Last updated: [PUBLISH DATE]
Alicante is the single most popular destination in Spain for British property buyers, and the second most popular for Americans. We see this directly in the Upscore mortgage application data: 34% of our British applicants and 15% of our American applicants are targeting Alicante. That makes it the highest-volume region in our Spanish pipeline by some distance — 22% of all Spain applicants.
This guide is built from two sources. First, public market data on the Alicante and Costa Blanca property market. Second, what we see in our own broker pipeline: which banks lend, what LTVs they offer, how long the process really takes, and where applicants get stuck.
If you’d rather check your own eligibility before reading further, our Finance Passport gives a non-binding pre-approval in about 20 minutes.
Key takeaways
- Alicante is the top Spanish region for British buyers (34% of UK applicants in our pipeline) and second for Americans (15%). It accounts for 22% of all our Spain applicants.
- Volume is not the same as conversion. Madrid converts highest in our data (6.67%), Málaga second (3.30%), Alicante fifth (2.23%). High British concentration does not mean an easier purchase.
- Non-resident mortgages in Spain are typically capped at 60–70% loan-to-value. Our signed Spanish deals close at a median requested LTV of 70% (US clients) / 69% (UK clients).
- Median timeline from broker engagement to signed mortgage offer: 4.7 months across the whole pipeline. Sabadell processes fastest (4.3 months), UCI the slowest (8 months).
- Total costs on top of the property price in the Valencian Community are 10–14% (regional transfer tax, notary, legal, bank fees).
- A draft bill proposing a 100% tax on non-EU buyers of Spanish property was announced in January 2025. It has not been passed into law and remains stalled in Congress without the political support needed to advance.
1. Why so many British and American buyers choose Alicante
The British presence in Alicante is not a recent phenomenon. Coastal towns like Torrevieja, Orihuela Costa, and Jávea have been British settlement areas for decades, supported by direct flights from regional UK airports into Alicante–Elche (ALC) and Murcia–Corvera. The American share is smaller in absolute terms but growing — for US buyers, Alicante is typically a value alternative to Málaga and Marbella, which have become more expensive.
In our Upscore CRM data (n=704 British applicants, n=353 American applicants, validated April 2026):
- British buyers: Alicante is the #1 Spanish destination (34%), well ahead of Málaga (14%) and Murcia (12%).
- American buyers: Málaga is #1 (19%), Alicante #2 (15%), Barcelona #3 (14%), Madrid #4 (12%).
What pulls foreign buyers to Alicante specifically:
- A property price floor that is meaningfully lower than Costa del Sol or Barcelona. Property in coastal Alicante is roughly half the price per square metre of equivalent property in Marbella (see Idealista’s Alicante price index for current numbers).
- A climate broadly equivalent to the Costa del Sol but with less seasonality in property prices.
- English-speaking professional services well-established (lawyers, real estate agents, banks with dedicated non-resident teams).
- Direct flight routes from secondary UK airports (Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester, Bristol) that don’t exist for Málaga or Valencia.
Volume is not the same as conversion
We track conversion rates by region in our CRM. Alicante has the largest applicant base in Spain but a below-average signed rate:
| Spanish region | Applicants | Signed rate |
|---|---|---|
| Madrid | 60 | 6.67% |
| Málaga | 212 | 3.30% |
| Valencia | 105 | 2.86% |
| Murcia | 78 | 2.56% |
| Alicante | 359 | 2.23% |
| Barcelona | 119 | 1.68% |
| Almería | 53 | 0.00% |
Source: Upscore CRM, April 2026 (regions with n≥50 applicants).
Why does Alicante convert below average despite the volume? Two main reasons we see in the pipeline:
- A higher share of speculative applicants (“I’m thinking about Spain”) versus committed buyers (“I’ve found a property”). Buyers in Madrid or Málaga tend to arrive in our pipeline closer to a specific transaction.
- A higher share of lower-income retiree applicants who hit affordability ceilings on the LTV the bank is willing to offer.
The practical implication: if you’re targeting Alicante, you’ll have more competition for the same agents and the same bank desks than you would in Murcia or Valencia. Lining up your mortgage before you start viewings is more important here than in the lower-volume regions.
2. Where in Alicante people actually buy
The province of Alicante is large and varied. Most foreign buying activity concentrates in three sub-zones:
Costa Blanca North (Dénia, Jávea, Calpe, Altea, Moraira)
The premium end of the Costa Blanca. Detached villas and townhouses dominate. Property tends to be older than Costa Blanca South and more idiosyncratic in build quality (rural Mediterranean rather than new-build estate). British buyer base is long-established, particularly in Jávea and Moraira.
