On the Costa Blanca, between Calpe to the north and Benidorm to the south, with the Serra Gelada between Altea and Benidorm. Its old town sits on a hill at the centre of the Bay of Altea.

Are the beaches in Altea sandy?

No. Altea's beaches are pebbles and gravel, from fine gravel to large round stones, with coves and cliffs along more than six kilometres of coast. The town's tourist office points to them being less crowded. For long sandy beaches, Calpe is next door.

Should I buy in Altea or in Calpe?

Choose Altea for the old town, the quieter pebble beaches and villas on the hills around the bay. Choose Calpe for the long sandy beaches and the widest choice of apartments by the sea. We list homes in both and can show you the two in one trip.

Can you view a property in Altea for me if I live abroad?

Yes. We pre-check and visit properties for you, then report back with photographs and an honest view, so you only fly out for the ones worth seeing.

Property for sale in Altea

A white old town on a hill under a blue dome, at the centre of its own bay.

Property for sale in Altea, on the Costa Blanca between Calpe and Benidorm: villas on the hills above the bay, homes close to the old town and the seafront, and plots. This page lists every home we have in Altea, live from our stock. We visit and check each one before you do, as we do in Calpe next door, and we stay with you through the purchase to the keys.

5 properties for sale today, from €1,200,000 to €2,800,000, in Pueblo.

Altea, the old town and the bay

Altea is a town of about 24,600 registered residents, at the centre of the bay that carries its name, which runs from the Toix headland to the Serra Gelada natural park. Its old town sits on a hill, crowned by the church of Nuestra Señora del Consuelo, built in the first years of the twentieth century on the lines of a seventeenth-century church, with a dome of blue and white glazed tiles that has become one of the best-known sights of the Costa Blanca. Inside the old town, the walled Renaissance citadel keeps the street plan it was founded with in 1617 and is protected as a Bien de Interés Cultural. Steep, cobbled streets run down to the fishermen's quarter and the port. Altea has two other historic centres: Bellaguarda, on a lower hill to the north-east of the old town, and Altea la Vella, inland. Behind them rise the Serra de Bernia and the Serra Gelada. Painters, sculptors and musicians made Altea their meeting place or their home in the 1960s and 1970s, and the town has kept that side, with studios and craft shops in the old streets and concerts through the winter as well as the summer. It is a town that people live in all year, not only a place to spend August.

The coast, and where the homes are

Altea has more than six kilometres of coast, from the Mascarat headland, also called the Morro de Toix, at the Calpe end, to the breakwater of the port. Its beaches are pebbles and gravel, not sand, between cliffs and small coves: Mascarat, La Solsida, L'Olla, Cap Negret, El Bol and La Roda. Cap Negret, about 1,470 metres long, lies in a residential setting with the Serra de Bernia behind it. In front of the town, the seafront promenade was rebuilt and finished in December 2022, from the Plaza de Europa to the mouth of the river Algar, and the whole urban seafront is now accessible. South of the port, Cap Blanc is the longest beach of the municipality and runs on into the coast of L'Alfàs del Pi and Albir. There are three marinas: the Club Náutico in the middle of the bay, Marina Greenwich about three kilometres from the town, and Porto Senso, part of a residential complex outside the centre. For a home, this gives three kinds of place. The old town and the streets below it, for village houses and apartments within walking distance of everything. The seafront and the flat land near the beaches, for apartments close to the water. And the hills around the town and towards the sierras, where the villas are, with views over the bay and a car for daily life. Our page of sea view villas on the Costa Blanca North shows the views along the whole coast.

Altea or Calpe, next door

Many buyers look at Altea and Calpe together, and they are neighbours that feel different. Calpe is a little larger, with about 27,600 registered residents, and is built around the Peñón de Ifach and two long beaches of fine sand lined with apartment buildings, so an apartment by the beach is a real alternative to a villa there. Altea, with about 24,600, is built around its old town on the hill, and its beaches are pebbles; here the choice is more often between a house near the old town and a villa on the hills. Both have a fishing port and both live all year. If you are torn between them, our pages of property for sale in Calpe and villas for sale in Calpe show the town next door, and villas for sale on the Costa Blanca North the whole coast. The rules for buying are largely the same regional and national rules in both towns. A holiday let needs registration and a favourable planning report from the town hall. Near the shore, the coastal law keeps a protection zone where no new houses may be built and existing ones can be repaired and modernised but not enlarged. In the old town, what you may change in a house is a question for the town hall before you buy. We check these points for the home you choose, and an independent lawyer should confirm the position before you sign.

What we check on every property in Altea.

That the house as built matches the land registry and the Catastro, the pool and any extensions included.
The licence of first occupation, or its equivalent, for the house as it stands today.
In the old town: what the protection of the historic centre allows you to change, confirmed with the town hall.
On the hills: the gradient of the road and the drive, and how far the shops are by car.
What could be built in front of the view under the current planning rules.
Near the shore: where the coastal protection zone runs and what it allows on the house.