Villamartin feels as if the Mediterranean has slipped on a golfing jumper and become the life and soul of the Costa Blanca South. Mornings start with ring-necked parrots chattering in the Plaza palms, followed by flat whites while you decide whether to play the front nine or nip down to La Zenia’s powdery beach for a dip. Neighbourhoods such as Eagles Nest, Los Dolses and Blue Lagoon tumble over gentle hills, so most homes boast sunset rooftops where barbecues sizzle all year.
Although purpose-built, the village hums with community: Scandinavian bakeries rub shoulders with Irish pubs, and yoga sessions share the green with lively tapas tours. Shopping is a breeze at Zenia Boulevard, one of the most popular shopping hubs on the south east coast and both Alicante and Murcia airports sit under an hour away, meaning friends and family will find it easy to visit. Best of all, despite the cosmopolitan buzz you never feel penned into a resort; as our podcast guest Erik noted, Villamartin “doesn’t feel touristy” at all – just sunshine, sea and plenty of lifestyle upgrade potential.
Living in Villamartin: Essential information
Villamartin’s full-time head-count sits at roughly 13 000 (INE 2024). A large share are Northern European expatriates who, over the last decade, have turned a once quiet golf urbanisation into a truly international village.
Healthcare in Villamartin
Spain’s lauded public health system is backed up by excellent private clinics. Everyday needs are met at the local Centro de Salud, while the University Hospital of Torrevieja is only 10–15 minutes (around 11 km) away by car or taxi for emergency and specialist care. Private options include IMED Torrevieja and numerous English-speaking dentists and physiotherapists on the coast. EU residents can access public services with an EHIC/GHIC or by registering for a SIP card once resident. Check out our comprehensive guide to the Spanish healthcare system for more information.
Working in Villamartin
Golf, hospitality, real estate and construction remain the big local employers, all keen on English-speaking staff as Northern European visitor numbers continue to grow. Remote workers are well served too: Orihuela Costa offers a clutch of co-working hubs such as Sharespace in Playa Flamenca and Genion Lab in nearby Orihuela city, each running networking events ideal for swapping sun-lounger-proof laptops. The strong expat community means freelance translators, digital marketers and tradespeople rarely lack clients once they’ve mastered a little Spanish admin. For more information about jobs, take a look at our how to find a job in Spain guide.
Schools & education in Villamartin
Top of the class is El Limonar International School Villamartín, a British curriculum school accepting pupils aged 3–18 from over 30 nationalities – most are British or Spanish – and preparing them for IGCSEs, A-Levels and Spanish Selectividad. State schools follow the Valencian bilingual model (Spanish and Valenciano), while several other international campuses, including Phoenix International School and King’s College Murcia, sit within a 30-minute drive.
Transport in Villamartin
Getting around Villamartin is refreshingly straightforward. Costa Azul (Avanza) buses loop past the Plaza roughly once an hour, whisking you to La Zenia’s sands, Cabo Roig’s marina or the shops in Torrevieja for about €1–€2 and in as little as six minutes, so the car can stay in the garage. Drivers have two parallel north–south arteries: the AP-7 motorway for fast toll-gate hops and the free N-332 coastal highway that adds barely seven minutes yet keeps the coins for tapas.
For longer hauls, Alicante-Elche and Murcia-Corvera airports book-end the resort, each linked to Torrevieja bus station by year-round shuttle coaches, where a quick change brings you back to Villamartin in under 90 minutes door-to-door. Taxis queue outside the Plaza until the small hours and newly painted cycle lanes thread through the Orihuela Costa urbanisations, so whether you ride the bus, bike or buggy, the fairways, seafront and sangria are always close at hand.
