Calpe / Calp
You can see Calpe from a long way off: in the middle of the town a rock 332 metres high runs out into the sea. Sailors once steered by it; today it is a nature park you can walk up in a couple of hours. People began settling here in the Bronze Age, then came Iberians, Romans and Arabs — the shore is easy, so it was never left empty. The prime meridian passes through the town. Until the last century Calpe lived on almonds, raisins and fishing, and took salt from a lagoon. The lagoon is a nature park now as well.
The town became a resort in the sixties and you can see it from a mile away: the towers that grew around the rock have no equal on this coast. More than half the residents are foreign — the highest share in our whole base. The British and German communities are big enough that the local calendar now has a German carnival and an Oktoberfest next to the Spanish festivals. Practical life is middling: there is a tram station for Benidorm and Alicante, the airport is a little over an hour away, but the nearest hospital is 29 minutes off in Dénia. For a retired person that is the question that matters.
- Altea · 11 km — the white old town on the hill above the sea
- Benidorm · 22 km — hospitals, shops, everything open all year
- Jávea · 25 km — the bay under the Montgó mountain
Calpe / Calp sits in Costa Blanca North, Alicante, right on the water. 54.1% of residents are foreign nationals per the census: Spanish is not the only language you will hear on the street. Summers are packed: tourist load hits 5 out of 5 at the peak against 1 in winter. Fast internet at a median of 400 Mbps: remote work is not a problem here.
Hospital, terrain, getting around
Where from: the Ministry of Health hospital catalogue, road time · elevations from the Copernicus terrain model · OpenStreetMap · ratings for car-free and hospital minutes are ours.
Calpe sea temperature by month
5 months above 20 °CsourceAverage sea surface temperature, °C, for 2015–2024 — NOAA OISST satellite series, grid cell 7.3 km from the centre.
Tourist load
Calpe beaches and water quality
sourceCalpe has 6 beaches tested under EU bathing water rules, at 6 sampling points. In the 2025 season, all 6 were graded excellent. No beach here has been graded “poor” since testing began in 1990.
The grade is bacteria in water samples over the last four seasons — not sand, views or crowds. “Poor” means bathing there is advised against.
| Beach | From the centre | Grade 2025 | “Excellent” in a row | Last “poor” |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Playa de l’Arenal-Bol | 0.7 km | excellent | 14 seasons | none since 1990 |
| Playa del Port Blanc | 1.3 km | excellent | 34 seasons | none since 1990 |
| Playa de Cantal Roig | 2.2 km | excellent | 34 seasons | none since 1990 |
| Playa de la Fossa | 2.5 km | excellent | 36 seasons | none since 1990 |
| Playa del Raco de Calp | 2.5 km | excellent | 1 season | none since 2017 |
| Playa de la Calalga | 3 km | excellent | 34 seasons | none since 1990 |
Where from: European Environment Agency, bathing water register, seasons 1990–2025, licence CC BY 4.0. Distance is from the centre in a straight line. Every place in one table
On the map
What tenants actually pay
sourcedThis is the median rent on active leases — tax records for 2024, a sample of 1 455 leases. It includes long-standing contracts at unchanged rents, so it sits below what is asked today: our estimate of asking rent is 1 300 € for a two-bedroom.
The point of the 75th percentile: it is closer to what is being signed now than the median. The gap between them shows how much a new tenant overpays relative to long-standing ones.
Where from: SERPAVI, Ministerio de Vivienda · municipality: Calp
Rent by number of bedrooms
asking price, estimate| 1 bedroom | 1 000 €/mo | |
| 2 bedrooms | 1 300 €/mo | |
| 3 bedrooms | ≈ 1 690 €/mo | model: two-bed × 1.3, no measurement yet |
| Median of active leases, 2024 | 550 €/mo | SERPAVI · 77 m² |
Asking prices are what long lets are advertised at today; the registry is what tenants pay on signed leases, including old ones. The gap between them is your negotiating argument.
Schools nearby
estimateInternational schools counted in the base: 1. Names and curricula for this place are not verified yet — the school registry covers the thirty most-requested places so far.
Renting without a Spanish contract
How realistic a long lease is without a nómina — on foreign income, savings or prepayment.
- —54.1% foreign residents — income from abroad is routine for landlords here
- —A community with its own services: agencies have dealt with foreigners before
This is our model, not a measurement: demanding a nómina is an individual landlord's practice and nobody publishes it. The rating is derived from the share of foreign residents, the presence of a community with services, price growth, seasonality of the stock and the size of the town.
Who lives here
INE 2025- Colombia1 591
- United Kingdom1 494
- Ukraine1 400
- Belgium1 388
- Romania1 219
- Russia1 129
- Germany1 046
- Morocco922
- enEnglishschool, doctors or lawyers in the language
- deGermanschool, doctors or lawyers in the language
Where from: INE, Censo Anual de Población · the register-based census counts padrón registrations by citizenship on 1 January, not everyone living here: seasonal owners and the unregistered are outside it, and naturalised residents count as Spanish.
Winter direct flights from ALC
January 2026/2765 min to the airport- United Kingdom21
- other countries17
- Germany12
- Poland10
- Norway7
- Italy6
- Sweden5
- France5
- Belgium4
- Netherlands3
- Switzerland3
- Ireland2
- Denmark2
- Czechia2
- Finland1
- Austria1
Destinations served at least weekly in January; checked 2026-09-17.
Paperwork and practicalities
From OpenStreetMap — an open map filled in by volunteers. Something missing there may still exist: read this as «we found this many», not «there are no more».
Month by month
Air, sea, how busy it gets and what stays open — for each month on its own.
Articles that include this place
- Costa Blanca and Alicante beaches by water quality: every beach's record since 1990Every beach in Alicante province with an official sampling point: where the water has stayed excellent, where it slipped in recent seasons, and when the coast is quieter for the same sea.
- Retiring to coastal Spain: who already lives there, how far the hospital is, and whether the town stays open in winterThe share of residents over 65 and over 80 in every place we cover, from the INE census, the drive to the nearest public hospital, and the measured winter score. No ranking: only what the numbers show.
Where to look next
- Badalona2 769 €/m²
- Benicàssim2 728 €/m²
- Mojácar2 651 €/m²
- Málaga3 283 €/m²
- Sanxenxo3 301 €/m²
- Conil de la Frontera3 202 €/m²