Beachfront homes: prices now top €3,000/m2 along half of Spain's coast

Coastal property prices: the dream of owning a beach home slips further away

The latest Fotocasa report, previewed by El País, puts the average price of housing in more than half of Spain's coastal towns above €3,000 per square metre, the national average. But the reality in premium areas is even harsher: in Alicante, a new-build two-bedroom apartment is approaching €500,000, which works out at between €7,000 and €8,000 per square metre, according to listing data. The same is happening in Benidorm. The dream of a second home by the sea has become a luxury few can afford.

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Does it make sense to buy a beach house you only use one month a year?

Economic logic clashes with nostalgia. Those who run the numbers point out that keeping a property empty for most of the year is a poor investment, unless it is rented out by the day or week. The alternative of always spending holidays in the same place does not convince everyone either. Yet demand keeps pushing prices up. Some analysts believe there is still room to reach the €8,000-9,000 per square metre seen in major cities such as Madrid or Barcelona.

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The Coastal Law and memories of the 90s

At the same time, the debate over the enforcement of Spain's Coastal Law (Ley de Costas, the law governing building on the shoreline) is resurfacing. While in the north, as in Gorliz, buildings have been demolished after their concessions expired, in the south the perception is that the law is applied selectively. In Almería, the pressure has led to hotels being torn down. The memory of those who could buy in Cabo de Gata for next to nothing in the 90s contrasts with today's prices. Others long for the three-month summers of the era before socialism, when a beach house was an almost universal right. Today, the reality is that coastal housing is for year-round residents or retirees who can enjoy it for six months; for everyone else, it has become an unattainable luxury.