Property for sale in Benissa

Buying a house in Benissa means choosing between two worlds that are not joined together. The old town lies inland on a gently sloping ridge, more than six kilometres from the sea as the crow flies, and is lived in all year. The coast of the municipality is short and rocky, with small coves rather than a beach with a promenade, and the villa urbanisations sit above it. The facts block on this page measures from the town, so the distances to the beach and to services do not apply to a home on the coast. That choice between town and coast matters more than the house itself.

Along the coast lie six small coves, from Les Bassetes to Cala Baladrar, linked by a coastal path. Above them are urbanisations such as La Fustera, around the sandy cove of the same name, and the green slopes towards San Jaime. For shopping and secondary school, people on that coast usually drive to Calpe, which is closer by road than their own town. San Jaime is often sold as Moraira, but it lies in the municipality of Benissa. Around the town itself are newer neighbourhoods and fincas among the vineyards.

On the coast it is mostly villas with sea views, many built between the seventies and the nineties on sloping plots, plus a smaller number of flats in low-rise developments. In the town you buy a town house or a flat, and inland a finca with land. With an older coastal villa, the retaining walls, the drainage and the driveway matter as much as the view. Also ask whether the house is connected to the mains sewer or has its own septic tank, and have an adviser look at what that means. New projects are on the new-build page for Benissa.

Benissa suits people looking for a quiet coast with small coves, or for a Spanish town that stays alive in winter. It suits those who expect long sandy beaches, or want to do everything on foot, less well: on the coast you need the car for almost everything, and between coast and town is a fair drive. Traffic to and from Calpe goes through the AP-7 junction at Benissa, and you notice that on the N-332 in summer. And if you live in the town, a swim in the sea means driving down first.

Alicante is the nearest airport, about an hour by car. The AP-7 has a junction by the town, and the N-332 runs round the centre on a bypass. The coastal tram between Benidorm and Dénia stops in Benissa. The public hospital for the area is in Dénia; the town has a health centre, and on the coast an extra medical post opens in summer. The British schools are in neighbouring municipalities, near Cumbre del Sol and in Jávea. San Jaime has a short nine-hole golf course, many holes with sea views. You can read more about life in each area on Living in Benissa.