By Anabel Mateos
Living in Alicante Spain is not just about sunshine or beaches. What makes the city special is the rhythm of everyday life. The plazas, promenades and markets are where life happens, and much of it takes place outdoors.
For me, moving to Alicante was something of a return home. I was born in Gijón, in Asturias, in the north of Spain. It’s a beautiful part of the country — green, dramatic and often very rainy. In fact, the weather there is surprisingly similar to the UK.
Which made sense, because I ended up spending 24 years living in Britain.
When my husband Iain and I decided to return to Spain in 2021, we spent quite a bit of time thinking about where we should live. Spain has many wonderful cities, but Alicante quickly stood out.
It had the sea, a lively city centre, wonderful food and a Mediterranean lifestyle that encourages people to spend time outside rather than rushing from one place to the next.
Finding Our Place in the City
When we arrived in Alicante we decided fairly quickly that we wanted to live in the centre of the city.
We ended up buying an older apartment in Ensanche-Diputación, a neighbourhood that turned out to be perfect for us. It sits right in the centre of Alicante but slightly away from the busiest tourist streets. It feels like a real neighbourhood where people live their daily lives.
Everything is within walking distance.
Shops, cafés, markets, parks and restaurants are all on the doorstep. From our apartment it’s about five minutes to El Corte Inglés, around fifteen minutes to the beach, and a similar walk to Mercado Central.
Living in Alicante Spain like this changes your relationship with the city. Instead of driving everywhere you simply step outside and start walking.
Most of the time we don’t even need a car.
The City Comes Alive in the Evening
One of the things that struck me almost immediately about living in Alicante Spain is how much life happens in the evening.
During the day the sun can be quite strong, especially in summer, but once the heat fades people appear everywhere. Families gather in plazas, children run around playgrounds and parents sit on nearby terraces enjoying a drink while keeping an eye on the little ones.
It’s something that happens across the city almost every evening.
In many neighbourhoods you still see neighbours placing chairs outside their front doors and chatting with each other in the street. It’s a simple tradition but it creates a feeling of community that many places have lost.
The Evening Paseo
Another lovely part of life here is the evening paseo — the tradition of taking a relaxed walk once the heat of the day has passed.
People stroll slowly through the streets, often with no particular destination. Older couples walk arm in arm, friends wander through the city chatting, and many people simply sit on benches watching the world go by.
One of the best places to experience this is the Explanada de España.
With its rows of palm trees and famous mosaic pavement, the promenade has been the social heart of the city for generations. In the evenings it fills with people enjoying the cooler air, listening to street musicians or simply strolling beside the sea.
It’s one of those places where time seems to slow down slightly.
The Markets and the Food
Food played a big role in our decision to move here, particularly because my husband Iain loves to cook.
At the centre of Alicante’s food culture is the beautiful Mercado Central de Alicante.
Inside the market you’ll find fish counters displaying the morning’s catch from the Mediterranean, fruit and vegetable stalls overflowing with produce from nearby farms and delicatessens selling everything from olives to perfectly cured jamón. There’s actually over 300 stall in total!
Shopping there never feels like a chore. It’s part of the rhythm of the city.
People chat to the stallholders, ask for advice and often linger longer than they planned.
It’s a wonderful place for anyone who enjoys cooking — which means we visit rather frequently.
A Beach Right in the City
Another reason we chose Alicante is something surprisingly rare: a proper city beach.
The golden sand of Playa del Postiguet sits just minutes from the historic centre.
You can go for a swim after work (and we often do in the summer), walk beside the Mediterranean in the evening or simply sit and watch the sea on a quiet afternoon.
Not many cities manage to combine a historic centre, a marina and a beach so easily. Sometimes, it feels like Living in Alicante Spain is the best place to be in the world and funnily enough, if you go to the main town hall square and look at the floor, you will see an inscription that says “La millor terra del món” – which actually means…. “The Best Land in the World”
The Character of the Old Town
Above the city rises the charming neighbourhood of Barrio de Santa Cruz, a maze of narrow streets climbing towards the castle.
Whitewashed houses, colourful flowerpots and steep staircases give the area a very distinctive character. Walking through Santa Cruz in the evening is particularly magical.
Lights glow from windows, voices echo through the narrow streets and occasionally you hear someone playing a guitar somewhere in the distance.
Above everything stands the Castillo de Santa Bárbara, perched high above the city. The walk up to the castle is something many locals do regularly, partly for the exercise but mostly for the incredible views across the Mediterranean.
A Different Rhythm of Life
One of the biggest differences between life here and life in the UK is the daily rhythm.
In Britain it’s quite common for restaurant kitchens to close early in the evening. My husband still finds this slightly alarming whenever we visit.
In Alicante, dinner often begins around ten o’clock and terraces remain busy well into the night.
During the week, we tend to eat a little earlier (maybe around 9pm).
Spain comes alive in the evening.
There is almost always something happening — a small fiesta, live music somewhere in the city, or simply people enjoying the warm night air.
It Isn’t Perfect… But That’s Part of Spain
Of course, living in Alicante Spain is not entirely sunshine and palm trees.
Finding work can sometimes be more difficult than in places like the UK, especially if you don’t speak Spanish. Salaries also tend to be lower than what many people are used to in northern Europe.
Then there is Spanish bureaucracy.
If you spend enough time here you will inevitably encounter it. Paperwork can move at what might politely be described as a Mediterranean pace. Occasionally you discover that the document you carefully prepared is missing another document that nobody mentioned the first three times you asked.
You learn patience.
Eventually you also learn that things tend to work better if you smile, take a breath and accept that the process might require one or two extra visits.
Or three.
But once the paperwork is done and you step outside into the sunshine, walk past a plaza full of families enjoying the evening and hear someone playing a guitar somewhere nearby, the frustration fades surprisingly quickly.
Like most places, Alicante has its quirks.
But for us, living in Alicante Spain still feels like a very good decision.
A City That Is Easy to Love
In the end, it isn’t one single thing that makes Alicante special.
It’s the combination of things: the plazas full of life, the evening stroll along the Explanada, the markets, the sea, the warm nights and the feeling that the city is always gently buzzing with activity.
When we moved here in 2021 we hoped Alicante would offer the lifestyle we were looking for.
It has exceeded our expectations.
This article is the first in a series exploring the many reasons people choose living in Alicante Spain, from its climate and beaches to its culture, food and history.
