A look into the different towns and villages on the Costa Blanca South: Elche

Elche is the third largest city in the Valencian community after Valencia and Alicante and the twentieth most populous city in the whole of Spain.

Elche has a permanent residential population of almost 230,000 people.

Elche is a stones throw away from two international airports of Alicante and Murcia with easy motorway links to Torrevieja and Cartagena. To see the location of Elche or to get driving directions see our dedicated Elche map page.

Once at the airport you have a range of different airport transfer options to Elche including private shuttle buses, taxis or Elche car hire.

Weather wise Elche is blessed with over 300 days of sunshine a year with long hot summers.

ELCHE TOURIST ATTRACTIONS AND THINGS TO DO AND SEE

Elche’s economy is not based on tourism or construction but on footwear. Elche has over 1000 shoe factories which is important not only for Spain but also for the rest of Europe. Part of the municipality is on the coast but mainly the city is fifteen kilometres away from the Mediterranean Sea.

Agriculture still plays an important role in Elche producing dates, olives, cereals and pomegranates. The rubber trade employs close to 20% of Elche’s inhabitants.

Make sure you visit the local market selling fresh fruits and vegetables as well as other locally-made goods and produce – market day in Elche is on a Monday.

Elche is famous for its palm trees. The Elche Palm Grove is an orchard with over 200,000 palm trees and has been proclaimed a heritage site by UNESCO in 2000.

Huerto del Cura (Priest’s Garden)

The Huerto del Cura or Priest’s Garden is a hidden gem especially attractive on a hot summers day as the hundreds of palm trees there provide some welcome shade from the scorching sun. Surrounded by busy city streets, this is a strangely tranquil place, the stone walls encircling it, blocking out much of the city noise.

Inside you will find hundreds of species of palm trees of varying sizes, culminating in the huge eight armed Imperial Palm, the pride of the garden, which is some 170 years old and is supported by metal straps which prevent it from collapsing under its huge eight tons of weight.

RIO SAFARI PARK ELCHE

Wherever you are staying on the Costa Blanca a great idea for a day out or excursion is to travel to the Riol Safari Park. This family friendly animal park has many attractions including a ‘train’ ride and some entertaining animal shows including an elephant show, a parrot show and a sea lion show.

Feeding the animals is something your children will enjoy as much as yourself, with monkey nuts and carrots for sale in the park shop. Make sure your kids feed the giraffes and the hippo especially. You can also take a ride on a camel or a donkey and visit the farm animals section with cows, pigs, goats, horses and sheep.

HISTORY

Elche´s first inhabitants can be traced back in history as being the Carthaginians and Romans.

Elche was also occupied by the Moors but James II of Aragon took Elche out of Moorish occupation during the 13th century. Elche grew larger during the 18th century and became a city of great importance during the 19th century with the arrival of railway links and its production of footwear.

Elche has many great archaeological finds of which the Lady of Elche is the greatest. The most important attraction in Elche is the orchard better known as the Palmeral de Elche in Spanish, or as Palmerar d´Elx in Valenciano which has a staggering 200,000 palm trees.

The Altamira Castle was built during the 12th and 13th Centuries and has been used recently as the town hall and as a prison during the Spanish Civil War. The Arabic baths, Basilica of Santa Maria, and Calahora Tower are also worth a visit.

If you are visiting Elche in August be sure to go and see thee Mystery Play which is a lyrical drama set in the Middle Ages.

Nearest Beaches

Elche has a twelve kilometer stretch of golden beaches a fifteen minute drive away from the city centre. The coast line is divided into two parts one which belongs to Altet and the other belonging to the Marina.

In the Altet area the busiest most popular beach is the Els Arenals del Sol and there is also another beach called El Carabassi. The beaches in the Marina area are surrounded by pine trees and sand dunes.

The El Pinet La Marina, Les Pesquers and El Rebollo beaches also make for a great day of sun and surf. The beaches offer all the water sports as well as having two dive centres with excursions to Tabarca Island.