Living in Valencia, Spain, used to feel like discovering a secret, but in 2026, that secret is well and truly out.
There was a time, not even that long ago, when talking about Valencia felt like I was sharing my secret. I’d see people asking about cities like Malaga, Seville, and Barcelona, and I’d stick my snout in there (after all, we did live in Malaga and Seville) and say, “You should look into Valencia.” It’s awesome, livable, and still very much idyllic.
Valencia had this balance that was hard to explain unless you lived it. It wasn’t chaotic or sleepy. There was culture (there still is) and beauty that didn’t feel curated for Instagram or TikTok. You could walk through neighborhoods and feel like you were in a real Spanish city. I kept saying I was Goldilocks who had finally found the right bed.
The housing was reasonable. Our first apartment was roughly 1700 square feet, with two patios and a sunroom in a great neighborhood overlooking the Turia. All for the excellent price of 790 euros. We moved because it was too big and our dogs (those lazy asses) preferred to be curled up with us inside than outside (go figure. Texan dogs too! 🙂 ).
Our next flat? 3 bedrooms, also, albeit smaller, (about 800 sq ft), and cost 600 euros! Right on Angel Guimera, too. The middle of everything. It was listed for 650, but the landlord reduced it to 600 when we met him, without our prompting.
The metro (1-minute walk) whizzed us to the airport in minutes. That was the best part because we travel a whole lot. So, the housing was reasonable, very much so. The streets were manageable. You heard Spanish mostly. Maybe the occasional tourist passing through, but it wasn’t a constant hum of global voices. and life was comfortable.
The cost of being discovered:
Things started shifting, slowly at first, then it seemed like kaboom! all at once. Valencia has been, and keeps getting, ranked as the number one place to live for expats, and on paper, it makes sense.
Those rankings come with consequences. The articles kept on coming. More videos with the “hidden gem” headlines. Quite the irony, and I’m not talking Black and Decker here :-). Of course, with all that came the inevitable. I swear it feels like it was marketed, like some global campaign behind the curtain.
- Rising rents (our first rental is now rented for 3200 euros, when I checked last, which was two years ago). They sold the second one.
- Increased demand for property
- Busier streets, especially in the center
- More short-term rentals
- Insane wait times for appointments and such
- More competition for… well, everything, putting pressure on the local infrastructure.
Does that sound familiar? Prague, Lisbon, Barcelona, Mexico City, and many, many other places have been through it. We’ve seen this story before. The people arriving now? They’re paying for it, literally through the nose. You don’t have to look far to see how this plays out.
Cities don’t wake up one day and become unaffordable or overcrowded. While Valencia is not Barcelona (yet), it would be naive to think it’s immune to the same forces.
Truthfully, in one of my past posts from a long time ago, I predicted that we could never become another Barcelona. Now, I’m not so sure. The signs are there, and even if you’re paying attention, I don’t think there’s much to be done about it.
The Housing Shift We Can’t Ignore:
Let’s talk about the big ass elephant in the room, tada… housing.
Finding a long-term rental now is noticeably harder than it used to be. Prices have crept up, and in some areas, jumped with no end in sight. Apartments that would have sat on the market a few years ago now disappear in days. Sometimes hours, and sometimes minutes!
No, no, no… this isn’t just an “expat problem.” It’s affecting locals, too. Younger people, families. Anyone not coming in with foreign income or buying power. Once a city becomes unaffordable for its own residents, everything else changes with it.
The Double-Edged Sword of “Number One”
Being ranked the best place to live sounds like a win, and in many ways, it is. Valencia is an incredible place to live. That hasn’t changed. These rankings, however, bring attention. Attention brings people, and people bring pressure. That pressure, in turn, changes the very thing that made the city appealing in the first place.
It’s the paradox of popularity.
The Housing Reality Up Close And Personal:
We were lucky. There’s no other way to put it. When we bought, people would ask, “Where?” when we told them. We’d have to reference the City of Arts and Sciences to give them a point of orientation. That’s how off the radar our area felt. I also knew a few of them were being elitist twats :-), but I digress. “Oh, we never leave El Carme.” Eye roll!
When we moved to our current place almost seven years ago, I was one of the extremely rare sighted English speakers in our neighborhood, much like spotting a bald eagle, even though we live less than a half-hour walk to the Ayuntamiento.
Now? Six years later, we’ve been offered more than three times what we paid. More than three times. Suddenly, everyone knows the neighborhood, and a lot of them want in. You can read my tips on buying in a past post.
I step outside and hear English, Dutch, German, French, Arabic, sometimes all of them before I even reach the corner. Don’t get me wrong, I love it. As a black woman, I love seeing the diversity. Cafes have appeared where there used to be shuttered storefronts. Neighborhoods that felt purely local now feel… international.
