Gran Alacant: the perfect spot for your Spanish holiday home
Only 10 minutes’ drive from Alicante airport, yet with a great beach (Carabassi) and a great selection of property for a budget of £140k – why is the Costa Blanca’s Gran Alacant not more popular?
You might think there is a catch like lots of aeroplane noise or industry close to a busy international airport, but it isn’t the case – just a vibrant town with supermarkets, restaurants and some nice urbanisations – as a growing number of buyers are discovering. In fact Jasmine has been out filming there this summer with more property hunters, and last year you might have seen Jane and Neil buying a place there for £106k that only costs €50 a month to run.
Well, Paul and Sharon from Shropshire had already cottoned on to the fact that Gran Alacant would suit them well when they applied to A Place in the Sun TV show in 2022. “We decided it would be perfect for a quick getaway as we are both still working,” says Paul, who runs a joinery company. “We didn’t want to own somewhere where we had to have a car. It’s only €15 in a cab to get there from the airport.”
Paul and Sharon, who have got married in Antigua since the programme was filmed, flew out with Jean Johansson to look for two-bedroom properties with outside space and a shared pool with a budget of £135,000. Jean managed to find them a two-bed townhouse on a development with a great communal swimming pool for £100,840.
But on the recent TV episode Jean called it their ‘second-chance townhouse’ because the couple had actually viewed it on a trip they’d made earlier and thought it been sold. “It was definitely a great choice. We’ve been out about six times in the past year, it’s just so convenient,” says Paul, who says that they fly out from either Birmingham or Manchester. They’ve since explored the area – Torrevieja, Santa Pola and Benidorm (‘not our thing’) and have been back frequently to the city of Alicante featured on the programme. “We love the harbour area, and the beach is beautiful.”
However they haven't quite managed to get the kitchen re-done yet – but giving that a makeover is next on their to-do list because the British couple who used to own it – returning to the UK due to ill health – left ‘everything’, they have not had to really buy much – even new lightbulbs.
Their community fees are a modest €115 per quarter, and they love the fact that restaurants in their area are not expensive – they pay €12-15 for a main course and a glass of wine is around €2.50. They avoid visiting in school holidays to get cheaper flights and don’t intend to rent it out but let friends and family use it – they have four grown-up children – although Paul admits he could easily live out their full time when he retires.
Interestingly they have just one thing they’d do differently. “We wished we’d stretched our budget to get a home with its own pool. We were playing safe, not sure how much we’d make use of the property – and the pool – but looking back we could have afforded the €200,000 or €210,000 needed to get one. It would be nice to have one all to ourselves, as the shared one does get busy.”
Two-bedroom townhouses now start off around €160,000 in Gran Alacant; a three-bed one with a small pool is €250,000-€300,000 now.
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