Things to do in Villamartin
Tee off at championship courses
Las Ramblas golf course
Golf put this village on the map, and the fairways still steal the show. Club de Golf Villamartin hosted the 1994 Mediterranean Open, so you can stroll the same greens where José María Olazábal beat Paul McGinley in a nail-biting play-off. Next door, Las Ramblas de Orihuela twists through spectacular ravines and pine valleys; miss the fairway here and your ball’s taking the scenic route. Both clubs welcome visitors, rent top-spec buggies and run twilight deals, so you can play 36 holes, celebrate with a cold cerveza and still be home in time for the Champions League highlights.
Chill on Blue Flag beaches
La Zenia beach
Seven minutes’ drive whisks you from the tee box to La Zenia’s chalk-white sands, one of ten Orihuela Costa beaches flying Blue Flags in 2024/25. Cabo Roig’s rocky headland shelters snorkel-friendly coves thick with posidonia meadows where trumpet fish and octopus patrol the shallows; masks and flippers are sold from a kiosk on the promenade if you forget your kit. Sun-loungers, paella shacks and lifeguards appear from Easter to October, yet even in high summer you can still claim towel-space with room to swing a paperback.
Sip and sing in Villamartin Plaza
Villamartin Plaza
As dusk paints the balconies peach, the Plaza’s fairy lights click on and the soundtrack cranks up. Steak houses plate up tomahawks the size of small rafts, while rooftop gin bars shake rhubarb-tonic sundowners. For 2025 the live-music calendar has been declared “bigger and better than ever”, with tribute acts, jazz quartets and a rumoured chart-toppers headlining August’s fiesta week – keep an eye on the Plaza’s Facebook feed for confetti-fuelled announcements. Locals claim the resident green parrots screech in perfect harmony during the sax solos; ear-witnesses remain divided.
Ride the slides at Aquopolis
When the mercury nudges 30 °C, follow the splash-echoes to Aquopolis Torrevieja, open daily from 1 June with closing whistles at 19:30. Adrenaline junkies queue for the Kamikaze’s 50-km/h free-fall, while the Amazonia lazy river keeps toddlers (and secretly relieved parents) happily afloat. Picnic areas, shade sails and cash-free wristbands streamline the day, and sunset exits mean the car seats are dry before you hit the AP-7.
Snap the pink lagoon
Just north of Villamartin, Laguna Rosa looks as if someone spilled a vat of strawberry milkshake across the salt flats. The bubble-gum hue comes from halobacteria and algae that thrive in the hypersaline water, and flocks of flamingos turn up each spring to colour-match their feathers. Arrive an hour before sunset for the most dramatic photos; the dusty access track is passable in a hatchback, though bikes are better for guilt-free post-shoot tapas.
Cruise to Tabarca Island
Fancy lunch on Spain’s only inhabited marine reserve? A glass-bottom boat sails daily from Torrevieja marina at 10:45, gliding over seagrass meadows to the fortified islet of Tabarca. After snorkelling clear coves and nibbling caldero (fish and rice stew) in a shore-front taverna, the skipper hoists anchor for a sunset cruise back – mojito included in the €35 ticket. Watch for bottlenose dolphins racing the bow wave on calm days.
Bargain-hunt at Playa Flamenca market
Saturday breaks at dawn to the clatter of 350 stalls lining Calle Nicolás de Bussi. By 08:00 the air smells of sizzling churros and sun-warmed leather; by noon you’ll be haggling over straw baskets, salted almonds and linen throws that magically expand to fill every spare suitcase kilo. Markets wrap at 14:00, which leaves just enough time to wander across to Zenia Boulevard for air-conditioned victory coffees – or to hide the evidence of your impulse buys.
Expat clubs and activities in Villamartin
Life orbits Villamartin Plaza, whose year-round events calendar ranges from swing bands to Leo Sayer cameos – the parrots are free backing vocalists! inmoinvestments.com Golf societies abound, while bowlers roll up at San Miguel Bowls Club on the neighbouring Eagles Nest estate. Further afield, Torrevieja’s thriving social-scene directory lists everything from mountain-walking groups to Costa Blanca classic-car rallies, so making friends is as easy as ordering a café con leche.
