You want to retire by the Spanish coast, but you think it’ll cost you a million dollars, right?
Stop.
Today I’m going to prove that this idea is completely wrong.
I helped hundreds of expats, and the issue is always the same: You want the sea view, but you refuse to empty your pockets.
I will show you that you can buy a coastal home in Spain for the price of a Ford pickup.
I analyzed every single coastal area in Spain, and found 12 seaside Spanish homes for sale—every single one of them is under $99,000.
What does the price of an F-150 actually buy you in Spain?
- In Galicia, it gets you two apartments in one building.
- In Tarragona, it buys a massive estate with twenty-four thousand square meters of land.
- In Murcia, a modern two-bedroom flat with a garage and sea views.
Those are only the beginning.
The absolute best property is just a 4-minute walk from the Mediterranean.
So keep reading, because we start with property number twelve right now.
12 – Tavernes de la Valldigna
Since I respect your time, I will put the negative point first: This property is on the fifth floor, and the building does not have an elevator. That single factor acts as a filter for buyers, but it is also the only reason a property with such great qualities appears in this low price bracket.
We are in Tavernes de la Valldigna, a seasonal resort town just south of Valencia. The asking price is €88,000, which is just under $97,000.
For that sum, you acquire two double bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom. However, the headline feature is the front-line view.
With direct access from the building, you arrive at this sandy beach—no need to even cross a street, the beach is just right there!
In most Spanish coastal markets, front-line positioning commands a six-figure premium; here, that premium is removed because the daily climb is a bit more demanding. You will carry every bag of groceries up five flights of stairs.
This is not for mobility-impaired retirees—it fits fit individuals who are willing to trade modern convenience for panoramic scenery. The reward is a seafront apartment, ready to move in, with direct beach access.
Tavernes de la Valldigna has a smaller expat community than the Costa Blanca, meaning you avoid the tourist crush found in nearby Cullera or Gandía. You also gain access to a Blue Flag beach that stays relatively uncrowded.
Strategically, the location works for frequent flyers. Valencia Airport is only 55 kilometers away.
You can drive from the terminal to your parking space—which is included—in forty-five minutes. This property proves you can secure a “million-dollar view” for less than the cost of a new SUV, provided you have the knees to sustain it.
The next property removes the problem with stairs entirely and has the absolute lowest entry price on our list. And talking about prices and real information…
11 – Los Urrutias
Sixty-five Thousand Euros. That is the price of a new German sedan.
But in Los Urrutias, Murcia, that same amount buys a complete three-bedroom apartment with a terrace. This makes it the cheapest property on our entire list.
Prices that low for coastal properties are very rare in western Europe—the only place I saw similar prices is Italy. The value proposition is aggressive: you get a three-bedroom—a rare find at this price point—and front-line proximity to the water.
However, you must understand why the market prices it this low. The catch involves the local environment.
Los Urrutias is located on the edge of the Mar Menor, Europe’s largest saltwater lagoon. This quiet village appeals to budget-conscious individuals and British retirees seeking tranquility and a low cost of living.
But the lagoon faces well-documented environmental challenges—the water quality fluctuates, and this creates a stigma that suppresses property values. It acts as a high-risk, high-reward investment.
You get the promenade and ocean access, but you accept the uncertainty of the lagoon’s regeneration efforts.
Regional infrastructure is a plus. Murcia International Airport is thirty-five minutes away, and Alicante is one hour.
For medical care, the Hospital General Universitario Santa Lucía in Cartagena—considered one of the best in the region—is just twenty minutes by car. If you prioritize square footage over pristine water conditions, this wins—you get a three-bedroom coastal home for less than the price of a base-model Ford F-150.
So, in Los Urrutias, you take a risk on the environment. The next property also asks you to compromise—but on the view itself.
10 – Balanegra
We finally break the pattern—in this property, you get an elevator and a modern building. This property in Balanegra offers you eighty square meters of interior space and a large glazed terrace.
The building dates from 2010, which means you get modern insulation and electrical systems that the older buildings on this list simply do not have. You secure genuine modern comfort here.
But you must accept a compromise regarding the view. The view is the “Mar de Plástico,” or Sea of Plastic.
This area in Almería is famous for its intensive agriculture. Thousands of hectares of greenhouses cover the earth to grow vegetables for the entire continent. This industrial reality dominates the landscape and suppresses property prices. Balanegra is a “very Spanish” rural town rather than a tourist resort.
