What's new on the Costa Blanca, 10 September 2026: fiestas and cheap rent
A month of fiestas starts in La Mata, 153 affordable homes go up for grabs, and Novelda's 25 million euro facility makes news.
September is when the Costa Blanca gets its act together. The summer crowds thin out, the fiestas start up again, and the local news goes back to things that matter if you actually live here. This week is a neat example: a month of partying kicks off in La Mata, a state scheme is offering affordable homes that renters are apparently sleeping on, and there's a 25 million euro reason to talk about Novelda.
La Mata starts a month of fiestas
The fun one first. La Mata, on the northern edge of Torrevieja, celebrates its patron saint fiestas from Saturday 12 September to Wednesday 7 October. Euro Weekly News says that adds up to almost a month of music, food, parades and tradition.
Here's the thing about fiestas that run this long: they're not one continuous party. You get a handful of big nights and a lot of quiet neighbourhood evenings in between, and the programme is the only way to tell them apart. Turning up on a random Tuesday expecting a parade is how you end up having a quiet dinner and driving home early.
Worth prioritising
Even with that caveat, this is my pick of the week. Choose a weekend night from the programme, go for the evening, and expect parking near the action to be grim - either arrive early or park a fair walk away and count it as part of the night. If you work remotely, make a day of it: Torrevieja has a genuinely good laptop spot in Bibliotekcafé, so you can work the afternoon and fiesta in the evening.
153 affordable homes, and renters are missing out
The useful-but-boring one. Euro Weekly News reports that a new state housing scheme is offering 153 homes on the Costa Blanca, and that renters here may be missing out on them. Their opening line is blunt: renting on the Costa Blanca has never been cheap.
No argument from me. Anyone who's hunted for a long-term rental near the coast lately knows the maths keeps getting worse. So if you rent, this is the item on the list that's actually worth your time. Read the piece, check whether you qualify, and don't assume schemes like this are for someone else. 153 homes in a region this size won't hang around.
Novelda's 25 million euro facility
Inland now. Diario de Alicante reports that Carmencita is taking its R&D to a new stage from its 25 million euro facility in Novelda. Company news doesn't usually make these roundups, but money at that scale in a mid-size inland town is worth a minute of your attention. The coast gets the headlines; towns like Novelda get the facilities and the work that comes with them.
The throughline this week is money and where it goes: into homes, into an inland facility, and into a month of street parties that cost nothing to watch. If your September budget only stretches to one of those, the free one is in La Mata.
September is already a strong month on this coast - the city side is covered in the best things happening in Alicante in September 2026. One thing to do today: open the La Mata programme, pick one night between Saturday 12 September and Wednesday 7 October, and put it in the calendar before your month fills up.