Just north of the city, on the metro, with beach and horchata country attached.
Valencia Expat Daily is a free English digest of the city's news, plus the events, deadlines and openings worth knowing about. Five minutes, every morning.
Alboraya starts where Valencia ends: the same metro lines that cross the city, more space, a beach of its own, and the huerta fields that grow the city's horchata. Popular with families who want to stay connected to the city without living in it.
Alboraya is a grouped entry, and the halves are different places. Alboraya proper is a working town with a metro stop and everyday services; Port Saplaya is the brightly painted marina development on the water, quieter and more car-dependent.
The catch: On like-for-like signed data it is more expensive than Valencia city itself.
A dozen questions about how you want to live, and we tell you which of the nineteen areas fits, what it costs, and what you would end up complaining about.
Take the two-minute quizThe same twelve measures on all nineteen pages, so two can be read side by side. Our own ratings, not official statistics.
| Getting around without a car | Workable without a car |
|---|---|
| How central it is | Outside the centre but connected to it |
| Noise | Properly quiet |
| Going out in the evening | Almost nothing open after dinner |
| Green space | Plenty of green space |
| The sea | The sea is genuinely within reach |
| With children | Built around families |
| English and the international crowd | A few foreign residents |
| Space for your money | Noticeably more space per euro |
| Parking | Parking outside your door |
| What you would be renting | Larger suburban homes |
| The buildings | Later blocks with lifts and balconies |
Asking prices in Alboraya run around 18 EUR per square metre a month. On the benchmarks we use for all nineteen areas:
That is the 7th highest of the 17 areas we hold reliable asking data for. Bands rather than exact numbers, because a single figure would imply a precision we do not have.
A different measurement does exist for Alboraya. The Spanish government's SERPAVI data, which records signed contracts rather than advertisements, put the median for the town at 778 EUR a month for reference year 2024.
Portals publish asking prices, what you will be quoted this month. The government publishes signed contracts, which include everyone who moved in years ago on a rent that never caught up. Both are true at once. Arriving now, budget against the asking price, and see why the two figures disagree for the longer version.
The asking sample for Alboraya is thin, so treat the band above as a rough guide rather than a market rate.
Asking prices in Alboraya run around 3,803 EUR per square metre to buy. On the same benchmark sizes the rent figures use:
By the square metre that is the 6th most expensive of the 18 areas we hold sale data for, which is not the same as the cheapest to buy in: what a home costs here also depends on how big the homes are. Bands rather than exact numbers, for the same reason as the rents.
The sale sample for Alboraya is thin, so treat the bands above as a rough guide rather than a market rate.
Buying a resale home in the Comunitat Valenciana carries a transfer tax, ITP, plus notary, land registry and legal costs. The general ITP rate has been 9% since 1 June 2026, cut from 10% by Ley 5/2025; above 1,000,000 EUR the excess is taxed at 11%. Reduced rates of 6% and 3% exist for under-35 first-time buyers, large families and buyers with a disability, but all of them cap the property at 180,000 EUR, which is below almost every band on this page. A new build is different again: no ITP, but IVA at 10% plus AJD at 1.4%.
On a 380,000 EUR three-bedroom flat in Alboraya, which is the middle of the band above:
So the costs on top come to roughly 9.6% to 10.6% of the price. Non-resident lenders generally go to 60–70% of value, so plan on finding 30% or more yourself. Since Spain's 2019 mortgage law the bank pays the AJD, the notary and the registry on the mortgage deed itself, and you pay the valuation.
The tax is not due at the notary: it is self-assessed on Modelo 600 within one month of the date of the deed, in calendar days. Most websites quote 30 working days, which is the national default and roughly two weeks too generous here. Rates checked 2026-08-10. This is market information and not tax, legal or financial advice, and the reduced rates in particular turn on personal circumstances we know nothing about. Confirm anything here with a lawyer before you sign.
What happened in Valencia, what is on, and the deadlines and openings that actually affect you. In English, free, and written for people who live here.
Sea and space, outside the city. Alboraya starts where Valencia ends and stays on the metro, which is why families pick it. El Puig and Puçol are considerably cheaper, sit on the northern train line, and come with a real commute and almost no international community.
Each sentence below is computed from the same data as the quiz rather than written by hand for the pair. Percentages compare a one-bedroom flat.
Cheap coastal towns north of the city, on the train, with the beach at the end of the road.
Choose El Puig instead and you get: The beach at the end of the street, a bit more space for the money, and roughly 28% cheaper. Almost no international community and you will want a car.
28% cheaper on a one-bed
We publish Valencia's news in English every morning. The stories that named Alboraya load here, live, so this is never a snapshot of the day the page was written. If nothing appears, read today's edition instead.
Advertised asking prices in Alboraya run around 18 EUR per square metre a month, so roughly 970 to 1,190 EUR for a 60 square metre one-bedroom and 1,620 to 1,980 EUR for a 100 square metre three-bedroom. That is the 7th highest of the 17 Valencia areas we hold reliable asking data for. A room in a shared flat costs about 400 EUR wherever you are.
Asking prices in Alboraya run around 3,803 EUR per square metre, so roughly 205,360 to 251,000 EUR for a 60 square metre one-bedroom and 342,270 to 418,330 EUR for a 100 square metre three-bedroom. A house here runs 920,710 to 1,125,310 EUR at the 269 square metre median size actually on sale. That is the 6th most expensive of the 18 Valencia areas we hold sale data for. These are advertised prices, not what properties finally sell for.
On top of the price you pay ITP, the transfer tax on resale homes, which has been 9 per cent in the Comunitat Valenciana since 1 June 2026, plus notary, land registry, gestoría and legal fees. On a 380,000 EUR three-bedroom flat, the middle of the range here, that is about 2,150 to 5,850 EUR in fees on top of roughly 34,000 EUR of tax, so around 417,000 EUR all in if you are buying outright. That is 9.6 to 10.5 per cent on top of the asking price; the cheaper the property, the higher that percentage goes, because a lawyer and a gestoría cost much the same whatever you are buying. If you are borrowing as a non-resident, lenders generally go to 60 to 70 per cent of value, so expect to find at least 30 per cent yourself as well. This is market information, not tax advice.
Not really. Alboraya is workable without a car for everyday life, though you will notice the walk or the ride more than you would in the dead centre.
Yes. Alboraya is one of the areas families actually pick: plenty of green space, properly quiet, and close to the international schools.
The sea is genuinely within reach. The marina is within reach.
Some of the time. Alboraya has a few foreign residents and little English at the counter. Expect to use Spanish for the shops, the doctor and your landlord.
They are the same kind of place with different answers. Choose El Puig instead and you get this: the beach at the end of the street, a bit more space for the money, and roughly 28% cheaper. Almost no international community and you will want a car.
No. This is editorial guidance from a local newsletter, not legal, financial, tax or relocation advice. Rent and sale figures are market data and move constantly, and tax rates change: the ITP rate on this page changed in June 2026. Check anything that matters with a professional before you sign.
Every morning: what happened in Valencia, what is on, and the deadlines and openings that actually affect you. Alboraya included.