It is completely off the beaten path for international buyers, and for good reason. The surroundings lack the aesthetic appeal that most expats hunt for.
You will not find English breakfast cafes there; you will find a utilitarian agricultural economy.
However, look at the bright side—you get an elevator, modern construction, and eighty square meters for a rock-bottom price. You are forty-one minutes from Almería Airport.
If you want more flight options, Málaga is two hours away. You have to ask yourself what matters more—do you want a postcard view from a crumbling balcony, or do you want a modern, insulated home?
Now, there’s one thing I have to say very clearly: if you want to really live in Spain—not just survive in an expat bubble—to learn Spanish is non-negotiable. The good news is that Spanish is actually a fun and relatively easy language to learn if you use the right method.
My personal secret weapon is a tool called LingQ—it lets you learn from real-life content, at your level, without boring textbooks. If you’re serious about moving here, start learning Spanish today
9 – Benicarló
Maybe you know the famous castle at Peñíscola. It appears in movies and travel guides everywhere.
But if you go just a few kilometers north to Benicarló, you pay half the price for the same coastline. This is not a resort that shuts down in October.
Benicarló is a living town driven by fishing and agricultural activities. The downside here is that the property forces you to make a choice between seaside life and building age—it dates back to 1977.
You will see interiors that look stuck in the seventies. You need to budget for a cosmetic refresh if you want a place that looks newer.
However, the essentials are good—this unit already has double-glazed windows and reversible air conditioning. That is a huge infrastructure expense you do not have to pay.
There are some interesting positive sides in this city. In many other Spanish coastal areas, shops board up when the tourists leave.
But in Benicarló, the local economy functions twelve months a year. You can buy bread, see a doctor at the Hospital Comarcal de Vinaròs just ten minutes away, and live a normal life in January.
You are not buying a ticket to a winter ghost town.
You get two bedrooms and side views of the port from the Puerto Playa area for under ninety-nine thousand dollars. You can walk or bike over to Peñíscola to see the castle, then come back to a town where a coffee costs a local price.
You get easy access to the Playa del Morrongo. But also you have everything that a real town has, not just a temporary beach bar.
You trade the front-line glamour for a sensible choice that guarantees year-round life. Now, for the next name, let’s flip the script entirely.
We are going to the most famous sandbar in the country.
8 – La Manga
La Manga is maybe the only name on this list you already know. It defines Spanish summer tourism with its unique twenty-one-kilometer strip separating the Mediterranean Sea from the Mar Menor lagoon.
But that fame creates a specific price structure. There I found a studio apartment for eighty-nine thousand euros.
You secure a property in the Playa de las Gaviotas area with an elevator, a community pool, and a terrace facing the sunset. But you must accept the reality of the “resort tax.”
The apartment itself is a forty-one square meter studio. But in La Manga, you are paying for the lifestyle outside your door, not the space or the square meters inside it.
You also need to understand the population curve. In June, it is an area that feels manageable.
In August, the population explodes, and traffic jams on the single main road are common. Then, in winter, the strip empties out.
Infrastructure remains decent for travelers. A local health center handles basics on the strip itself, but for serious issues, the main hospital in Cartagena requires a forty-minute drive.
It is not a mansion—it is in fact one of the smallest apartments in this list—but considering the location, and how close it is to a very nice beach, it is actually a good find.
Now, let’s escape the tourist crowds entirely.
7 – Sant Carles de la Ràpita
Forget the sea views for a second. Let’s talk about your stomach.
Sant Carles de la Ràpita functions as the gastronomic capital of its region, and it is for those who value nature and food over loud nightlife. You find this town located right at the edge of the Ebro Delta nature reserve.
The asking price for this property is eighty-four thousand nine hundred euros. But here is the biggest downside: The unit is located on the third floor, and the building does not have an elevator.
So why would you consider this? First because, despite the building not being very new—it is from 1982—the apartment is in a good state, ready to move in.
Sant Carles de la Ràpita is also a city that is a middle ground—not as touristy as La Manga, but also not a small town in the middle of nowhere. The other point is the central location on the main avenue, meaning you walk to everything.
You get access to multiple beaches like Playa del Capri, Playa de La Senieta, and Playa del Garbi. In exchange for the daily climb, you gain seventy-eight square meters of space.
