Living in Valencia

1. The city in plain words

Valencia is in the east of Spain, in the centre of the Gulf of Valencia, beside the mouth of the Turia. The Romans founded it in 138 BC under the name Valentia, as a settlement for veteran legionaries, on a river island in the Turia. It later became Balansiya in the Muslim period and, after the conquest by James I in 1238, the capital of a kingdom within the Crown of Aragon. The old town still shows that history: the Cathedral and the Miguelete tower, the Serranos and Quart towers, and the Silk Exchange (Lonja de la Seda), declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1996.

The river shapes the city today. After the great flood of 1957, the Turia was diverted to the south of the city, and its old bed became the Turia Garden, a park of about nine kilometres crossing Valencia from west to east, from the Cabecera Park to the City of Arts and Sciences, passing under 18 bridges from different periods. It is the city's great green and sporting space, and the axis that joins many neighbourhoods.

Valencia has 19 districts. The two official languages are Spanish and Valencian, and both are heard in the street. The climate is Mediterranean: mild winters and hot summers, with much of life lived outdoors for a large part of the year. The city was European Green Capital in 2024.

2. Neighbourhoods

Valencia is not a single centre. Each area has its own rhythm, and choosing a neighbourhood means choosing what daily life will be like.

• **Ciutat Vella (La Seu, El Carmen, El Mercado).** The old town, with narrow streets, squares, museums and the Cathedral. El Carmen is the best-known historic quarter, with old houses and street art on its walls. It is the area with the most tourist and nightlife activity in the centre.
• **Eixample (Ruzafa, Pla del Remei, Gran Vía).** South of Ciutat Vella, with straight streets and modernist buildings. Ruzafa is the quarter of galleries, cafés and small shops, and one of the most sought-after by young people. Pla del Remei and Gran Vía are quiet residential areas, with spacious flats in early twentieth-century buildings.
• **Extramurs and Campanar.** West and north-west of the centre, residential quarters with neighbourhood markets, such as Botànic beside the Botanical Garden, and Campanar, a quiet family area with tree-lined streets.
• **El Pla del Real and Benimaclet.** To the north, the university area: the University City and Blasco Ibáñez avenue hold the faculties and the students. Benimaclet, a district and a quarter at once, keeps a village feel, with a street market, bars and a multicultural population, despite being close to the centre.
• **Poblats Marítims (El Cabanyal-Canyamelar, Malvarrosa, El Grao).** Beside the sea, to the east. El Cabanyal is a former fishermen's quarter, an independent municipality in the nineteenth century under the name Pueblo Nuevo del Mar, with low colourful houses, tiled facades and modernist buildings. Malvarrosa and Las Arenas are the city beaches, with a seafront promenade, and El Grao is the port area.
• **Quatre Carreres and the south.** Around the City of Arts and Sciences, with modern blocks, and the huerta still present at the edges of the city, towards the Albufera lagoon.

3. Housing types

The flat is by far the most common home in Valencia. In Ciutat Vella and the Eixample, flats in old and modernist buildings dominate, often with balconies onto the street and interior patios, and with a lift in only some of the buildings. In twentieth-century areas and in the new quarters of the south and east there are modern blocks with a lift, storage room and, in some cases, a garage and a shared swimming pool.

El Cabanyal has its own type: low fishermen's houses, one or two storeys high, many with colourful tiled facades, alongside flats in more recent blocks near the beach. At the edges of the city and in the huerta there are terraced houses and detached villas. Attics, top-floor flats with a terrace, are a sought-after type in the centre and by the sea.

Before choosing, it is worth checking three things that photographs do not show: whether the building has a lift and what state it is in, what the flat's real light is like (an interior patio does not light like a street facade), and how much street noise reaches the flat, especially in the bar areas of the centre and in Fallas streets.

4. Renting vs buying, in general terms

This section is general information. It does not replace a lawyer or a notary, and it gives no prices, because prices change and none have been verified here.

**Renting.** Housing rentals in Spain are governed by the Urban Leases Act (LAU). The contract must be written and state the parties, the home, the rent, how it is paid, and the duration. The landlord must provide an energy performance certificate for the home. A deposit is usually asked, but this page fixes no amount, because it depends on what is agreed and on the rule in force at the time. Before signing, it is worth reading the duration, the renewal and exit conditions, and which costs fall to each party, because those points are agreed in the contract.

**Buying.** A purchase is formalised before a notary with the deed of sale, and then registered in the Land Registry. Before signing, a lawyer should check that the seller is the owner, that the home has no charges or outstanding debts, and that the registry description matches the real home. Foreigners buying in Spain need a NIE, the foreigner's identity number. It is common to sign a deposit contract (arras) first, reserving the home; if that agreement is penitential arras, and only when that is clearly agreed, each party may withdraw, losing or returning the deposit as the case may be. The site does not verify listings, photos, sellers, or the current availability of any home.

5. Food and daily life

Daily life in Valencia turns around the markets, the huerta, and the sea. The Central Market, a modernist building beside the Silk Exchange, is the main fresh-produce market: fruit and vegetables from the huerta, above all citrus, and fish and seafood from the Mediterranean. The Colón Market, also modernist, in the Eixample, and the Ruzafa Market are neighbourhood markets where local residents shop.

The city's own dish is paella valenciana, a rice dish born from the huerta and the Albufera, the lagoon south of the city where the rice is grown. Horchata de chufa, served with fartons, is the local drink, and the esmorzaret, the mid-morning Valencian lunch, is usually a sandwich in a bar. Daily shopping is done in markets, neighbourhood shops, and supermarkets.

In March, the Fallas change the city for days: monuments in the streets, marching bands, fireworks, and, on 19 March, the cremà, the burning of the monuments. The Fallas have been UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2016. Living near a Fallas committee in March means noise and closed streets, and also a festival that organises much of neighbourhood life through the year.

6. Practical notes for a newcomer

• **Start by walking.** Walk the neighbourhood at different times before signing anything. A quarter that is quiet by day can be noisy at night near bar areas, and in March, near a falla.
• **Get everything in writing.** Rental contract, inventory if there is one, and for a purchase, a deed before a notary and registration in the Land Registry.
• **Check the building, not just the flat.** Lift, state of the stairs and roof, and whether the community has works planned. By the sea, check damp too.
• **Allow for the climate.** Hot summers and mild winters: check shade, ventilation, and heating before settling in, and remember that much of life happens outdoors.
• **Allow time for paperwork.** If you come from outside Spain, the NIE and the documents for renting or buying take time; pay no deposit without a signed document.
• **A few words of Valencian help.** Spanish and Valencian are both heard in the street; quarter and market names are in both languages.
• **This page gives general information.** It is not an advertisement and it does not verify any particular seller, landlord, or home.