Altea, to love and to live.

Altea

Whitewashed houses on a hill, and above them the blue-and-white tiled domes of the church of Mare de Déu del Consol — the image everyone associates with Altea is in fact the old town.

Altea lies in the Marina Baja district between Benidorm and Calpe, with the escarpment of the Serra de Bèrnia at its back, which shelters it from northerly winds and gives it a mild microclimate. The beaches are pebble rather than sand, and the water is correspondingly clear. Instead of towers there is a height limit, a fine arts faculty, galleries and a weekly market.

About a third of registered residents were born abroad. Much can be sorted out in English or German, but the administration itself works in Spanish and Valencian, and deadlines, forms and appointments follow Spanish administrative law. That is exactly where this site comes in.

The municipality divides into a compact core by the sea and widely spread residential areas on the slopes behind it. Which one suits you usually comes down to a single question: car or no car.