The travel advice on this page is for Alicante. For the latest general travel advice for Spain, please see FCO travel advice.

General

• On 1 January 2006 legislation came into effect across Spain which brought in controls covering smoking in bars, restaurants and other workplaces. Additional legislation has since come into effect bringing in more stringent controls on drinking & sexual activity in public places. This includes Spanish beaches, where regulations have increased significantly. Fines imposed for breach of regulations range from €30 to a maximum of €1500
  
• the region of Valencia is prone to severe storms and torrential rainfall between September and November. For national and regional weather updates you can visit the AEMET website or the World Meteorological Organization. Also check with your airline or tour operator before travelling to these areas.

Crime

• drivers, especially on the E15, A7, A70 and N332 approaching Alicante should be wary of approaches by bogus police officers, in plain clothes and travelling in unmarked cars. In all traffic-related matters police officers will be in uniform

• unmarked vehicles will have a flashing electronic sign on the rear window which reads "Policia" or "Guardia Civil", and normally have blue flashing lights incorporated into the headlights, which are activated by the Police when they stop you. In non-related traffic matters police officers may be in plain clothes but in any case members of the public have the right to ask police officers to identify themselves

• the Guardia Civil or Police will ask you to show them your documents only and do not request that you hand over your bag or wallet. If in any doubt, drivers should converse through the car window and contact the Guardia Civil on 062 or the Spanish National Police on 112 and ask them to confirm that the registration number of the vehicle corresponds to an official police vehicle

• at Valencia, Alicante and Murcia (San Javier) airport there have been numerous reports of luggage being stolen whilst people are distracted, filling in paper work for a rental vehicle. Passengers arriving or departing from should be extremely careful and not leave their luggage unattended due to the increased number of robberies

• thieves are also simulating accidents where their vehicle bumps into a rental vehicle and, while travellers are consequently busy filling in the relevant insurance papers, an accomplice steals belongings from the rental vehicle

• you should also be wary of being followed to your accommodation from the airport in your rental car. Thieves are known to puncture car tyres at the airport and later attempt to help, only to steal passenger’s belongings. Please take care, in general with your bags and personal belongings.

Healthcare

• please be aware that there is no National Health hospital in Benidorm, so it is advisable to take out private health insurance when travelling to this area. The nearest national health hospital is Villajoyosa.

Buying property in the Valencian Community

• in the Valencia Autonomous Community (the Provinces of Castellon, Valencia and Alicante) and, increasingly, in other parts of Spain your land tenure rights can be severely curtailed by local legislation 

• should your ownership of property in these Provinces be threatened by local legislation you should engage the services of a lawyer immediately. Also, you should contact the NGO, Abusos Urbanisticos No for more information and details on how they may be able to help. Please note that the British Consualte cannot help in specific property cases.