It’s well known that Valencia’s Costa Blanca is a favourite spot for foreigners to live or buy a property here in Spain, but the latest figures from the country’s General Council of Notaries reveal just how popular it still is.
Spain’s latest figures show that foreign property buyers continue to break records in Spain, representing a bigger share of the purchasing market than ever as authorities register a drop in buys among Spanish nationals.
However, there are towns along Spain’s eastern Costa Blanca where non-Spanish buyers far outnumber locals.
According to notarial data, in the small town of San Miguel de Salinas (population 7,000+), which lies just inland from Torrevieja and Orihuela Costa, Spanish buyers make up less than 10 percent of the home purchases.
From June 2025 to May 2026, Spaniards only purchased 59 out of the 528 homes sold in this municipality. The remaining 479 or a massive 90.4 percent were bought by foreigners. The Dutch came out in top spot, followed by the Belgians and then the British.
While this small town had the highest percentage of foreign buyers within the last year, there were several other municipalities, also within the Alicante province, where they account for more than 80 percent of all property transactions.
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In southern end of the province, the town of Rojales, international buyers make up 88.33 percent of the market; in Algorfa they make up 87.19 percent; while in Benijófar they make up 82.6 percent; and in San Fulgencio they own 82.1 percent of the homes there.
It’s not just small towns in southern Alicante where international buyers make up a huge percentage of the market, however.
There are much larger towns in that area where almost 80 percent of purchases are by foreigners too.
The area’s two major cities – Orihuela and Torrevieja – are not far behind. In Orihuela, foreigners account for 79 percent of those purchasing a property, while in Torrevieja the figure stands at 78.13 percent.
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In the northern part of Alicante province, the story is much the same. In Teulada and Benitatxell, foreigners make up 83.9 percent, while in Poblenou de Benitatxell it’s 80.1 percent.
Finestrat comes in third place with 78.5 percent of the maket occupied by foreigners, then Calp with 73.36 percent, followed by Benissa with 72.96 percent.
There are also several places where foreigners make up just over 60 percent, so over half. These include l’Alfàs, Altea, Xàbia, Pedreguer, and Els Poblets, Guardamar, Pilar de la Horadada, Formentera del Segura, Los Montesinos, and Jacarilla.
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In Benidorm, however, which has long attracted international tourism to its shores, foreigners account for a comparatively low 38 percent of home purchases, according to notarial statistics.
It’s a different story when you go further inland and further away from the coast.
In these towns foreign buyers rarely exceed 20 percent of the real estate market and these buyers are generally citizens from South America or Northwest Africa. For example, foreigners only account for 12 percent of buyers in Alcoy and 14.26 percent in Villena.
