Spain
Alicante makes sense if
- You want the easier housing and budget equation in this comparison.
- A calmer day-to-day safety profile matters most to you.
- Access to stronger healthcare matters most to you.
Alicante vs Palma de Mallorca
Alicante is a mainland port with a relaxed beachside routine and a lighter housing burden. Palma de Mallorca gives you island-city life, a walkable old centre, easy beach access and a larger international community. Palma's career result is stronger, but Alicante leads on affordability and services; the island setting itself is a major part of the choice.
The grey shape is all 283 cities; each row says whether lower or higher is better. Ratings out of 10 are our reviewed estimates; the rest is published data. How we measure
The choice in one minute
Palma de Mallorca makes sense if
- You want the broader career options in this comparison.
- You want the deeper culture and food scene.
What matters to you
Set how much each area counts. The ranking updates as you go. Climate and values are left out because there is no better or worse there, only your taste.
Money
Nature & outdoors
City life
Safety & health
Work & family
Moving & settling in
- 1Palma de Mallorca66
Leads on nature & outdoors.
- 2Alicante66
Narrowly best on money: 71 vs Palma de Mallorca's 69; stands out for train connections and space for the money.
Scores out of 100, averaged from the areas you weighted. For a ranking built around your own situation, take the quiz.
Side by side
Money
Rent on a new lease, everyday prices and tax.
Section score out of 100
Alicante71Palma de Mallorca69
One-bedroom rent
Per month, new lease, citywide
€118/mo€2,140/mo
- €635/mo, leads
- €897/mo
Rent as share of local pay
One-bedroom rent vs. typical net local pay
21%120%
- ~35%, leads
- ~43%
Everyday prices
Excluding rent · United States = 100
25131
- 75
- 75
Income tax + social contributions
Range: average-wage rate to top marginal rate; the dot marks its midpoint
0%46%
- 24–49%
- 24–49%
Climate
The year month by month. Whether it suits you is yours to judge.
Solid line: average daytime high. Dashed: night-time low. Point at the chart for any month; point at a city name to shade its range.
Bright days
Under 80% cloud and under 1 mm rain
30 days347 days
- 297 days, leads
- 267 days
Muggy days
Days that feel sticky (dew point)
0 days365 days
- 134 days
- 142 days
Air pollution
Annual mean fine particles (PM2.5)
4.6 µg/m³84 µg/m³
- 10.7 µg/m³
- 9.9 µg/m³
Nature & outdoors
How easily you get to water, mountains and green space.
Section score out of 100
Palma de Mallorca62Alicante57
Beach & sea
110
- 9/10
- 10/10, leads
Mountains
110
- 5/10
- 5/10
City parks
110
- 6/10
- 6/10
Weekend escapes
110
- 8/10
- 8/10
City life
Getting around on foot, food, culture and the feel of the streets.
Section score out of 100
Palma de Mallorca73Alicante70
Walkability
110
- 7/10
- 7/10
Public transport
110
- 6/10
- 6/10
Restaurants
110
- 7/10
- 8/10, leads
Public spaces
110
- 9/10
- 9/10
Safety & health
Crime, how safe people feel, and the care you would get.
Section score out of 100
Alicante72Palma de Mallorca71
Homicide rate
Per 100,000 residents per year
0.247
- 0.7
- 0.7
Feels safe day to day
110
- 8/10
- 8/10
Healthcare quality
110
- 8/10
- 8/10
English-speaking care
110
- 8/10
- 8/10
Work & family
Jobs, working culture, schools and raising kids.
Section score out of 100
Alicante59Palma de Mallorca58
Job market
110
- 4/10
- 4/10
Jobs in English
110
- 6/10
- 7/10, leads
Work–life balance
110
- 8/10, leads
- 7/10
Schools
110
- 7/10, leads
- 6/10
Moving & settling in
Visas, language, paperwork and staying connected.
Section score out of 100
Alicante64Palma de Mallorca62
Visa & residence difficulty
Typical case; your passport changes this
110
- 4/10
- 4/10
Language barrier
For an English speaker
110
- 5/10
- 5/10
Openness to newcomers
110
- 8/10, leads
- 7/10
Flight connections
110
- 8/10
- 8/10
Society & values
Where each city sits. There is no right end of these scales.
Social attitudes
ConservativeLiberal
- 8/10
- 8/10
LGBTQ+ acceptance
LowHigh
- 9/10
- 9/10
Diversity
HomogeneousDiverse
- 7/10
- 8/10
Religion in public life
ReligiousSecular
- 8/10
- 8/10
Life in each city
Daily life
Alicante
A compact, walkable city where most errands happen on foot and car-dependency stays low. It sprawls little and feels human-scaled rather than dense.
Palma de Mallorca
Palma is compact and easy to cover on foot, with a dense old quarter of narrow streets and a quality seafront. It is a genuinely small city, far more so than Madrid or Barcelona, and the pace reflects that.
Safety
Alicante
Among the safer places to land. Violent crime is rare, the homicide rate is very low, and walking around after dark feels comfortable in most areas.
Palma de Mallorca
Among the safer places to land in Spain. Serious violent crime is very low and the roads are well managed, so walking at night feels comfortable in most parts of town.
Work and healthcare
Alicante
Alicante is better suited to remote work than to building a local career. Solid public healthcare backed by Spain's national system, with good hospital access and reliable emergency care.
Palma de Mallorca
Typical local pay is relatively solid, but the local market remains the limiting factor. The Spanish system delivers good quality care at low out-of-pocket cost, with reliable hospitals and emergency services on the island.
Culture and public life
Alicante
Decent food and a likeable everyday culture, with good restaurants, plenty of cafés, and a lively enough night out, though all of it stays provincial next to Valencia or Madrid. Alicante keeps its seafront tidy and its old town well-swept, a notch cleaner than the bigger Spanish capitals.
Palma de Mallorca
The international crowd is unusually large for a city this small, which keeps things cosmopolitan. Palma keeps its old town tidy and its seafront well-tended, the cathedral and the Passeig along the water framing genuinely fine public space.
Summary
Palma suits someone who wants an island base, a walkable centre and more international job connections. Alicante is easier on housing and stronger for safety and healthcare, while keeping the mainland within reach. Decide whether island life and career access are worth the higher housing pressure.
Read on
Which of these fits you?
These numbers treat everyone the same. The quiz weighs them by your budget, climate taste, family and work, and ranks all 283 cities for you.