DOMINIUM

Altea's old town is one of the Costa Blanca's most photographed — narrow lanes climbing to the church above the bay. Altea Hills, on the ridge south of town, is where the villa market actually is: gated, terraced, and built for the view down to the sea rather than a walk to the old town's restaurants.

A white hilltop old town crowned by a blue-domed church, with Altea Hills' gated villas rising above the bay to the south.