Typical price band for a 3-bed detached property near the coast: see Idealista’s Costa Blanca North index [VALIDAR with current Idealista data at publish date]. The INE provincial transaction data (https://www.ine.es/jaxiT3/Tabla.htm?t=6149) gives a Valencia province-level baseline that’s useful as a reality check.
Costa Blanca South (Torrevieja, Orihuela Costa, Guardamar, La Marina)
The volume zone. Lower price points, large new-build inventory aimed at foreign buyers, dense British and Belgian/Scandinavian communities. Apartments and townhouses on managed urbanisations make up most of the inventory.
This is where the largest share of British purchases in the province happen, and where new-build off-plan is most common.
Alicante city and inland (Elche, Villajoyosa)
Alicante city itself is meaningfully cheaper than the coastal towns. Inland Alicante province (Elche, the second-largest city in the Valencian Community) is cheaper still. These zones attract a different buyer profile: working remote employees, smaller-budget retirees, and Spanish nationals.
For current per-square-metre prices by zone, the best public source is the Ministry of Transport’s housing transaction database (Spanish only) or Idealista’s monthly indices. We don’t quote specific prices here because the market moves and these guides go stale.
3. Mortgage options for foreign buyers in Alicante
Three banks close the large majority of our Spanish deals: Sabadell, CaixaBank, and UCI. The mix across all our signed Spanish deals:
| Bank | Share of signed Spanish deals |
|---|---|
| Sabadell | 48.6% |
| CaixaBank | 40.0% |
| UCI | 11.4% |
Source: Upscore CRM signed deals, April 2026 (n=35 signed Spain).
The pattern is similar but not identical when we split by buyer nationality. Among American clients who closed a Spanish mortgage, the deals are roughly balanced between Spanish banks (Sabadell, CaixaBank, UCI) and our Portuguese lending partners — many American buyers end up with a non-Spanish lender even when buying in Spain. Among British clients, Sabadell and CaixaBank dominate.
What the LTV math actually looks like
Non-resident mortgages in Spain are typically offered at 60–70% loan-to-value. The headline cap most banks publish is 70%, but in practice it’s common to see 60–65% offered, particularly to applicants without a long European banking history.
Our signed clients ended up at a median requested LTV of 70% (US) or 69% (UK). Note these are requested LTVs — what the bank ultimately offered may have been lower. The applicants who signed were, on average, asking for 8–9 percentage points less LTV than the unsigned applicants in our pipeline. Asking for less leverage correlates strongly with closing.
The deposit math on a €200,000 property at 70% LTV:
- Mortgage: €140,000
- Deposit: €60,000
- Costs (10–14%): €20,000–28,000
- Total cash required at closing: €80,000–88,000
If you’re more comfortable thinking in pounds, that’s roughly £69,000–76,000 at current rates. In dollars, roughly $87,000–96,000.
For a more detailed view of the bank-by-bank picture, see our guides on Spanish mortgages for UK buyers and Spanish mortgages for US citizens.
Rates: fixed vs variable
Most non-resident mortgages in Spain are offered as fixed-rate over 20-year terms. Variable rates exist (typically Euribor + a spread) but for non-residents the fixed product is more commonly approved because it removes one underwriting variable. Current fixed rates for non-residents are in the 3.5–4.5% band depending on the bank and applicant profile [VALIDAR rate band at publish date — Euribor-driven, moves quarterly].
4. The real costs on top of the price
The Valencian Community (which includes Alicante province) uses the following tax structure for property purchases:
Resale property (existing home, sold for the second or subsequent time):
- Transfer tax (Impuesto de Transmisiones Patrimoniales, ITP): 10% in the Valencian Community
- Notary: 0.5–1%
- Land Registry (Registro de la Propiedad): 0.3–0.5%
- Legal fees (recommended for non-resident buyers): 1–1.5%
- Bank fees + valuation: 0.5–1.5%
New build (first sale from a developer):
- VAT (IVA): 10%
- Stamp duty (AJD): 1.5%
- Plus notary, registry, legal, bank fees as above
Total cost band: 10–14% on top of the property price. New-build purchases tend to sit slightly higher than resales because of the AJD on top of VAT.
Worked example, resale apartment at €200,000:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| ITP (10%) | €20,000 |
| Notary | €1,500 |
| Land Registry | €700 |
| Legal | €2,500 |
| Bank fees + valuation | €1,500 |
| Total costs | €26,200 (13.1%) |
You should budget for the upper end of the band rather than the lower. Bank valuations sometimes come in below the agreed price, which can shift either the LTV or the deposit requirement at the last minute.
