Playa Flamenca is a very busy suburb attached to Torrevieja. It is a part of the Orihuela Costa which has its own town hall (ayuntamiento) and is autonomous from Torrevieja but they thread seamlessly together. It is a very big area with lots of beaches (La Zenia, Cabo Roig, Campoamar etc) running along one side and takes in smaller places inland up to San Miguel, including Villamartin, Entre Golf, El Galan, Bosque de las Lomas etc etc etc. It is bisected by the N332, the main coast road. This road is very busy all year round and is best avoided if at all possible, especially in the summer when it can take up to an hour to travel the 5 or 6 km to Torrevieja (really is bumper to bumper). Fortunately, other roads lead through the urbanisations to bypass this but it takes some time to get to know how to do it. Playa Flamenca also has its own market (Saturdays) which is very big and fun to visit.
The N332 is packed with shops, restaurants, bars etc which are, literally, heaving in the summer months. A lot of Spanish people have holiday homes/flats there and it can be impossible to get near the beaches in the summer time. It is a little too lively for me as I get a bit cheesed off with karaoke and football pubs when I'm trying to have a quiet pint. In the winter months, it is never dead (some bars are but they tend to be the ones that rip the locals and tourists off so don't get much business when the tourists go home).
There is, unfortunately, quite a bit of crime in the area. With the high amount of visitors there plus a large immigrant population this isn't too surprising. However, with the right precautions it is not really something that should keep you awake at nights although a high rate of muggings and pickpockets have been reported around the commercial centres. I have some friends who live there and they tell me they avoid these areas at night but someone else reported her 15 year old daughter was attacked at 7:30 in the morning.
Some of the best areas are to be found inland. Los Dolces and Villamartin are only 5 and 10 minutes away respectively and have their own bar/restaurant areas but Villamartin can also be "vibrant and busy" due to its attraction as a golfing centre which attracts a lot of visiting golfers out for a good time. Villamartin Plaza can be a bit hectic, shall we say.
Entre Golf, again about 5 minutes away from the beaches, is a new area which is just starting up. A further 5 minutes up the road are the communities of El Galan, Bosque de las Lomas and others. These areas have been up and running for several years and have a good spread of restaurants and bars plus shopping centres. They also have a lot of (not the majority, though) permanent residents from all over Europe and, although you still get the karaoke and football bars, there are other options. These are situated within 3 golf courses (though not intrusive like Villamartin) which helps with the rental aspect and tend to be "gated" communities which helps on the security side (though not foolproof) and often include secure, off road parking. There are also several markets in the area ranging from huge (San Miguel) to a few stalls set out on the side of the road.
Whichever area you look at, you will see huge building sites everywhere. The housing slump doesn't appear to have gotten through to the developers in these areas although there are many bargains to be had in each location. Remember, if you buy new (off plan) you have to bear in mind that these house will not come completed. You will have to budget for security grilles, an ample sized water heater (new houses tend to have small heaters which are not really suitable if you use the bath instead of the shower all the time), aircon, lighting (new houses come with bare wires hanging out of the ceilings) and things like balustrades etc will not be painted. Buying a resale, which used to be more expensive, may have everything included that you want. In all cases, you should allow for about 11% of the cost on top for taxes and legal fees.
Hope you have a great time exploring and looking around. I'm going out in August with 2 of my grandkids, aged 6 and 9, and they absolutely love the area (we have a great upper duplex in between the golf courses with huge sun terrace and nice balconies). We find the whole area very child friendly and they are never at a loss for things to do. We also have 3 pools to choose from with attached park areas (quite small) and they are happy to spend a day there if I don't feel like driving (or get up too late to get a parking space near the beach). They also love eating out and I'm very fortunate in that they're very well behaved.
Edited bit: I may have given the impression I wasn't impressed with Playa Flamenca. Nothing could be further from the truth as I like the area a lot and often use the restaurants and shopping centres around there. It just gets a bit too busy for me in the summer (especially August) and that darn N332 is the stuff of nightmares. It is well worth looking into as it close to everything but try and look away from the main road if you can.
This message was last edited by bobaol on 7/17/2007.