Some people absolutely love shopping on their holidays and a nice bit of retail therapy. Others can’t think of anything worse. You might not think of the Costa Blanca as being the absolute shopping dream and you wouldn’t be far off, I tend to head back to the UK to do my shopping, favouring the shops there. Though, there are some good shops and malls scattered along the Costa Blanca which are worth checking out.

Setting aside a shopping day is something a lot of people like to schedule into their trips, I mean, some people specifically book a holiday to go shopping. Did anybody else automatically think of New York?

So, if you are somebody who loves to splash the cash at the shops rather than splash around the pool, here’s where you should head to go shopping on the Costa Blanca:

Zenia Boulevard

Winning by an absolute mile, Zenia Boulevard is for sure the best shopping mall on the Costa Blanca. Everything you can get at other shopping centres and more can be found here. It’s the shopping haven on the white coast.

Zenia Boulevard is filled with 150 shops, including Primark, and more than 90 species of plants and trees. It’s like a tropical paradise. Think swanky American malls and that’s the inspiration for Zenia Boulevard. There is also an exercise park, rest zones, restaurants and large screens displaying events, tourist information and advertisements. They also have live shows and concerts every week.

They are located in Zenia in Orihuela Coast. From the main plaza of the shopping centre, you can catch glimpses of the Meditteranean Sea so it’s a perfect place to have a wine at night on the terrace after some serious shopping.

Zenia Boulevard is located 10 minutes drive from Torrevieja, 30 minutes from Cartagena, 40 minutes from Elche and 50 minutes from Alicante.

La Marina, Finestrat

The most local shopping centre to Benidorm is that of La Marina in Finestrat. Filled with enough shops to keep you occupied for a couple of hours with easy accessibility from Benidorm and plenty of café’s and restaurants, it’s well worth taking a trip if you like shopping.

Accessible by Tram, Line 1 heading to Alicante and the Llorente Bus, La Marina is easy to get to. You can also walk it in 20 minutes if you’re staying in La Cala de Finestrat.

La Marina first opened back in September 2000 and is spread across four floors, the underground floor being dedicated to free parking. There is also a cinema, a bowling alley on the top floor and a 4000m2 children’s attraction park which includes bouncy castles, mini golf and go-karts.

Centro Comercial Plaza Mar 2

One of the newer shopping centres along the Costa Blanca, the Plaza Mar shopping centre is located in Alicante. You can find a multitude of shops and opportunities all under one roof. Also located in Plaza Mar 2 is the fantastic Kinepolis cinema which has 16 movie rooms with comfortable seats and all the newest releases in both Spanish and English.

Accessible via tram line 1 to Alicante or 30 minutes by car from Benidorm.

Centro Comercial Gran Via

Another Alicante based shopping centre, the Gran Via has more than 100 shops and is ideally located in the centre of Alicante. There are numerous shops and plenty of bars and cafés.

Accessible by Tram L1 to Alicante, bus and car.

El Corte Inglés

There a few El Corte Inglés scattered across the Costa Blanca including Murcia, Alicante and Cartagena. El Corte Inglés is the number one department store in Spain. In Alicante, there are a few El Corte Inglés all located within a short walk of one another, one focuses on clothing and fashion accessories, whilst the other is household appliances, electricals and food.

Hasta luego,