5. Timeline: what to expect
The median timeline across all our signed Spanish mortgages is 4.7 months from initial broker engagement to signed mortgage offer (143 days median, n=35). The bank you end up with matters:
| Bank | Median time-to-sign | n |
|---|---|---|
| Sabadell | 4.3 months | 17 |
| CaixaBank | 5.0 months | 14 |
| UCI | 8.0 months | 4 |
Source: Upscore CRM signed deals, April 2026.
If you have a hard window (a property reservation contract that expires, a relocation date that can’t slip), the difference between a 4-month and an 8-month timeline is meaningful. Sabadell and CaixaBank are both faster than UCI, but UCI is a more flexible underwriter for clients who don’t fit the standard Spanish-bank checklist.
The “found property” effect
The single strongest predictor of closing in our data is whether the applicant has already identified a specific property. Across our profiled applicants (n=2,651):
- “I have found a property I wish to purchase”: 1.64% signed rate
- “I am looking at properties now”: 0.28%
- “I want to find out my mortgage options before looking”: 0.14%
That’s a 12x conversion rate for buyers who arrive at the broker with a specific property in hand versus those still exploring. The practical implication is not “don’t talk to a broker until you’ve found something” — pre-approval makes the offer more credible and is increasingly demanded by Costa Blanca sellers. The implication is “don’t expect the timeline to start running until you have a specific property under offer or reserved.”
The joint-application effect
Across our profiled applicants, those buying jointly (typically with a spouse or partner) close at 3.49%, versus 1.48% for solo buyers — a 2.4x uplift. The mechanic is straightforward: a second applicant adds income, often reduces DTI, and adds underwriting comfort to the bank. If you’re a British couple considering buying in Alicante, applying jointly from the start is usually stronger than applying solo and adding the partner later.
6. Tax and regulatory landscape
What exists today
- IRNR (Impuesto sobre la Renta de no Residentes): annual non-resident income tax, charged on the deemed rental value (around 1.1% of cadastral value, taxed at 24% for non-EU residents).
- IBI (Impuesto sobre Bienes Inmuebles): annual municipal property tax, varies by town (0.4–1.1% of cadastral value, which is usually well below market price).
- Plusvalía municipal: capital gains tax at the municipal level, paid by the seller on sale (relevant if you later sell).
For UK buyers, the post-Brexit Schengen rule means second-home owners can spend a maximum of 90 days in any rolling 180-day period in Spain (and across the Schengen Area collectively) without a long-stay visa. Owning a property does not grant any extension to this limit. The non-lucrative visa is the most common route for British buyers planning to spend more than 90 days at a time.
For US buyers, US citizens are required to report foreign bank accounts with combined balances over $10,000 (FBAR) and may owe US tax on Spanish rental income. The US–Spain double tax treaty prevents double taxation in most cases but does not exempt the reporting obligation.
For UK buyers planning to keep tax-residence in the UK while owning property in Spain, capital gains on a later sale will need to be considered against UK CGT rules. See our guide on UK capital gains tax on overseas property.
The proposed 100% tax on non-EU buyers
In January 2025 the Spanish government announced a draft proposal for a 100% transfer tax on property purchases by non-EU residents. The policy framing was housing affordability — the idea being to discourage second-home buying by non-EU buyers (which is largely British, post-Brexit) in regions experiencing rapid price appreciation.
The proposal has not advanced. It remains stalled in the Congreso de los Diputados without the political support needed to pass into law. Among Spanish property lawyers, the consensus is that a 100% rate is unlikely to advance in its proposed form. We’ll update this section if the legislative position changes. For ongoing tracking, the Congreso de los Diputados bill tracker is the authoritative source.
[VALIDAR status of bill at publish date.]
7. Common pitfalls specific to Alicante
Off-plan new builds
A meaningful share of new-build inventory in Costa Blanca South is sold off-plan. Spanish law (Ley 57/68, updated by Ley 20/2015) requires developers to provide bank guarantees on stage payments — make sure these are in place before transferring any reservation funds. Completion delays of 6–12 months are not unusual.
Coastal property and Ley de Costas
Spanish coastal law (Ley de Costas) restricts construction within 100 metres of the high-tide mark and imposes restrictions up to 500 metres in some classifications. Some older properties along the Costa Blanca were built before the 1988 law took effect and have ambiguous legal status. Always verify the property’s exact distance from the coastal line and any easements in the Land Registry record before reserving.
Rural property and cadastral mismatches
Inland Alicante (and to a lesser extent the coastal areas) has frequent mismatches between the property’s actual built area and what’s registered in the cadastre. Illegal extensions are common. A property survey by an independent architect (not the seller’s) is the standard way to catch this before completion.
Community fees (gastos de comunidad)
Urbanisations in Costa Blanca South often have shared pools, gardens, lifts, security. Community fees can run €500–€3,000+ per year depending on the urbanisation. These are not always clearly disclosed in listings and can materially change the carrying cost of a property.
