Cost of Living in Alicante, Spain

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How Much Does It Cost to Live In Alicante?

Alicante / Alacant [13] is a popular tourist city in the Valencian Community of Spain. It is the capital of Alicante Province.

Alicante is a small but very convenient city The city is big enough not to get bored, ever. You can go shopping, visit museums, visit our castles, etc. The city is small enough to be able to walk everywhere inside the city.

Being smaller than most major cities in Spain and less of a tourist attraction, it’s definitely much cheaper.

Many tourists and locals underline how cheap it is to buy groceries in this city!

RESTAURANTS

In almost every restaurant, you will find a “menu of the day” or a similar special for 10$, offering a three-course or four-course meal with or without a drink. This is an excellent way to economize if you want to splurge on something else. Fast food is not yet established and you will find McDonald’s and Burger King only in major towns in the usual places.

MARKETS

If you want to shop for groceries where the locals do, head into town down the Rambla de Méndez Núnez and you’ll find the city’s main market, the Mercado Central de Alicante. It is open until about 14:30 or so most days, and there are two levels on which people and local farmers sell all the fresh meat, seafood, cheeses, fruit and vegetables anyone could need.

TRANSPORTATION

The good thing about this city is that most areas of interest are within the walking distance. Public transportation is available in the form of buses and trams that take you throughout the city and are mostly cheap: a one-way ticket costs around 1.50$. Taxis have regulated rates and most tourists find them affordable.

UTILITIES (MONTHLY)

Utilities are relatively inexpensive in Alicante, especially compared to other major cities of Spain. The utilities there amount to 86$ a month for basic ones like electricity, water, cooling, heating and garbage services. Internet remains pricey costing around 41$ a month. You cannot get staggeringly cheap mobile contracts, but something along the lines of 25$ a month can be found.

SPORTS & LEISURE

In some regions of this city it’s actually great to practice sports outside and save some money you’d otherwise spend on a gym. However, if gym or a fitness club is what you want, a membership will cost you around 47$ a month. As for leisure activities, the most popular one – going to the cinema will cost you around 8$.

CLOTHING & SHOES

There are market stalls along the Explanada d’Espanya selling beads, clothes, flags etc. and there you can find many great pieces of clothing. But there are also known brands of clothes like Zara, Bershka and others where you can shop if you’re more into the western-like shopping experience. The prices are moderately high. For example, Levi’s jeans cost about $80.

RENT PER MONTH

Renting prices truly depend on where you want to live. It can be as “cheap” as renting a room for about 430$ a month or a full apartment for about 530$ a month. Some neighborhoods are extremely expensive, especially if you want to rent a larger apartment for the whole family – that would cost you around 760$.

Cost of Living Averages Table for Alicante

How Does the Average Person Spend Their Money in Alicante?

As expected, the biggest chunk of the paycheck of Alicante’s citizens gets spent on food, even though food in this city is rather cheap. Still, it’s a constant expense and everyone needs to eat, so it’s actually no wonder that food takes up 32% of one’s entire salary.

The next huge expense is rent, since the standard is high in Spain, and the percentage of income that gets spent on rent is extremely close to the percentage that gets spend on food.

Restaurants take up the next spot on the list, since fancy food is a very big part of this city, and the prices are the same for transportation too.

As usual, the smallest amount of money is spent on clothes and accessories.

Average Costs Breakdown

Alicante: Average Salary, Minimum Wage & Mortgages

Minimum wage in Alecante is somewhere around 1200$ which for some might represent a problem, taking into account that rent takes up a huge chunk of people’s salaries and you have to manage your life with only a half of your salary.

The gap between the minimum wage and the average monthly net salary is pretty small, with the average salary being around 1300$.

Even though people’s expenses are high too, an average citizen of Alecante can live comfortably and relax.

The situation with rent will, however, always be a problem for those that earn less, but generally speaking, one could say that Alecante has a high standard of life.

Cost of Living by City in Alicante