Property for sale in San Miguel de Salinas

Buying a house in San Miguel de Salinas means buying in a hilltop village in the south of the province of Alicante, inland between Torrevieja and Pilar de la Horadada. The municipality has no coastline of its own; its land drops through ravines to the plain by the salt lakes, which gives the village its name. The village is hilly, with a health centre, a pharmacy and a school close by. Buying here means choosing height, views and a village that lives all year, and accepting the drive to the beach.

In the village you live in a Spanish centre on the hill, with new-build flats in and near the centre. Blue Lagoon is an urbanisation on a hill at the edge of the village, with views over the salt lakes or inland; a British international school is there too. Much of what is offered as San Miguel actually lies in Orihuela: Villamartín and Las Colinas, with their golf courses, belong to that municipality. The postcode is a first clue, but only the paperwork gives certainty about the municipality.

In and around the village it is mostly flats, including new-build projects. Blue Lagoon has bungalows, linked houses and villas; with older homes, look at the roof, the pipes and the state of the shared pool. People looking for golf often end up buying just across the border. On rural land around the village, stricter rules apply to building or extending, especially near protected nature; have an adviser check that per plot. What is under construction is on the new-build page for San Miguel de Salinas.

San Miguel suits people who want to live all year with the amenities of a real village, and families who want the British school nearby. It suits those who want the beach within walking distance less well: the coast of Orihuela Costa is a fair way off, and without a car you will not get there. The village is on a slope, so for anyone less steady on their feet, the street matters. The road to Torrevieja and Orihuela is due to be widened, on a route outside the centre. With a home along that road, ask about the plans.

The British international school that carries Villamartín in its name is in the municipality itself, in Blue Lagoon. For healthcare you fall under the public hospital of Torrevieja; the village has a health centre. Alicante airport is about three quarters of an hour away by car, the Región de Murcia airport at Corvera a little further. To reach the coast you take the CV-941 to Campoamor and Orihuela Costa. Golf courses lie just across the border, and to the south lies Pilar de la Horadada.