8. Step-by-step buying process for foreign buyers
This is the standard sequence. Steps 1–3 can happen in parallel; steps 4–8 are sequential.
- NIE application (Número de Identidad de Extranjero). Required for any property transaction in Spain. Apply at the Spanish consulate in your home country (typically 4–8 weeks) or in person in Spain at a police station with international affairs office.
- Spanish bank account. Most lenders require this. Sabadell, CaixaBank, Bankinter, and BBVA all offer non-resident accounts; many can be opened remotely.
- Mortgage pre-approval. Run our Finance Passport before viewings. Sellers in coastal Alicante increasingly ask for proof of funding before accepting offers.
- Property search and reservation. Typical reservation contract is €3,000–€6,000 with a 30-day exclusivity for the buyer to complete due diligence.
- Survey and legal due diligence. Independent surveyor (architect) checks the property; lawyer checks the title at the Land Registry, debts on the property, planning compliance.
- Formal mortgage application. Bank conducts its own valuation (tasación) and final underwriting. The valuation comes back at the bank’s number, which may differ from the agreed price.
- Notary signing (escritura pública). All parties (buyer, seller, bank representative, notary) sign in person or via legally appointed proxy. Funds transfer happens here.
- Land Registry registration. Lawyer registers the deed with the local Registro de la Propiedad. Full title transfer is complete on registration.
9. Frequently asked questions
Can British people still buy property in Spain after Brexit?
Yes. Brexit changed Britain’s residency status, not the right to buy property. British buyers can purchase any property in Spain on the same terms as other non-EU buyers. The key changes are in tax status (non-EU rate of 24% IRNR vs 19% for EU residents) and in stay length (90/180 Schengen rule, no automatic right to live in Spain just because you own there).
Can US citizens get a mortgage in Spain for a property in Alicante?
Yes. Several Spanish banks (notably Sabadell and CaixaBank) lend to non-resident US buyers, typically at 60–70% LTV. The trade-off versus a UK applicant is usually a slightly lower LTV cap and more documentation requirements. In our pipeline, US clients often close with Portuguese lending partners on Spanish property, particularly when the Spanish banks have appetite constraints.
How much deposit do I need for a property in Alicante?
At 70% LTV, you need 30% deposit plus 10–14% in costs. On a €200,000 property that’s €60,000 deposit plus €20–28,000 in costs — total cash of €80,000–88,000. At 60% LTV (more conservative banks) the deposit grows to 40%, total cash €100,000–108,000.
What is the interest rate for a non-resident mortgage in Spain?
As of early 2026, fixed-rate non-resident mortgages over 20-year terms typically sit in the 3.5–4.5% range, depending on bank, term, and applicant profile. Variable rates (Euribor + spread) exist but are less common for non-residents. [VALIDAR rate band at publish date.]
Is property in Alicante cheaper than the UK?
For coastal Alicante, yes — usually significantly so. A 2-bed apartment near the Costa Blanca coast typically prices below the equivalent in any UK coastal town, and substantially below Greater London. For inland Alicante and Alicante city itself, the gap is larger. Cross-check current prices using Idealista’s Alicante province index.
How long can I stay in Spain if I own a property there?
Owning a property does not change your visa rights. British buyers (post-Brexit, non-EU) are limited to 90 days in any 180-day period across the Schengen Area without a long-stay visa. For longer stays, the non-lucrative visa is the most common route for retirees and the digital nomad visa for remote workers.
What is the proposed 100% tax on non-EU buyers?
A January 2025 government proposal to apply a 100% transfer tax to property purchases by non-EU residents in Spain, framed as a housing affordability measure. It has not been passed into law and remains stalled in Congress without the political support needed to advance. We update this section if the legislative position changes.
Where do most British buyers settle in Alicante?
The largest British concentrations are in Torrevieja, Orihuela Costa, Jávea, and Moraira. Torrevieja and Orihuela Costa skew younger and lower-budget; Jávea and Moraira skew older and higher-budget. Calpe, Altea, and Dénia have meaningful British populations but are more mixed-European.
Next steps
If you’re ready to look at numbers for your specific situation — what banks would lend you, at what LTV, with what monthly payment — start with our Finance Passport. It takes around 20 minutes and gives you a non-binding pre-approval you can show to sellers and agents.
For broader Spain context (not just Alicante), see our Spain mortgage hub and the dedicated guides for UK buyers and US citizens.
All applicant statistics in this guide are from the Upscore CRM, validated April 2026, n=2,651 profiled applicants and n=54 signed mortgages. We update the canonical figures quarterly.
