Life in the Altea Area - Page 2

Yep, and thanks, I am sure you are a real gem too...

Altea is beautiful, its got all local amenities, its its more expensive for apartments than other place but you are walking distance to the beach. You shouldnt have any problems travelling down, they say the borders are closed but so far we've had absolutely no problems for day time travel but there does seem to be a curfew where they may stop you and ask where your going but nothing major. 

Sounds good, thank you!

Hello Mark & Karina. We bought our apartment in Albir which joins Altea. 
Albir has everything in walking distance. 

Aldi, Lidl, Cosum to name just a few. 
There must be at least 8 or 10 supermarkets. You are also spoiled for choice on bars and restaurants too. Strongly recommend you take a look. Walk the seafront to give you an idea then at the end by the the anchor sculpture, go back into the town. It’s lovely. 

Awesome, thank you for your insights!

Hi Mark & Karina

We bought our home three years ago. We had fallen in love with Altea many years ago and had frequently visited the town before we committed to buying and living here.

First of all, Altea is a very vibrant lively town with a very cosmopolitan feel, during the summer months many tourists descend on the town to enjoy the many varied and colourful fiestas. During the winter the town is still very much alive with plenty of facilities for residents. Most of the very best restaurants remain open during the winter and it is a delight to toma un café whilst enjoying the warm winter sunshine looking over the sea.

Where to buy

This will of course depend on what use the property will serve you (i.e. holiday home or permanent residence). We retired here from the UK and have no intentions of ever going back to the UK other than for visits. Although we are fairly fit and active, we wanted to ensure that the property we purchased met all the criteria on our property wish list. Property in the town close to amenities, swimming pool, secure parking, well kept grounds and gardens, storage space and plenty of living space. We achieved this and are very happy living in a large apartment in the Garganes area of Altea.

We hardly use our car as everything is very local. There are many groups and clubs for various pursuits around Altea. The town is also well served by the local tram and a regular bus service. After being here for three years we very much feel apart of the town and whenever we walk out we meet and talk with other local Alteanos. At present we are still trying to learn Spanish to help with our integration to the town.  

Altea Hills and Mascarat are nice selective areas, however these are residential, mainly holiday homes and the areas feel isolated and cut off from the still very vibrant town of Altea during the winter months.

If you intend retiring to Altea a good tip would be to rent for a while whilst you establish what suits you best before committing to a purchase.

Like many other towns Altea is very quite during these COVID times, however we will all be in a better condition by summer and Altea will fiesta like it has never fiestas before.  

I do hope this helps

Best regards 

Jeff

Hi Jeff,

Really great information, thank you! Looking forward to relocating there in the near future. As you suggested, we will probably rent first before we purchasing. Hopefully, the restrictions will ease soon.

Take care,

Mark & Karina

Hi,  agree with the comments about both Altea and especially Albir. We bought a villa in Albir just over 3 years ago, and moved into it full time (early retirement) in July last yr. We love it here and can’t wait for it all to get back to normal. Albir has pretty much all you need and if not then then Benidorm is only a short drive away ( if what you are missing is there 😀😀).

Have fun, whichever one you choose.

Sounds like the perfect area. Thanks, Andy!

Hi Altea is a great choice. We have been coming here for 8 years and live in Bellaguarda the oldest part of Altea. It’s a very cosmopolitan town but still very Spanish. There is a concert hall, a university of fine arts, Social centre with free cinema and all sorts of classes. We drive from UK but I rarely drive as I can walk everywhere. Some of the bars have social events in the evenings and language exchange groups. It’s best to live in Altea as eg Altea hills outside is quite isolated and you need a car to get anywhere. Good luck