The historic Mediterranean port city of Alicante has been named as one of the world’s best cities to live in.
The third-place verdict comes in the annual Forbes magazine InterNations Expat City Rankings.
Spain dominates the study, with Alicante being beaten only by Valencia and Malaga in the ratings respectively. In total, an impressive five Spanish cities make the top 10.
However, Alicante beats its Spanish rivals to a top 10 spot for housing, with more than two-third (68%) of those surveyed valuing affordability as “positive” – double that of the world average.
It also does well in sections including “Digital life” – coming 16th – and is categorised as “decent” for expats looking for good internet access.
Madrid comes seventh in the survey while Barcelona comes down the list at 21.
62% of participants in the ranking results said housing is “easy to find” in Alicante compared to the 45% global figure.
But survey participants gave Alicante negative views of online government services and problems with “bureaucracy and local authorities”. Career prospects were marked down along with job security, though many foreigners in the area do not regard that as an issue as they have come to retire or only work part-time.
According to the most recent census, the population of Alicante stands at nearly 350,000, the second-largest in the Valencian Community.
The late 1950s and early 1960s saw the beginning of a lasting transformation of the city by the tourist industry, the biggest attraction to prospective buyers being its pleasant climate.
It tends to have mild winters, hot summers, lots of sunshine and relatively little rain.
In recent years, the Port Authority has established it as one of the most important ports in Spain for cruises, with a record 86 calls to port made by cruise ships in 2023 bringing around 200,000 passengers.
Other top 10 cities include Panama City, Mexico City, Ras Al Khaimah, Bangkok, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, showing that three Emirati cities have also clearly made a good impression with expats.
At the other end of the scale, several Canadian cities – Toronto and Vancouver – as well as Rome, Berlin, Milan, Istanbul and Munich rank in the 10 worst cities for expats in 2024.
“Valencia (1st), Málaga (2nd), and Alicante (3rd) aren’t the only Spanish cities to make it into the top 10 of the 2024 Expat City Ranking,” InterNations wrote.
“Madrid isn’t far behind in 7th place. It similarly offers a great Quality of Life (4th), Ease of Settling In (7th), and satisfying Personal Finances (13th).
“These destinations in Spain are joined by two other Spanish-speaking cities: Panama City in 4th place and Mexico City in 5th. They not only share a language but also great results for Personal Finance (Panama City 2nd; Mexico City 4th) and the Ease of Settling In (8th; 2nd).”
“Vancouver, which already placed in the bottom 10 in 2022 and 2023, has fallen further to rank last in the 2024 Expat City Ranking.”
