Property for sale in Calpe

Buying a house in Calpe means buying in the most urban town on the northern Costa Blanca. Along the two beaches either side of the Peñón de Ifach, apartment towers have stood since the late sixties, and more are still going up. Behind them lie the old town, the fishing port and the salt lake, and on the hills around the town the villa urbanisations. Buying here means choosing between an apartment with the sea at the door and a villa with a view from a distance. The centre is low-lying and close to the Arenal beach, as the facts block also shows.

Along the Arenal-Bol, the beach on the town-centre side, stand the oldest towers; you live with shops, bars and restaurants on foot. On La Fossa, on the north side of the rock, the towers look out on the Peñón. The old town above the port has narrow streets and little parking. On the hills lies Maryvilla, the largest urbanisation, on a south-facing slope towards Altea, alongside established villa areas such as La Canuta and Gran Sol. La Manzanera on the rocky coast is a case apart, with the red complexes of La Muralla Roja.

Most of what is for sale is an apartment on or near the seafront, from older towers to new complexes. Pay attention to orientation and to what could be built in front of your window: on the Arenal-Bol new towers are still going up between the first and second lines, so a sea view from the second line is never a certainty. On the hills you buy villas and linked houses in established urbanisations, often with sea views and a steep driveway. The old town has town houses. New builds mostly come as new apartment towers; the overview is on the new-build page for Calpe.

Calpe is good for people who want services within walking distance all year, with a town beach on the doorstep. It suits those seeking low-rise living and quiet less well: the seafront is a wall of towers, and in summer it is full. If you live in Maryvilla, you may not turn directly onto the N-332 towards Altea and make a daily detour via the northern roundabout. In many urbanisations the post is not delivered to the door but to grouped letterboxes per area. And for the public hospital you drive to Dénia.

Alicante is the nearest airport, about an hour’s drive away. Calpe has a station on the coastal tram between Benidorm and Dénia; because of work on the viaducts, the stretch towards Altea has been replaced by buses a few times since it reopened. The public hospital for the area is in Dénia, and Calpe itself has a health centre and a private clinic. There is no international school in Calpe; the nearest British school, near Cumbre del Sol, runs school buses from Calpe. The nearest golf course is in Benissa. For living area by area, see Living in Calpe.