sale and each coast in detail: Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol and the new-build catalogue.

How we compare

Every column in the table comes from an official source and uses the same measure for every place: price per square metre from the appraised values of the Ministry of Housing (MIVAU), January temperatures from the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET), the share of foreign residents from the INE Padrón, recorded crime from the Ministry of the Interior's crime balance, and the IBI rate each town hall approves. Each figure shows its period or publication date.

If a source has no figure for a place, the place still appears, marked “no data”: we do not estimate it or borrow the neighbour's. We do not add the criteria up into a “best place” score: how much the climate weighs against the price is your call, not a formula of ours.

Changes to this guide

17/10/2026: first version, with four profiles, the table of zones and the method. When the data is updated, the date in each column changes; the text is reviewed if the comparison changes.

Data and links checked on 17/10/2026. General information, not legal, tax or financial advice.