Why We Decided To Move to Alicante, Spain — Without Ever Visiting It

Hello from our new home in Alicante, Spain!

Three and a half years after moving back home to Kansas City from Madrid, I’m finally back in Spain — and the best part is that Matt is with me now, too. 🙂 While our first few days here have been a whirlwind of adjusting to the time zone, looking for an apartment, and even having our TIE appointments bright and early on Monday morning, I’m ready and excited to start sharing our adventure with you all.

Of course, once we got approved for the Spain digital nomad visa, there was an important decision we had to make: where in Spain did we want to live? We talked about different cities for a while, but in the end, we decided on Alicante… a place that neither of us had ever visited before!

It was definitely a little bit risky (but so is moving to another country at all, lol). In the end, there were five main reasons we felt like it was going to be a great fit for us. So, without further ado, here’s why we decided to move to Alicante without ever visiting.

1. It’s Well-Connected

One of the absolute best things about living in Europe: how easy and affordable it is to hop around to other cities and countries. During my past two stints living in Europe (London as well as Madrid) I was always in a major city with lots of direct flights to/from other places. So when we were looking at places to live in Spain, having a well-connected, major airport with plenty of direct flights was super important to me.

We decided to pull up a list of airports in Spain ranked by size, and there was a way to compare the number of destinations/direct flights as well. This is actually how Alicante became a frontrunner for us! While it’s the 7th largest airport in Spain, it’s ranked 5th on the number of destinations they fly to — only after Madrid, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, and Malaga.

Doing some quick checks of flights from Alicante to cities we knew we’d want to visit — Dublin, Stockholm, and Amsterdam, for example — we found that all would be a simple direct flight away. With this in mind, we decided to keep researching other aspects of Alicante to see whether it could really be a contender.

2. It’s the Right Size

I absolutely loved living in Madrid, and I would have gladly moved back there if not for a few things. First, it’s too expensive. (More on that later.) Second, I’ve already lived there and was excited to try out life somewhere new. And third, Matt isn’t a big city person and has often said that Madrid feels like any other big European city — which isn’t untrue.

In Spain, I have extensive experience with cities of extreme size. Of course, Madrid’s population is 3.4 million with a total of 6.7 million in the metropolitan area. On the other hand, the rural pueblo where I worked four days a week for two years had a whopping 1,875 residents. I didn’t really want either of those extremes this time around.

Alicante is the 8th-largest metropolitan area in Spain, and it’s even smaller if you only count the population of the city itself. To us, this seemed perfect — it’s not too big and not too small. It’s big enough that we’ll always be able to find something to do, but small enough that we’ll feel like we can really get to know the city! I’m so looking forward to exploring even more and finding my new favorite places 🙂

3. Housing Availability

When I lived in Madrid from 2018-2020, I was paying about $400 USD per month to share a three-bedroom apartment with two roommates in a residential neighborhood of central Madrid. That was actually an amazing price and the apartment itself was really nice, but finding an apartment in Madrid that has everything Matt and I want/need at this point in our lives would definitely be way out of our budget.

We thought about Sevilla, but there were two problems there: One, we also had a hard time finding anything in our budget; two, there was hardly any selection. And the same seemed to be true in so many cities around Spain.

But somehow, when we checked out homes for rent in Alicante, we were pleasantly surprised by both the prices of apartments and also the volume of places available! Having nowhere to live is stressful, especially in a foreign country. Looking at apartments in Alicante, we felt that we would be able to find somewhere to live in a reasonable amount of time.

We’ve only been here a few days so far, so I’ll keep you posted. 😂

Update: Three days after arriving in Alicante, we had a verbal agreement on an apartment, and two days later, we signed the contract and moved in!

4. Amazing Weather

We had been seriously considering Sevilla despite the lack of housing availability, but spending an infernal August there a few months ago was what changed our minds. With daytime highs of 112°F (44°C) nearly every day for a month — and lows of 90°F (32°C) only when the sun went down — it was too hard to function without being able to step outside the house at all most of the day.

Even with air conditioning (which, if we hadn’t had air conditioning, I wouldn’t be here writing this today) it was still hard to get comfortable, not to mention how expensive it would be to use it constantly in the summer.

With how far south Alicante is, I was a little bit worried it would be just as hot. But when I began doing some research, I found out that the weather in Alicante is similar to San Diego! August is the hottest month of the year in Alicante, with an average high of 87°F (30°C), while the coolest month is January, with an average high of 53°F (11°C).

So far, in our first few days here, the temperature has consistently been in the 60s. Compared to Kansas City, which is a place of extreme temperatures, I could definitely get used to this. (Especially considering the past several days in KC, there were low temperatures with wind chills of -30°F, or -34°C!)

On top of that, there are an average of 300 sunny days in Alicante per year. As someone whose motivation/will to live is easily impacted by the weather, this is something that was really important for me — especially when I’m in a new place and adjusting to a new life without most of my social circle.

5. It’s on the Mediterranean Coast

Matt and I are from Missouri, which is basically the farthest you can possibly be from any beach in the United States. Then, when I lived in Madrid, I was also living in the most land-locked part of Spain.

Alicante, which is a coastal city on the Mediterranean Sea, is the first place I’ve ever lived in my entire life that has a beach! I wouldn’t say I’m a huge “beach” person, but how can you even know if you’re a beach person when the closest one is a 12-hour drive away? While it wasn’t the biggest factor in choosing to live in Alicante, there’s something super attractive about moving somewhere that is just so completely different from what you’re used to — and in this case, it’s moving to a coastal city.

While it is obviously January right now, I’m really looking forward to taking advantage of our proximity to the beach as the weather starts warming up a bit!

 

I’m so excited to keep settling in here in Alicante and hopefully start taking some day trips soon, to cities like Murcia and Valencia! Thanks for tuning in to the latest chapter of my love affair with Spain. 💞

-Cathy

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