Elche

Elche, the city of the palm grove next to Alicante

Elche (Elx in Valencian) sits in the province of Alicante, about 25 km southwest of the city, and is home to some 242,000 people. It is known for the largest palm grove in Europe, a network of date-palm orchards that wraps around the old town and slopes down towards the Vinalopó river. A living farming tradition, a footwear industry famous across Spain and a countryside of rural districts such as Jubalcoy, on the Alicante border, all meet here, where country houses with gardens can still be found.

The Palmeral and the Huerto del Cura

The Palmeral of Elche has been a Unesco World Heritage Site since 2000. It gathers close to 200,000 palms across almost a hundred historic orchards, the legacy of the farming and clever irrigation the Iberian and later Arab settlers built here. At its heart lies the Huerto del Cura, a garden where the many-armed Imperial Palm grows among cacti and quiet ponds. Walking beneath the palms at dusk is one of the images that define the city.

The Palmeral of Elche, the largest in Europe. Photo: Diego Delso / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Lady, the basilica and the Misteri

Elche's past runs deep. The Lady of Elche, the Iberian bust that became the symbol of the city, was unearthed at the La Alcudia site. In the old centre stands the basilica of Santa María, a Baroque church raised over earlier temples, its blue dome rising among the palms. Every August it hosts the Misteri d'Elx, a sung medieval sacred drama that Unesco recognised as part of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Basilica of Santa María, Elche. Photo: Diego Delso / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Flavours and festivals of the huerta

Local cooking grows out of the orchards. The signature dish is arroz con costra, oven-baked rice finished with a crust of egg, served alongside dates from the palm grove and the sweet, almost seedless Mollar pomegranate. The festive calendar is full: beyond the Misteri in mid-August come the Moors and Christians parades and the Nit de la Roà, while Holy Week processions carry the white palms grown in the orchards themselves.

Huerto del Cura, Elche. Photo: Halina Frederiksen / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

Well connected

Elche enjoys one of the best connections on the Costa Blanca. Alicante-Elche airport lies within the municipality, about ten minutes by car from the centre, bringing the whole of Europe within reach. High-speed AVE trains arrived in 2021, and the motorway links Elche with Alicante, Murcia and the beaches of Santa Pola in minutes. Rural districts such as Jubalcoy offer the calm of the countryside without giving up that closeness.

Buying in Elche

People who look in Elche usually want space and Mediterranean light without leaving services behind. In Jubalcoy, on the edge of Alicante, we have a four-bedroom country house with a garden, made for year-round living between the huerta and the city. If you are looking around here, let's talk.