The Complete Guide to Renovating a Property on the Costa Blanca

Renovating on the Costa Blanca is shaped by three local realities: the kind of house you own, the town hall it falls under, and a climate that is generous to live in but demanding on buildings. Get those right and the rest of the project becomes much easier to plan. This guide covers the regional picture; for the Spain-wide legal framework of licences, architects and contracts, see our guide to renovating property in Spain.

North and south: two different housing stocks

The Costa Blanca runs from Dénia in the north to the edge of Murcia in the south, and the houses along it are not all alike. Understanding which type you have tells you a lot about the likely scope.

The northern coast (Marina Alta and around)

In towns such as Dénia, Jávea, Moraira, Benissa, Calpe and Altea, the typical renovation candidate is a detached villa built between the 1970s and the 2000s. Many sit on sloping, sometimes steep plots among pines, with terraced gardens and retaining walls. Classic Spanish-style details are common: tiled roofs, arches, small windows and deep terraces.

The usual ambitions here are to open the layout towards the view, enlarge or replace glazing, modernise kitchens and bathrooms, rebuild or upgrade the pool and create better outdoor living. These projects often touch the structure or the façade, which affects permits, cost and time. Inland, Benissa and its neighbours add rural fincas and riu-raus, which bring their own questions about planning status and traditional construction.

Calpe and Alicante also have a large stock of apartments, where the community of owners becomes a central part of any plan.

The southern coast (Torrevieja and Orihuela Costa)

Further south, around Torrevieja and Orihuela Costa, much of the housing was built from the 1980s onwards: apartments, bungalows, adosados, duplexes and urbanisation villas, many from the 1990s and 2000s. Plots are flatter and often smaller.

Typical projects are modernisations of dated interiors, reworking terraces and solariums, and energy and air-conditioning upgrades. Structural reconfiguration is less common, but community rules and urbanisation statutes matter more.

Each town hall does things its own way

Permits in Spain are municipal. In the Valencian Community, each ayuntamiento applies regional planning law (the TRLOTUP) together with its own Plan General. In practice, this means the same works can need a different procedure in two neighbouring towns.

As general guidance, minor works such as a new kitchen or bathroom without structural changes, new flooring or painting are usually processed through a declaración responsable or comunicación previa. Major works, including structural changes, extensions, changes to the façade or volume, and new pools in many municipalities, normally need a licencia de obra mayor with a technical project. Processing times vary considerably from one town hall to another.

A few regional points worth knowing:

• Orihuela Costa is part of the municipality of Orihuela, whose town hall is inland in Orihuela city. Permits are handled there, not on the coast.
• Coastal properties may fall within the Ley de Costas protection easement, which restricts what works are allowed near the shoreline. Check this before planning any extension.
• Municipal taxes such as ICIO are set by each town hall up to a legal maximum, so the cost of permits also varies.

Always confirm the procedure with the ayuntamiento or your architect before you commit to a design. Our Costa Blanca area pages give an overview of each town.

Designing for the climate

The Costa Blanca climate is the reason most people are here, and it should shape every renovation decision.

Sun and heat

Strong sun and high UV fade finishes, degrade sealants and heat up rooms with large unprotected glazing. Shading is as important as glass: deep overhangs, pergolas, external blinds and well-positioned trees. Insulation, whether in the roof, the walls or through external insulation systems (SATE/ETICS), reduces cooling demand in summer and keeps the house comfortable in winter, which can feel surprisingly cold in an uninsulated villa.

Salt air

Near the sea, salt air attacks metals, joinery hardware and render. Specify materials and finishes suited to a marine environment, from stainless steel grade to the coating on aluminium frames, and plan for maintenance.

DANA rain

The region sees occasional heavy autumn rain episodes, known as DANA. A roof terrace that has been fine for years can leak in a single storm. Drainage, falls on terraces, waterproofing details and the capacity of gutters and downpipes deserve real attention, especially on sloping plots where water runs towards the house.

Seasons and the August effect

The calendar matters more here than in many places.

• August is when much of Spain takes its holidays. Suppliers, workshops and town halls slow down considerably, and licence applications can sit untouched.
• Summer restrictions: many tourist municipalities and urbanisations restrict noisy works during July and August. Demolition and heavy work are often best scheduled outside those months.
• Autumn to spring is the main working season. Many owners aim to start works in the autumn so the house is ready for the following summer, which means design and permits ideally begin in spring or earlier.

Our article on how long a villa renovation takes sets out typical durations for each phase.

Urbanisations and communities of owners

Many Costa Blanca properties belong to an urbanisation or building with a comunidad de propietarios. Works affecting common elements or the façade need community approval, and the administrator may need to be informed. Even for a detached villa, an urbanisation may have its own statutes on things like external colours, fencing, working hours and how contractors access the site.

Before designing, ask the administrator for the statutes and any rules on works. It saves redesigns later.

Sequencing a project well

A typical Costa Blanca renovation follows a sequence like this:

1. Brief and feasibility. Define what you want, your budget range and your timing. Check the property’s legal status and any coastal or community constraints.
2. Survey. A technical inspection of structure, roof, damp and installations.
3. Design and specification. Usually 1–3 months, longer for architect-led reconfigurations.
4. Detailed budget and programme. Typically 3–8 weeks to turn the design into an itemised budget and a realistic schedule.
5. Permits. From a few weeks for a declaración responsable to several months for a licencia de obra mayor.
6. Works. Ideally scheduled to avoid the July and August restrictions for the noisiest phases.
7. Handover and snagging. Agree a retention until defects are resolved.

Overlapping steps saves time: specification can be refined while the licence is in process, and long-lead items such as glazing can be ordered once the design is fixed.

If you coordinate this sequence yourself, you will be linking the architect, the town hall, a builder and several specialist trades, which is demanding from abroad or in a second language. A managed renovation puts one point of contact in charge of the whole sequence.

How CostaVeyra helps

CostaVeyra manages complete villa and home renovations on the Costa Blanca, from concept to completion. We define the brief and budget, set the design direction, coordinate the architect and permits with the relevant town hall, and plan and oversee the works delivered by our project team and our network of trusted professionals. We monitor the site, report to you with photos and video, and take care of snagging and handover. You can read more about how we work.

In short

• The northern Costa Blanca is dominated by older villas on sloping plots; the south by apartments, bungalows and urbanisation homes from the 1980s onwards.
• Permits are municipal, so procedures, timings and taxes differ from town to town; confirm with the ayuntamiento before committing to a design.
• Design for sun, heat, salt air and heavy autumn rain: shading, insulation, marine-grade materials and good drainage.
• Plan around August and summer works restrictions; autumn starts are common.
• Check community and urbanisation rules early, and sequence the project so design, permits and ordering overlap sensibly.