That acts as a massive footprint for this price.
You get three bedrooms, a bathroom, a balcony with sea views, and access to a rooftop terrace. This is one of the three Catalonian locations in our list, and Barcelona is one hour and forty-five minutes by car from Sant Carles de la Ràpita.
So here, in exchange for doing some exercise up and downstairs everyday, you get a ready-to-move-in apartment in a beach town in one of the most developed Spanish regions. But if you need a solution that prioritizes comfort over cardio, the next property fixes the elevator problem completely and puts a swimming pool right in your backyard.
6 – Cartagena (Murcia)
If those last few properties sounded exhausting because of the stairs, this one solves that problem right away. In Playa Honda, located on the mainland edge of the Mar Menor, you find a fourth-floor apartment that includes an elevator.
You also gain access to a community pool. The price is quite attractive and the place is in good condition, but the biggest downside is the size.
The total floor plan measures just forty-five square meters. It is small, but the layout is efficient, and unlike the older units we looked at, this comes as a “turnkey” package.
You do not need to tear down walls, replace windows, or hire a contractor. You just unlock the door and move in.
The star feature is the terrace, which gives you panoramic views over the lagoon toward La Manga. This location offers a serious advantage for retirees that the famous La Manga strip lacks: tranquility.
It has less car traffic, but still close to the infrastructure you need. This means you enjoy a quieter, more residential environment compared to the traffic jams on the strip.
You have practical road access all year, and if you need, the Hospital General Universitario Santa Lucía is just nineteen minutes away. So in this case you get a safe, accessible apartment with panoramic views for under ninety-nine thousand euros.
It is a low-stress option with no need for renovation or stairs.
5 – L’Eucaliptus
This property is located deep inside the Delta del Ebro Natural Park. You are not just buying an apartment; you are buying into a protected ecosystem where construction is heavily restricted.
The interior living space is compact, measuring just forty square meters. But the rooftop terrace is also forty square meters.
You gain an outdoor living area that is exactly as big as your indoor apartment. The sale even includes a garage, which stands out as a rare value proposition at this price point.
You are surrounded by rice paddies, wetlands, and flamingos on one side and by the Eucaliptus Beach on the other side. Because this is a UNESCO biosphere reserve, regulations strictly limit development to preserve the biodiversity.
No one will build a high-rise in front of your view.
However, you must accept the trade-off of living in some isolation. It is a village, not a town, and you are relatively far from some urban amenities.
A car is essential there. You also need to prepare for the biological reality.
The wetlands mean mosquitoes can be intense during the summer, so you must plan for that. Still, considering everything this property offers, it is a very good deal.
You get a modern, ready-to-move-in property in a protected area, close to a large, uncrowded beach, for the price of a standard sedan car. But if you love nature and quiet places, the next property is probably even MORE enticing for you.
4 – Calafat
This property gives you twenty-four thousand square meters of land. We are talking about a massive plot located on the hills of Calafat and L’Ametlla de Mar.
You get a traditional ‘finca’—a rustic stone house—and you look down at the Mediterranean Sea from your own private kingdom. The price for this massive piece of land is just 84,000 euros—sounds too cheap, right?
So let me tell you about the cons first, and then later the pros. You are completely off-grid.
There is no electrical grid connection here, but solar panels and batteries. There is no mains water pipe running to your door, but a rainwater harvesting tank.
And there is a barbecue area that you can use without worrying about neighbors complaining about the smoke! You also cannot just bulldoze the stone house and build a modern villa.
Due to the current permits, you must preserve the building (but you can improve it). This defines all the cons—but now, the positive parts, and they are many.
You buy absolute silence and total privacy.
You own a private estate where no neighbor will ever tap on your wall. If you want to escape the modern world and own a massive quantity of Spanish soil, this is a good deal—a private estate for less than ninety thousand dollars.
It demands a specific buyer profile: someone who values self-sufficiency over the conveniences of urban living. But if you prefer bricks rather than dirt, the next deal offers two apartments for the price of one.
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3 – Malpica de Bergantiños
The only math that beats cheap is “two for the price of one.” In Bergantiños, you get one hundred and twenty square meters of space for eighty thousand euros.
That converts to about eighty-eight thousand US dollars. But the real story is the layout—here we are talking about two separate apartments.
