Torrevieja vs Orihuela Costa 2026: Which Side to Buy

	Torrevieja	Orihuela Costa
Our listings	117	33
Price range	EUR 155,000 to EUR 620,000	EUR 187,500 to EUR 625,000
Cheapest one bedroom	EUR 167,500	none, market starts at two
Cheapest two bedroom	EUR 225,000	EUR 187,500
What it is	a town	a string of urbanisations
Hospital	yes, Hospital de Torrevieja	no, uses Torrevieja
Golf courses nearby	one	several, including Villamartin and Las Colinas
Walkable centre	yes	no

Torrevieja is a Spanish town of roughly 84,000 people with a high street, a market, a hospital and a bus station. Orihuela Costa is a coastal strip of the Orihuela municipality made up of separately built urbanisations: Playa Flamenca, Punta Prima, Cabo Roig, Villamartin, Los Altos and a dozen more.

Where each one is cheaper, and it is not obvious

Below EUR 225,000, Torrevieja wins outright. WG-14 apartment in Torrevieja at EUR 155,000 for 42 m2, WES-2353B 1-bed apartment in Torrevieja at EUR 167,500 and WES-2322B 1-bed apartment in Torrevieja at EUR 170,000 have no Orihuela Costa equivalent. The cheap end of this coast is one-bedroom and studio apartments in Torrevieja town, and Orihuela Costa does not build them.

Between EUR 187,500 and EUR 250,000, Orihuela Costa wins on bedroom count. WES-2240D 2-bed apartment in Orihuela Costa is a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment of 71 m2 in Lomas de Cabo Roig at EUR 187,500. The cheapest two-bedroom in Torrevieja town is WES-2490B 2-bed apartment in Torrevieja at EUR 225,000 for 61 m2. That is EUR 37,500 more for ten square metres less and one bathroom fewer.

WES-2240F 2-bed apartment in Orihuela Costa at EUR 202,500 for 69 m2 and WES-2240E 2-bed apartment in Orihuela Costa at EUR 240,500 for 69 m2 sit in the same development.

Above EUR 300,000 the two markets overlap heavily and the choice stops being about price.

Orihuela Costa by urbanisation

Area	Our listings	Price range	Character
Punta Prima	6	EUR 324,000 to EUR 449,000	Near the sea, borders Torrevieja
Los Altos	5	EUR 260,000 to EUR 550,000	Elevated, mixed apartments and houses
Lomas de Cabo Roig	4	EUR 187,500 to EUR 369,000	Cheapest entry, apartments
Playa Flamenca	4	EUR 325,000 to EUR 625,000	Beach and the Saturday market
Villamartin	3	EUR 289,900 to EUR 363,500	Golf, townhouses
Las Filipinas	3	EUR 255,000 to EUR 559,000	Inland, quieter

Standouts: WES-1010 3-bed house in Orihuela Costa is a three-bedroom house of 319 m2 in Los Altos at EUR 550,000, roughly EUR 1,724 per square metre and one of the largest properties we hold on this coast. WES-2312 2-bed house in Orihuela Costa is a two-bedroom house in Villamartin at EUR 289,900, and WES-2394 3-bed apartment in Orihuela Costa is a three-bedroom apartment at Las Colinas Golf at EUR 615,000.

Torrevieja by area

Area	Our listings	Price range
Centre and general	82	EUR 155,000 to EUR 549,000
Los Balcones	23	EUR 259,000 to EUR 409,000
Torreblanca	3	EUR 305,000 to EUR 540,000
Aguas Nuevas	3	EUR 399,000 to EUR 585,000
La Mata	2	EUR 565,000 to EUR 620,000

The Los Balcones area is where the floor space is, including a 218 m2 apartment at EUR 409,000.

Which suits which buyer

Torrevieja if you want to live without a car for stretches, you want the cheapest entry price on this coast, you value having a hospital and a year-round high street, or you are buying a one-bedroom.

Orihuela Costa if you want two bedrooms and two bathrooms for the least money, you play golf, you want a house or townhouse rather than an apartment, or you want to be within walking distance of a specific cove rather than a town.

Both work if your budget is EUR 300,000 to EUR 450,000 and you are buying a two- or three-bedroom apartment. At that level the decision comes down to whether you prefer a town or an urbanisation, and the only way to answer it is to spend an evening in each.

Practical differences that matter later

Healthcare. Hospital de Torrevieja serves both areas. From most of Orihuela Costa that is a ten to twenty minute drive. Worth knowing before you buy at the southern end.

Municipal services. Orihuela Costa is administered from Orihuela city, roughly thirty kilometres inland, and residents there have long complained about the distance between where they pay taxes and where decisions get made. Torrevieja runs its own affairs from the town.

Winter. Torrevieja centre stays open. Parts of Orihuela Costa quieten considerably, though the larger urbanisations keep supermarkets and a few restaurants running.

Rental. Orihuela Costa lets better to golf and family holiday markets. Torrevieja lets better long term to residents. Both need a tourist licence for short lets, covered in our guide to holiday rental licences. Our guide to the Orihuela Costa golf triangle covers that market specifically.

Costs

Both sit in the Valencian Community, so the tax treatment is identical: 10 per cent ITP on a resale, or 10 per cent IVA plus 1.5 per cent AJD on new build, plus roughly EUR 4,000 to EUR 7,000 in notary, registry, lawyer and gestoria depending on price. See our guide to the total cost of buying property in Spain.

Annual community fees run similar in both, EUR 480 to EUR 1,100 for an apartment with a pool. Orihuela Costa urbanisations with extensive grounds sit at the higher end. Non-residents file annually regardless of letting, covered in annual property taxes.

Municipal information is published by the Ayuntamiento de Torrevieja and, for the coastal strip, by Orihuela.

Questions

Is Orihuela Costa part of Torrevieja? No. It is part of the Orihuela municipality, which also includes the inland city of Orihuela. The boundary runs just south of Punta Prima, and it determines which council issues your IBI and your licences.

Which is more British? Both have large British populations. Orihuela Costa is proportionally more international overall and Torrevieja has more Spanish residents alongside its foreign community, simply because it is a functioning town.

Where is the cheapest two-bedroom on this coast? In our catalogue, WES-2240D 2-bed apartment in Orihuela Costa in Lomas de Cabo Roig at EUR 187,500. That is EUR 37,500 below the cheapest Torrevieja two-bed.

Which appreciates better? Neither has consistently outperformed the other. Torrevieja has more supply, which caps growth. Orihuela Costa has more golf-adjacent stock, which is more sensitive to the international market.

What about Guardamar and Los Montesinos? Both nearby and both in our catalogue: 23 listings in Guardamar and 19 in Los Montesinos, the latter mostly houses around Vistabella Golf from EUR 269,900. Worth adding to a viewing trip if a house matters more than the address.

Next steps

Book one morning in each. See WES-2240D 2-bed apartment in Orihuela Costa at EUR 187,500 in Lomas de Cabo Roig and WES-2417B 2-bed apartment in Torrevieja at EUR 240,000 in Torrevieja on the same day, and the difference between an urbanisation and a town becomes obvious. Start on the Torrevieja page.