German community on the Costa Blanca: where 14,759 Germans live

October in Calp. The Peñón de Ifach cuts into the late-afternoon sky, the sea is still warm and, a few steps from the promenade, a marquee smells of freshly baked pretzels and grilled sausage. A brass band strikes up. Along the long tables, German, Valencian and Spanish mix without anyone needing to translate a thing.

If you are German and thinking of settling on the Costa Blanca, you are not landing somewhere unknown. You are arriving in a community with its own church, a consul in Alicante, a newspaper in your language and a festive calendar that has been running for decades. This is its map.

How many: 14,759 on the register

On 1 January 2024, Spain's statistics office (INE) counted 14,759 residents of German nationality in the province of Alicante, according to the report by the Diocesan Migration Secretariat of Orihuela-Alicante. They are the province's tenth-largest foreign nationality, and the register lost 744 of them over the previous year.

That figure undercounts what you see in the street. Many Germans live here for part of the year and stay registered in Germany. The German-language Protestant ministry on the Costa Blanca reckons it serves more than 200,000 German speakers who live on the coast full or part time, a count that also includes Austrians and Swiss.

Where they live: from the Marina Alta to the Vega Baja

The latest published municipal breakdown, based on the 2021 register, shows two very clear poles:

• Calp: 919 German residents, the top municipality in the province.
• Torrevieja: 871.
• Dénia: 870.
• Jávea/Xàbia: 698.
• Orihuela (mostly its coast): 650.
• Teulada-Moraira: 586.
• Benissa: 553.
• Rojales (including Ciudad Quesada): 505.
• Alicante city: 493.
• l'Alfàs del Pi: 443.

The northern pole is the Marina Alta: Calp, Benissa, Teulada-Moraira, Jávea and Dénia form an unbroken strip of hillside villas, rocky coves and sea-view urbanizations where you hear German at the bakery and at the tennis club. It is the coast of the postcards, with the Peñón de Ifach as a neighbour and the Montgó closing Dénia's horizon.

The southern pole is the Vega Baja: Torrevieja, Orihuela Costa and Ciudad Quesada, flatter, with more golf and lower prices. In between, Alicante city and the Marina Baixa (l'Alfàs del Pi, La Nucía, Altea) complete the picture, sharing urbanizations with the Norwegian community of l'Alfàs.

Church in German: Dénia and Torrevieja

The Protestant Church in Germany (EKD) runs a German-language ministry on the Costa Blanca (Evangelisches Tourismuspfarramt Costa Blanca), based in Dénia at Avenida de les Corts Valencianes, 3. From there it organises services and gatherings along the coast between Valencia and Alicante, for residents and for those who spend the winter here.

In the south, the Deutschsprachige Evangelisch-freikirchliche Gemeinde Torrevieja meets at Calle Granados, 12, in El Chaparral. It was officially founded in January 2001 as a daughter congregation of the Evangelical Baptist Church of Elche.

Paperwork: the honorary consulate in Alicante

Germany has an honorary consulate in Alicante, at Avenida de Maisonnave, 7, second floor, in the city's main shopping district. Its area covers the provinces of Alicante and Albacete and the Region of Murcia. An honorary consulate does not have the same powers as a career consulate, so before you travel it is worth checking which procedures it handles and which go through the diplomatic mission.

For everything else (NIE, padrón registration, healthcare), the route is the same as for any EU citizen, and at the town halls of Calp, Jávea or Torrevieja you will not be the first to walk in with that folder.

School: the Deutsche Schule is in Valencia

This is the piece that shapes family decisions most. The province of Alicante has no flagship German school: the nearest is the Deutsche Schule Valencia, founded in 1909, with around 1,100 pupils and a bilingual German-Spanish path from Kindergarten to the German International Abitur. From Dénia it is about 100 kilometres.

That is why many German families in the Marina Alta end up at British or International Baccalaureate schools, or in Spanish state schools. You will find them sorted by area and price in our guide to international schools in Alicante province.

News in your language

The Costa Blanca Nachrichten has for years reported in German on what happens along the coast: council meetings, road closures, fiestas, tax changes. It is the quickest way to know what is going on in your town without relying on machine translation.

The calendar: October smells of beer

The biggest date of the year is the Calp Oktoberfest. It began in 1988, has been organised by the Carnaval Club Calpe since 1998, and celebrated its 25th edition back in 2012. It runs for weeks each autumn, with Bavarian music, food and beer, and is one of the standout events on the town's festive calendar.

It is not the only one. In La Nucía, an association of German residents held its 38th Oktoberfest this autumn, running until 11 October 2026. If that life between the Marina Baixa and the mountains appeals, this house in La Nucía is a few minutes from the marquee.

What daily life looks like

Living here as a German does not mean living in a bubble. The health centre, the notary and the town hall work in Spanish and, in many towns, in Valencian too. But in between there is a network that makes arriving much lighter: the congregation that puts on coffee after the service, the newspaper that explains the new tax, the long Oktoberfest table where someone always knows a reliable plumber.

The real choice is north or south. If you want coves, mountains and the densest German community, look at the Marina Alta. If you want flat ground, golf and a tighter budget, the Vega Baja.

If you are picturing your new home on the Costa Blanca, explore our properties or contact us and we will help you get to know the area that suits you best.