Alicanteruns on a handful of strong industries. If you’re job-hunting or weighing a move, here’s where the opportunities (and the big-name employers) are.
Top industries & employers
Footwear & leather
Pikolinos, Hispanitas, Mustang, Tempe (Inditex footwear), Panama Jack
The Vinalopó valley around Elche and Elda is one of Europe's largest footwear clusters, and Tempe in Elche designs and distributes the shoes for every Inditex brand worldwide.
Technology & digital
Distrito Digital Comunitat Valenciana, Zeus Smart Visual Data, Plytix, Bosonit, Wolfpack Digital
The regional government's digital hub sits in Alicante inside the former Ciudad de la Luz film studios, and the city has attracted a large remote and international founder population alongside it.
Tourism & hospitality
Costa Blanca hotel groups, Benidorm operators, Port of Alicante cruise terminal, Alicante–Elche airport
Alicante–Elche is one of Spain's busiest airports and the gateway for the whole Costa Blanca, including Benidorm — Europe's densest concentration of high-rise hotels.
Toys & plastics
Famosa, Injusa, Smoby Toys España, Colorbaby
The Foia de Castalla around Ibi and Onil is Spain's historic toy-manufacturing valley, and much of the region's injection-moulding and plastics capacity grew out of it.
Agriculture & agri-food
Anecoop cooperatives, Vega Baja citrus and vegetable growers, turrón producers in Jijona
The Vega Baja and Bajo Segura are intensively irrigated horticulture, dependent on the Tajo–Segura transfer and increasingly on desalination — which makes water policy a live local political issue rather than an abstract one.
Higher education & research
Universidad de Alicante, Universidad Miguel Hernández (Elche), Instituto de Neurociencias (CSIC–UMH)
The CSIC–UMH Institute of Neuroscience at Sant Joan d'Alacant is one of Spain's leading neuroscience centres, and the Universidad de Alicante campus at San Vicente is among the greenest in the country.
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