These are the towns in Alicante where foreigners buy the most property
International buyers snap up 80% of houses for sale in some parts of the Costa Blanca
Although the proposal of Spanish President Pedro Sánchez to apply a surcharge to the sale of homes to buyers from non-EU countries would be a major blow to the entire real estate sector in Alicante and the rest of Spain, the consequences would be more keenly felt in those areas most dependent on so-called residential tourism.
The tax hike for British and other international buyers could be devastating in particular for the Vega Baja, whose economy relies heavily on holidaymakers and second home owners. The hardest blows would be dealt to Torrevieja and Orihuela, the leading markets for international buyers.
To put this into perspective, in the first half of last year alone, buyers from abroad purchased 3,117 properties in Torrevieja – practically 20% of the homes bought in all of Alicante province.
To give an idea of the importance this represents for the local economy, this figure means that international clients accounted for up to 82.7% of the entire property market in Torrevieja, according to calculations by the appraiser Euroval.
Although Swedes have traditionally been the largest nationality in the city, since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Poles have taken the top spot, with a total of 598 homes purchased between January and June last year, compared with 288 for Scandinavians. Ukrainians themselves are in third place, with 281 homes purchased.
If we add the rest of the non-EU nationalities - Russians, British, Norwegians, etc - a measure such as the one proposed by Pedro Sánchez could wipe out around 20% of this business.
In Orihuela the situation is even more complex. In the city itself, foreigners account for up to 85.9% of the market, with a total of 2,354 purchases in the first half of 2024. In this case, the most numerous are the British, who bought 427 homes, followed by the Belgians (374) and, again, the Poles, with 218 sales.
In other words, the possible tax that the Government wants to apply would directly affect the main foreign market of the city, the British, which, as a result of Brexit, would also be affected by the tax.
Beyond the Vega Baja, the third most popular area for home purchases by foreigners in the province is the city of Alicante, with a total of 1,446 transactions in the first six months of 2024, which in this case represents around 40% of the real estate business in the municipality.
The trouble is that the figures don’t distinguish between foreigners who buy a home in Alicante to live in and those who purchase investment properties. The sweeping tax hike proposed by the President would treat all of these non-EU buyers the same, potentially devastating the economy.
Image: Deran via Wikimedia Commons
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