It is not accidental that Alicante sits among the lower ranks for GDP per capita within Spain. As a result, many of its municipalities show income levels well below the national average. In fact, of the 23 towns in the region with populations over 20,000, only Sant Joan d’Alacant surpasses the national per‑capita income average, while the majority cluster at the bottom of the scale.
This is the latest edition of Urban Indicators, published annually by the INE, once again highlighting neighborhoods in Alicante such as Juan XXIII and Virgen del Remedio as among the poorest in major Spanish cities. The report also notes that some figures, including 2020 income data, reflect the pandemic’s impact on tourism and the broader economy.
INE data for this year show Torrevieja overtaking Almoradí as the municipality with the lowest net income per capita, at 8,417 euros, which is 3,852 euros below the national average of 12,269 euros for the same period. Vega Baja ranks as the ninth poorest area in Spain among locales with more than 20,000 residents, second only to Sanlúcar de Barrameda in Cadiz when considering what constitutes a city.
For Almoradí, the per‑capita income stands at 8,479 euros, placing the province near the bottom. Crevillente records 8,839 euros; Callosa de Segura 8,995; and l’Alfàs del Pi 9,246.
Panoramic view of Alicante city. PILAR CORTES
These figures also fall below the 10,000‑euro-per-capita threshold. Aspe registers 9,393 euros; Guardamar del Segura 9,406; Sant Joan d’Alacant 9,452; Pedreguer 9,660; Elche 9,839; and Benidorm 9,891. The tourism capital Marina Baixa epitomizes the pandemic’s effect in the year, with average income slipping by more than 560 euros due to the halt in tourism activity.
Benidorm led the rent decline in the state of Alicante due to the epidemic
As noted by an Applied Economics professor, a large share of residents in these coastal towns are temporary dwellers whose incomes are not captured in this study. Permanent residents are typically employed in tourism or agriculture, often earning modest wages, which drags down overall area incomes. Similar patterns appear in the Lower and Middle Vinalopó zones, which rely on labor-intensive work and an industry that pays relatively little.
On the other hand, wealthier residents are concentrated around the metropolitan area of Alicante, where advanced services and utilities cluster. Still, Sant Joan d’Alacant manages to surpass the national average with 12,318 euros per person. Nearby Campello records 11,973 euros; Alicante proper 11,676; and Mutxamel 11,634.
The province’s higher income pockets extend to neighboring areas such as Elche and beyond, with better‑paying industrial sectors like plastics and metals contributing to higher averages, for example 11,589 euros in Jávea and 11,495 in other localities.
The wealth gaps widen when comparing national averages. At the country level, Níjar reports 7,801 euros as the lowest income, while Alarcón reaches over three times that amount, around 26,009 euros, topping the list of the wealthiest populations.
Other indicators
Around the country, Torrevieja also stands out for a lower life expectancy, at 81.1 years, compared with Majadahonda’s 85.4 years—the longest living city in the dataset. Vega Baja also records the highest share of foreign residents, at 40.7% of the population, with Benidorm close behind at 29.6%. This data highlights the concentration patterns of wealth and migration in the region.
Juan XXIII and Virgen del Remedio are among the poorest neighborhoods, according to neighborhood-level indicators from the INE study. The breakdown covers seventeen Spanish cities with populations over 250,000, revealing persistent pockets of poverty within the capital city. Alicante’s 4‑A district, including Juan XXIII, is the third lowest income region among these major cities, behind only Polígono Sur in Seville and the Los Pajaritos district in Seville, with incomes around 6,503 and 5,816–6,043 euros respectively. Alicante’s 5‑A district, including Virgen del Remedio, ranks eighth in the same low‑income grouping with about 7,579 euros.
These figures contrast sharply with Madrid’s El Viso at 40,815 euros per person, the wealthiest neighborhood nationally. Of the top fifteen highest-income areas, ten are in Madrid, four in Barcelona, and one in Vitoria. This pattern underscores a clear concentration of wealth within a few urban centers.