We’re not the only ones. Friends have the same stories: properties doubling, tripling, unsolicited offers landing out of nowhere. We could have taken the money and run. We did it in L.A. A lot of people would, but we haven’t because we actually love our home and this city.
Not everyone coming now has that same entry point, which sucks. It’s almost impossible to imagine now. I feel for the people arriving now because they’re paying prices that would have seemed absurd not that long ago.
Even the Small Things Have Shifted
It’s not just housing. When we started our foodies group, my partner and I would talk with a local restaurant about 30+ people and arrange a fantastic meal for €15 a head, including two drinks(wine, beer, or soda), and on a Saturday! The restaurants were happy to have us.
That crept up over time. Slowly, then all at once. €18, then €20, then €22. Now, for the past year or two, we’re at €25, sometimes more, and even then, finding places that can deliver the same quality and service is harder. It hasn’t been because they got worse, but because they don’t need us anymore. That’s the difference. My enthusiasm has soured because I don’t do groveling.
So… Where Do We Go From Here?
That’s the question I find myself asking more often lately. Is this just a phase? Will things level out? Will policies catch up with reality? Or are we at the beginning of a long-term shift that will redefine what Valencia is?
The truth is, no one really knows. I certainly don’t. Part of me wishes these people would find the next big “hidden gem” and move on. What we can say is this: the Valencia of today is not the Valencia of even five years ago, and it, for sure, won’t be the same five years from now either.
Valencia is no longer the same kind of great. It’s busier, more expensive, more international, more polished. More of everything, and, depending on who you ask, a little less… authentic.
Ooh, Let’s Talk About Blame:
It’s easy to point fingers.
It’s the damn investors. Blame it all on their short-term rentals.
No, it’s the digital nomads and their willingness to pay more.
No, no, no, it’s the “expats” in general with their it’s so much cheaper than my rent in Cali, London, (feel free to insert whatever city you want) attitude.
And moi? If I’m being honest? I was part of it too. I wrote about Valencia. Talked about it, did interviews, and told people, “You should come here.” I totally meant it. A lot of us did.
Now? There are more Valencia influencers than you can shake a stick at – cinema-worthy captures, drones in the air, perfectly framed cafe shots, “best hidden spots” that haven’t been hidden in years. One by one, it all seems harmless. Juntos? It changes everything.
I’ve passed the baton to others and taken myself out of the playing field for the most part. I’ve become protective of my adopted land as an immigrant.
Please don’t come at me with that immigrant – expat bullshite. Google is my master, and if you people researched “immigrant life” as opposed to “expat life”, that’s what my website would reflect (immigrantinvalencia). The irony is that I don’t even make money off the site. I like to write, so the joke’s on me.
So, who’s to blame when the parties really get out of hand? (You better be humming the B-52s):
All of us. The people who came, the ones who promoted it, the systems that allowed it, and the market that feeds on it (greedy duenas who I doubt are all foreign). It’s all a mezcla (mix).
Is Valencia still a hidden gem, or has that ship sailed?
This is bigger than an “only” Valencia story. It’s happening everywhere. The world is smaller, information travels at supersonic speed, and once a place is “discovered,” it rarely goes back. Hidden gems are becoming as rare as the Hope Diamond.
Valencia didn’t escape that. It merely joined the list. From Lisbon to Mexico City to parts of Southeast Asia – places get discovered, celebrated, and then transformed. Valencia isn’t special in that sense. It’s having its turn.
So the short answer is – no, the ship hasn’t sailed, but lo and behold, it’s not docked either.
If you’re thinking about coming, your often-asked question is: “Is Valencia still worth it?” Perhaps.
So… Would I Still Recommend Valencia?
Yes, but I hesitate in a way I never used to. Why? Because I know the version of Valencia people have in their heads, the one I helped paint, is fading.
I can’t, in good faith, call it a hidden gem anymore. That version of Valencia is gone. What’s here now is still special, but it comes at a higher price, both financially and culturally. Don’t even get me started on Fallas.
If you’re coming with realistic expectations, financial flexibility, and an understanding that this is no longer a “cheap hidden gem,” Valencia still offers an incredible quality of life.
The climate (well… that’s kind of up for debate lately), the walkability (insanely good), the healthcare (fantastic), and the lifestyle (awesome). It’s all still here.
However, if you’re chasing what Valencia used to be – ultra-affordable, undiscovered, easy – then you might be arriving a little late. Not too late, but late enough that things feel different.
Entonces, if you’re coming, come with your eyes open. Don’t come looking for a secret, because that part… se ha ido.
What version of Valencia are you expecting to find, and are you ready for the one that’s actually here now?