Guardamar del Segura sits at the mouth of the river Segura on the Costa Blanca, in Alicante province. The town's shape today owes a great deal to a forestry project. The municipal tourism office tells it this way. In the late nineteenth century the dunes were advancing at about eight metres a year. A forestry engineer, Francisco Mira y Botella, directed a reforestation plan approved in 1897, with planting from 1900 into the 1930s. More than six hundred thousand trees went in, and dunes and pinewood now cover eight hundred hectares. That forest, the Parque Alfonso XIII, stands between the town and the sea and is designated a site of community importance.
The town counted 18,564 residents at 1 January 2025, close to a fifth more than ten years earlier. On the national annual census, which counts 18,541 for the same date, close to two in five are foreign nationals. The largest group is Ukrainian, not British: 1,220 Ukrainians to 1,133 Britons, with Russians, Bulgarians, Dutch and Moroccans behind. The same is true in Torrevieja next door.
Asking prices rose by more than a tenth in the year to July 2026 and climbed every month bar one. Zona Pueblo, the old town, is the cheapest district and rising fastest. The spread between dearest and cheapest is narrow by Costa Blanca standards. This is not a town of two economies.
The verdict
The upside is real. So is the downside. Both matter more than any brochure will admit.
Eight hundred hectares of dune and pine forest
The Parque Alfonso XIII sits between the town and the beaches. The municipal tourism office puts the planting at more than six hundred thousand trees and says the area is a designated site of community importance.
Eleven kilometres of coast with five Blue Flags
Eight named beaches run from Platja del Camp, just over two kilometres long, down to Centre at a little over four hundred metres. Five held a Blue Flag in 2026.
A working marina at the river mouth
Marina de las Dunas sits on the right bank of the Segura, off the N-332. It has 498 berths, 116 of them for public use, and takes vessels up to fifteen metres.
Round the clock health cover in town
The integrated health centre on Calle Molivent is open twenty-four hours, with a smaller surgery at El Campo. The reference hospital is the Hospital Universitario de Torrevieja, in the next town.
A market that climbs steadily, not in spikes
Asking prices rose in every month bar one over the year to July 2026, and the gap between the dearest district and the cheapest is small by Costa Blanca standards.
No railway, no tram, no way round a car
Guardamar appears nowhere on the regional commuter rail map, and the TRAM line north of Alicante does not come this far south. The nearest station is Alicante Terminal, in Alicante city.
The town sits on sand held by trees
The tourism office says that before the planting began in 1900 the dunes were advancing at about eight metres a year. The forest is a fine achievement, and a reminder of what the ground here actually is.
Close to two in five residents are foreign
That mix suits buyers who want an international town and Ukrainian, British and Dutch communities among the largest. Buyers after a mainly Spanish daily life should look inland or at bigger cities instead.
The cheap old town is getting dearer fastest
Zona Pueblo is the cheapest of the five districts with published figures and rose fastest over the year to July 2026. Good for owners, worse each month for anyone still deciding.
No climate record of its own
No weather station in or near Guardamar publishes climate normals. The nearest that do are in Alicante city and at the airport in Elche, and their figures are not the town's.
Editor's note
We like Guardamar more than most towns on this stretch of coast. The forest is real, the beaches are long, and the market has risen steadily rather than in a spike. But we would not send everyone here. If you will not run a car, do not buy in Guardamar. There is no railway station and the TRAM does not come this far south; look at Alicante city, which has a rail terminus, or El Campello, which has three tram lines. If you want a hospital in your own town, Torrevieja next door has one, and Guardamar already depends on it. If you want a mainly Spanish street life, close to two in five residents here are foreign, and Alicante city will suit you better. If you are counting on winter warmth, know that no weather station in or near Guardamar publishes climate normals, so we give no temperatures and would distrust any page that does. Guardamar is for the buyer who wants pine forest, long sand, a quiet international town and a car on the drive. If that is you, the old town is cheapest and rising fastest, so decide sooner rather than later.
Updated 2026-08-30
Where to live and what to expect at each price point.
The urbanisations spread back from the shore, the dearest part of the municipality and the slowest riser of the five over the past year. Detached housing on plots rather than the flats of the seafront.
The quarter around Marina de las Dunas, on the right bank of the Segura where the river meets the sea. Nearly five hundred berths, and one of the faster risers here over the past year.
The beachfront band behind the pine forest, which is what separates the housing from the sand along most of this coast. Among the fastest rising districts in the municipality over the past year.
Residential streets between the old town and the coast road, where the town lives rather than visits. Mid-table on price and mid-table on movement, which for a patient buyer is not the worst combination.
The old town, cheapest district in the municipality and the fastest rising of the five over the past year. The gap to the dearest district is narrow by Costa Blanca standards, so this is not a town of two economies.
Honest answers to the questions buyers actually ask.
Transfer tax rates as of August 2026. Rates are set per autonomous community and do change. Confirm the current figures with a Spanish lawyer or tax adviser before you budget.
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