You buy one property title, but you get two independent front doors. However, you need to look at a map before you get too excited—this is not the Mediterranean.
We are on the Atlantic Ocean in a region called the “Costa da Morte,” or Coast of Death. The winters are cool and rainy.
You will not find the endless sunshine hours that define the south of Spain. This is “Green Spain,” and it stays green because it rains.
On the bright side, if you hate heatwaves like those normal in Andalusia, this is the place for you! This is Galicia.
It is rugged, authentic, and maritime.
Malpica de Bergantiños is a town with over five thousand residents, located 52 kilometers from A Coruña, a larger city which is also the capital of Galicia. In the case of this property, the value comes from the huge potential.
It has two apartments. One is finished, so you can move in immediately.
The other unit is a “shell,” meaning it needs to be finished. This setup gives you options that other listings simply do not offer.
You can live in the finished unit while you fix the second one. Once it is complete, you rent it out for income, or you combine them into a massive home.
2 – Puerto de Mazarrón
Many of the properties we saw today are in places like Catalonia or Galicia, where Spanish is widespread, but it is not really the local language. And I always recommend all expats to learn the local language—even if it is a regional language, like Catalan.
But what if you would prefer to speak only Spanish? Murcia is the ideal place for you.
The property itself is a forty-square-meter one-bedroom apartment located in the Playa Sol area. It is compact.
However, you are not paying for massive floor space here; you are paying for the good expat-friendly infrastructure. Mazarrón is a popular place among expat retirees.
Pharmacies, cafés, and restaurants are prepared to offer services to English speakers. Puerto de Mazarrón enjoys over 300 days of sunshine a year, giving retirees a reliably warm, dry climate with mild winters.
And property prices and rental rates in Puerto de Mazarrón are relatively affordable compared with better-known Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca hotspots. Puerto de Mazarrón is less crowded and more relaxed than major tourist resorts, offering a quieter lifestyle while still having good amenities.
Murcia International Airport (Corvera) and Alicante Airport are both within driving distance, providing regular low‑cost flights to many European countries. The unit is located on the first floor and includes an elevator, making it a serious contender if mobility is a concern for your future.
It is ready to move in, although the kitchen would benefit from a renovation. You also secure a high quality of life because the town is completely walkable.
You access the promenade, local amenities, and sandy beaches without ever needing a car. So in this case, you get a turnkey home with a terrace and sea views in a lively community for the budget of a Jeep or a Lexus.
Now, as good as this sounds, Spain is not paradise; there are also some odd problems—and I have a whole article on that. But what if you refuse to compromise—what if you want the space, the location, and the modern comfort all in one deal?
That brings us to the absolute winner.
1 – Los Alcázares
Usually, when you look for property on the coast, the market forces you to pick two out of three options. You can have a low price, or you can have a sea view, or you can have a decent size.
But you almost never get all three. However, in Los Alcázares, Murcia, we found the unicorn property that breaks this rule.
This property costs eighty thousand euros. That converts to eighty-eight thousand United States dollars.
For that price, you do not get a cramped studio. You secure a complete sixty square meter bungalow, fully furnished, and already with tourism license.
It is a classic townhouse layout, offering more independence than an apartment. It combines the independence of a house with the convenience of being in the center of Los Narejos.
This tourism license is a big plus—it means you can rent for short term this property if you wish. Such licenses are very hard to obtain nowadays.
You are located in Los Narejos, a neighborhood with good infrastructure and a very nice beach. In fact, this region of Los Alcázares is one of the most attractive spots for expats in the region.
It is walking distance to the popular “Las Velas” commercial center. The infrastructure surrounding this home makes it a viable permanent residence, not just a holiday box.
You are just ten minutes away from the new Los Arcos Hospital. The Costa Cálida region counts as the budget king of Spain, offering more sunshine hours than almost anywhere else in Europe.
This property wins because it requires zero compromise. You do not have to fix a roof, you do not have to climb stairs, and you do not have to live in a shoebox.
Now, in this list, 3 regions were absent—Navarra, La Rioja, and the Basque Country— which I covered in another article because they are quite specific (and have qualities that no other place in Spain has).
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Levi Borba is the founder of expatriateconsultancy.com, creator of the channel The Expat, and best-selling author. You can find him on X here. Some of the links above might be affiliated links, meaning the author earns a small commission if you make a purchase.
