Torrevieja and Orihuela Lead Home Sales in Spain: What It Means If You Are Buying in 2026

Torrevieja closed 6,913 home sales last year and Orihuela 4,992, according to Tinsa's *Vivienda en Costa 2026* report: the two tourist municipalities where most homes are sold in all of Spain, ahead of Marbella, Gijón and Estepona. We look at the figures, the affordability squeeze on local households (a mortgage now eats 50 % of income in Torrevieja) and, above all, what a foreign buyer must check before signing in the Vega Baja.

Torrevieja and Orihuela: the epicentre of Spain's residential market

The Vivienda en Costa 2026 report by the valuation firm Tinsa, published on 20 August 2026 by the Alicante daily *Información*, confirms what our firm has seen every week for decades: the Vega Baja is the engine of residential tourism in Spain.

Last year's municipal figures leave little room for debate:

| Municipality | Home sales | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Torrevieja | 6,913 | −4.8 % |
| Orihuela (including Orihuela Costa) | 4,992 | −7.5 % |
| Marbella (Málaga) | 4,407 | — |
| Gijón (Asturias) | 3,778 | — |
| Cartagena (Murcia) | 3,759 | — |
| Elche (Alicante) | 3,611 | — |
| Estepona (Málaga) | 3,475 | — |
| Mijas (Málaga) | 3,197 | — |
| Roquetas de Mar (Almería) | 2,828 | — |
| Algeciras (Cádiz) | 2,202 | — |
| Arona (Tenerife) | 1,621 | — |
| San Bartolomé de Tirajana (Las Palmas) | 1,110 | — |

No non-capital coastal town in Spain comes close to Torrevieja. Including provincial capitals, only Barcelona (17,326), Valencia (10,383) and Alicante (7,014) sell more homes. Orihuela comfortably beats Marbella and the leading holiday destinations of the Balearics and the Canaries.

Province-wide, coastal municipalities on the Alicante coast — excluding the capital — recorded 31,307 transactions, far ahead of the Málaga coast (22,908), Barcelona (15,504), Cádiz (12,493), Murcia (11,717), Tenerife (10,418) and the Balearics (10,331).

Also notable within the province: Benidorm (2,174), Dénia (1,967), Santa Pola (1,927), Guardamar del Segura (1,377) and Pilar de la Horadada (1,329).

What lies behind the numbers

This is no accident. Torrevieja, La Mata, Orihuela Costa, Cabo Roig, La Zenia, Campoamor, Playa Flamenca, Villamartín and Punta Prima combine four factors that rarely coincide anywhere else in the Mediterranean:

  • Entry prices still competitive compared with the Costa del Sol or the Balearics.
  • An established international community — British, Irish, Nordic, Dutch, Belgian, German, Polish and increasingly French — with services, schools and healthcare geared to it.
  • Connectivity: Alicante-Elche airport under an hour away, with direct flights year round.
  • Climate, with more than 300 days of sunshine and the Torrevieja salt lagoons as a long-recognised health asset.

The other side: affordability

The report also flags an effect buyers should understand: tourist demand has decoupled prices from local purchasing power.