Gran Alacant is a neighbourhood of Santa Pola in the province of Alicante on the Costa Blanca in Spain with direct access to one of the most beautiful beaches on the coast. Gran Alacant is only a 12 minute taxi ride away from Spain’s fourth busiest airport, Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández (ALC) (click here to plan your trip). Proximity to the airport is one of many advantages for tourists, as it shortens the journey to the resort and the cost is very low at only around 20 EUR / 18 GBP by taxi. However, despite its proximity to the airport, Gran Alacant is mostly free from disturbing aircraft noise due to the geographical wind conditions and the orientation of the airport runway. Gran Alacant is directly connected to the N-332 main road, which links the Costa Blanca from north to south.
The name Gran Alacant was given to the first urbanisation which was built in the upper section of the resort around the year 1982. Once established, more urbanisations were built, and today there are over 20 residential areas spread over the upper and lower areas of Gran Alacant. In 2021 Gran Alacant is home to 9.601 residentials, 4.921 males and 4.680 femals (Source: ine.es Spain statistical department).
Check out Gran Alacant from 1984 to 2020 in timelapse mode:
The quality of the satellite images provided is not so good, but you can see that the real growth of Gran Alacant took place between 1999 and 2002. Before 1999, only a few settlements were built – a photo from 1993:
Source: Institut Cartogràfic Valencià
Gran Alacant is generally a quiet place and its visitors are mainly Europeans who either live there or own / rent a holiday home. When all the flats and propteries are rented out the numbers will nearly tripple to approximate 25.000 people.
Demographics in Gran Alacant are as usual in tourist places about 16% < 14 years and 18% > 65 years. 18% of the residents are foreigners. In 2019 more than 1.000 foreigners came from the UK (source).
There are a wide range of bars, restaurants and shops and the GA Center mall and two fantastic sandy beaches to visit. From April to October the climate in Gran Alacant is excellent here in Gran Alacant and the whole Costa Blanca.
There are more than 30 urbanisations in Gran Alacant in total:
