Alicante/Alacant · Comunidad Valenciana
Elx
Spain's palm-grove city — Europe's largest palm forest, the mysterious Dama de Elche bust, and a centuries-old mystery play give it three separate UNESCO World Heritage listings.
Living in Elx
Elche is Spain's palm-grove city — a working Valencian city of 246,000 just inland from Alicante, wrapped around Europe's largest palm forest, over 200,000 trees that with the Dama de Elche and a centuries-old mystery play give it three UNESCO listings. It's a real, unpretentious city, about four-fifths Spanish-born, with large Colombian and Moroccan communities. The climate is hot and among the driest in Spain — barely 266mm of rain, summers near 31°C, mild winters around 13°C and long sun. It has its own hospitals, Alicante is twenty-five minutes away and its airport under three-quarters of an hour, with the coast a short drive east.
Elx's Spainability Scores — by who's moving
Not our opinion: we ran the same scoring engine behind the quiz for six settler profiles across all 8,132 municipalities. Each score is Elx's percentile for that group — 87 means it beats 87% of the towns we could score. How scoring works.
Higher than 99% of the 8,088 Spanish municipalities we could score for retiring couples.
Spain's palm-grove city — Europe's largest palm forest, the mysterious Dama de Elche bust, and a centuries-old mystery play give it three separate UNESCO World Heritage listings. A strong pick for a retiring couple — a hospital in town and a health centre close by.
- Winter average temp 13°C
- Drive to a hospital 0 min
- Surgical wait (region) 88 days
- Registered long-let rent €5.45/m²·mo
Higher than 98% of the 8,088 Spanish municipalities we could score for American retirees.
Spain's palm-grove city — Europe's largest palm forest, the mysterious Dama de Elche bust, and a centuries-old mystery play give it three separate UNESCO World Heritage listings. A strong pick for American retirees — a hospital in town and a health centre close by.
- Winter average temp 13°C
- Drive to a hospital 0 min
- U.S.-born residents 0.83 per 1,000
- Registered long-let rent €5.45/m²·mo
Higher than 90% of the 2,555 Spanish municipalities we could score for remote workers.
Spain's palm-grove city — Europe's largest palm forest, the mysterious Dama de Elche bust, and a centuries-old mystery play give it three separate UNESCO World Heritage listings. A strong pick for a remote-working couple — 245,575 people and 11 km from the sea.
- 100 Mbps+ coverage 99%
- Drive to nearest airport 41 min
- Registered long-let rent €5.45/m²·mo
- Summer high (Jul–Aug) 30.5°C
Higher than 87% of the 2,555 Spanish municipalities we could score for families.
Spain's palm-grove city — Europe's largest palm forest, the mysterious Dama de Elche bust, and a centuries-old mystery play give it three separate UNESCO World Heritage listings. A strong pick for a family with school-age kids — 11 km from the sea and a hospital in town.
- Schools in town 110
- PISA maths (region) 473
- Registered long-let rent €5.45/m²·mo
- Drive to a hospital 0 min
Higher than 78% of the 2,555 Spanish municipalities we could score for budget-first coastal settlers.
Spain's palm-grove city — Europe's largest palm forest, the mysterious Dama de Elche bust, and a centuries-old mystery play give it three separate UNESCO World Heritage listings. A strong pick for coastal living on a budget — 11 km from the sea and a hospital in town.
- Registered long-let rent €5.45/m²·mo
- Net income per person €11,849
- Summer high (Jul–Aug) 30.5°C
Higher than 55% of the 2,555 Spanish municipalities we could score for heat-averse settlers.
Spain's palm-grove city — Europe's largest palm forest, the mysterious Dama de Elche bust, and a centuries-old mystery play give it three separate UNESCO World Heritage listings. A strong pick if you can't stand hot summers — 11 km from the sea and a hospital in town.
- Summer high (Jul–Aug) 30.5°C
- Rainy days a year 33 days
- Summer water stress (WEI+) 154
- Winter average temp 13°C
What is the climate like in Elx?
Elx's reported winter average is 13°C, while July–August highs reach 30.5°C.
Climate
- Winter average temp
- 13°C top 5% of 8,131 towns 5.2°C above the Spanish average (7.8°C)
- Summer high (Jul–Aug)
- 30.5°C bottom 49% of 8,131 towns 0.3°C above the Spanish average (30.2°C)
- Rainy days a year
- 33 days top 2% of 8,088 towns 52% less than the Spanish average (69 days)
- Sunshine
- 8 h/day top 19% of 3,829 towns 10% more than the Spanish average (7.2 h/day)
- Summer water stress (WEI+) regional estimate
- 154 bottom 6% of 8,033 towns 97 above the Spanish average (56)
- River-flood depth (T=100, town centre) estimated
- 0 m top 1% of 8,129 towns 0.04 m below the Spanish average (0.04 m)
- River-flood risk score estimated
- 0 top 1% of 8,129 towns about the Spanish average (0)
- Wildfire burn rate (2010–23)
- 0.03 ha/km² top 42% of 8,132 towns 2.28 ha/km² below the Spanish average (2.31 ha/km²)
- Forest fires (2010–23)
- 4 bottom 25% of 8,132 towns 2 below the Spanish average (6)
- High fire-weather days (province) regional estimate
- 25.1% bottom 24% of 8,130 towns 2.2% above the Spanish average (22.9%)
The year, month by month
AEMET 30-year climate normals — what a January or an August actually feels like, not the annual average.
How good is healthcare in Elx?
Elx's nearest health centre is 3 km away, and the reported hospital drive is 0 min.
Healthcare
- Drive to a hospital
- 0 min top 1% of 8,132 towns
- Nearest health centre
- 3 km top 16% of 8,132 towns
- Surgical wait (region) regional estimate
- 88 days #6 of 17 regions, −15 days vs national 18% less than the Spanish average (108 days)
What are schools like in Elx?
Elx has 110 schools in town; the nearest international school is 14 km away.
Schools
- Schools in town
- 110 top 1% of 7,042 towns
- Nearest international school
- 14 km top 13% of 8,132 towns
- PISA maths (region) regional estimate
- 473 #10 of 17 regions, −6 vs national 8 below the Spanish average (481)
How much does it cost to live in Elx?
Elx's reported home price is €1,684/m², while registered long-let rent is €5.45/m²·mo.
Cost & economy
- Home price
- €1,684/m² appraisal (valor tasado) top 37% of 306 towns 24% less than the Spanish average (€2,208/m²)
- Asking price
- no local data
- Registered long-let rent
- €5.45/m²·mo
- Registered rent p25
- €4.21/m²·mo
- Registered rent p75
- €7.1/m²·mo
- Registered-rent yield
- 3.88% bottom 33% of 306 towns
- Net income per person
- €11,849 bottom 16% of 8,059 towns 18% less than the Spanish average (€14,495)
- Income growth ’18–’23
- 28.5% top 35% of 6,605 towns
Which languages are used in schools in Elx?
the Valencia region has a co-official regional language, and public schools commonly use regional-language immersion or bilingual models rather than Spanish-only teaching. The exact classroom language depends on the school and programme, so confirm the current model before enrolling. See the the Valencia region region guide for the wider regional context.
What is the community like in Elx?
Elx's reported population is 245,575.
Who lives here
- Population
- 245,575
- Born in Spain
- 81.4% 7.4% below the Spanish average (88.8%)
- Born elsewhere in EU/UK
- 3.5% 0.4% below the Spanish average (3.8%)
- U.S.-born residents
- 0.83 per 1,000
How easy is it to get around Elx?
Elx is a reported 41 min drive from the nearest airport, with 96% fibre-to-home coverage.
Getting around
- Drive to nearest airport
- 41 min top 16% of 8,132 towns
- Fibre-to-home coverage
- 96% top 22% of 8,132 towns 17% above the Spanish average (79%)
- 100 Mbps+ coverage
- 99% top 22% of 8,132 towns 15% above the Spanish average (83%)
Numbers: Spainability town dataset, derived from INE, AEMET, Mitma and the Catastro. Registered long-let rent is SERPAVI declared-contract data; its p25–p75 values show the observed band. Registered-rent yield is gross, excludes costs and is never imputed. Percentile chips count only the municipalities that report the figure — the "of n" says how many. Region-ranked figures (PISA, surgical waits) compare Spain's 17 comunidades autónomas. A blank means no municipal-level figure is published — not a zero.
How does Elx fit you?
These are the town's numbers. Whether it's your town depends on what you're optimising for — winter sun or mild summers, a city or a village, short medical waits, an easy flight home. The 3-minute quiz scores Elx against every one of Spain's 8,132 municipalities on your priorities. It sits about 25 min from Alacant/Alicante, if that's your anchor.
Take the quiz — rank Elx for you →Questions to verify locally
- Ask whether current long-let rents match the registered-contract figure.
- Request recent comparable sales before relying on the appraisal figure.
- Test fibre speed at the exact address, not the town average.
- Visit local schools and confirm places for incoming families.
- Confirm health-centre registration and opening hours in person.
- Ask an insurer how the mapped flood or wildfire exposure affects cover.
Nearby towns
Other places we profile within easy reach.