Property for sale in Benidorm

Buying a house in Benidorm almost always means buying a flat in a tower. That townscape is no accident: the first town plan, in the middle of the last century, deliberately chose density, and a later change scrapped the height limit while plot sizes stayed the same. As a result, the towers stand with space around them rather than packed against each other. The centre is flat, between two beaches, and the town runs all year: after the summer, families make way for older visitors who spend the winter here.

Levante, with Rincón de Loix at its eastern end, is the most densely built and most international side, with the nightlife area that draws many British tourists. Poniente, on the west side, has a wider beach and a promenade that won architecture awards, and feels less busy. The old town on the rock between the two beaches has character, but residents there have complained to the ombudsman about noise at night. At the western end, La Cala borders Cala de Finestrat, and the urbanisations in the hills behind the town are often already in Finestrat.

Most of what is for sale is flats, from the first generations of towers to new buildings with a pool and gardens. With an older tower, the state of the building counts as much as the flat: ask about the lifts, the facade, the pipework and the reserves of the community of owners, and whether major works are planned. Look at the position too: a sea view from a high floor is not the same as looking out at the tower next door. Villas and terraced houses are mostly in the neighbouring municipalities. Projects under construction are on the new-build page for Benidorm.

Benidorm is for people who want everything within walking distance, even without a car, with the beach, the market, the tram and the doctors round the corner, all year round. It is not the place for those looking for space, a garden or silence: density is the model here, not a side effect. Around Rincón de Loix and the old town you hear the nightlife until late. In winter the town is not empty, but the crowd changes: from October the groups of Spanish pensioners arrive. And the public hospital is not in the town itself but in Villajoyosa.

Benidorm is the hub of the coastal tram: at the station the line to Alicante and the line to Dénia connect, and Alicante is more than an hour away by tram. The airport is about three quarters of an hour by car. The public hospital of the Marina Baixa is in Villajoyosa; the town itself has two private hospitals. Benidorm has two international schools, a British one on the Alfaz del Pi side and a bilingual one offering the IB, and La Nucía has another British school. On the edge of the town are two eighteen-hole golf courses.