Torrevieja Tops List of Spain’s Worst Places to Live – and the Reasons Are Hard to Ignore

The property website Idealista has ranked Torrevieja as one of the worst places to live in Spain in 2025, and for many residents, the result comes as no surprise. Once seen as a thriving seaside town, Torrevieja has become a symbol of overdevelopment, crumbling infrastructure, and political neglect that is eroding both its environment and its quality of life.

While national headlines have treated the survey as sensational, Idealista’s findings are grounded in the very issues that locals have been voicing for years: a town built faster than it can cope, with services, transport, and planning failing to keep pace with expansion.

Overdevelopment and Empty Homes

Despite tens of thousands of empty or unsold properties scattered across its urbanisations, new construction projects continue to rise across the municipality. Large swathes of former greenbelt land are being converted into concrete, while rainwater drainage systems, public transport, and waste collection remain inadequate.

Flooding has become routine after even moderate rainfall, a direct result of insufficient stormwater management and poor planning oversight. Many of the new developments have been approved without the necessary environmental protections in place.

The city’s priorities appear heavily concentrated on beautifying a small area of the town centre, while outlying neighbourhoods — where the majority of Torrevieja’s residents actually live — are left visibly neglected. Pavements crumble, street lighting fails, and access to basic amenities varies drastically from one urbanisation to another.

A Town Built on Decline

The once-strong British community, which helped shape Torrevieja’s international image, has sharply declined over the past decade, reduced by Brexit, rising living costs, and a perception that public services no longer meet even minimum standards.

In their place, a diverse mix of Ukrainians, Poles, Scandinavians, and South Americans has brought new energy — but even they are finding that the town’s infrastructure is buckling under the weight of unplanned growth. Public transport remains grossly outdated, with ageing buses and limited coverage that fails to meet the needs of a population approaching 100,000 in winter and triple that number in summer.

Social and welfare services are underfunded and understaffed, with long waiting times and limited resources for vulnerable families. Meanwhile, coastal and natural areas that once defined the town’s charm are being carved away by urban development and controversial regeneration schemes.

Environmental and Civic Breakdown

The Lagunas de La Mata and Torrevieja Natural Park, long regarded as an ecological treasure, continues to face pressure from pollution and human encroachment. Experts and residents alike warn that the lagoon ecosystem — already fragile — is nearing irreversible damage.

Flood-prone zones remain largely unprotected, despite millions of euros in regional funding offered for drainage improvements since 2021. Instead, the town has seen a succession of cosmetic projects in high-visibility locations, aimed more at political image than at long-term resilience.

Neglect Hidden Behind a Facade

While the seafront promenade, new paving and public squares may present a polished image to tourists, the reality for many residents beyond the centre is one of decay, isolation, and disconnection. The contrast between glossy central investments and the neglected outskirts has deepened frustration among long-term locals, who see the town sliding further away from sustainable urban living.

For Idealista’s analysts, Torrevieja’s position at the top of Spain’s “worst places to live” list was not arbitrary — it was earned through years of poor governance, inadequate planning, and misplaced priorities.

Torrevieja remains a city of enormous potential, but that potential is being buried under concrete, bureaucracy, and complacency.