Morella
A walled medieval town on a rocky outcrop in the Maestrat mountains, with a full circuit of ramparts still intact — dramatic, and rarely visited by foreign buyers.
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Comunitat Valenciana
Castellón
Orange groves running down to a quieter Mediterranean coast, with a medieval walled town waiting in the mountains behind it.
- Days of sun~300
- Winter11 °C
- Summer26 °C
- Area6,636 km²
- Coastline120 km
Its story
A narrow coastal plain of citrus orchards along the Costa del Azahar, rising quickly into the Sierra de Espadán and the more remote Maestrat mountains to the north.
Peñíscola's fortified old town (used as a Game of Thrones filming location), Morella's medieval walls and castle, and the Desert de les Palmes hermitage
Arroz a banda, Peñíscola-style seafood, citrus from the surrounding huertas, and the honey and cured meats of the Maestrat
Slower and less built-up than the Costa Blanca to the south — small resort towns on the coast, genuinely rural silence inland
What almost nobody knowsPeñíscola's old town sits on a rocky peninsula almost entirely surrounded by sea, connected to the mainland by only a narrow strip of sand.
Hidden gems
Ares del Maestrat
One of the highest villages in the Comunitat Valenciana, perched on a rock spur with panoramic views over the Maestrat — genuinely remote and largely unknown outside the region.
Places to know: Peñíscola's walled old town and castle · Morella (medieval walled town) · Desert de les Palmes · Sierra de Espadán Natural Park · Costa del Azahar
Living here
- Airports
- Castellón-Costa Azahar Airport (CDT)
- Getting around
- Valencia Joaquín Sorolla (≈1h by road/rail)
- Main roads
- AP-7, A-7, CV-10
- Healthcare
- Hospital General Universitario de Castellón is the province's main reference hospital.
- International community
- Modest and coastal — some British, French and Belgian retirees and holiday-home owners in Peñíscola, Benicàssim and Oropesa del Mar. The interior, including Morella and the Maestrat, has essentially no foreign residential presence.
- Language
- Moderate on the coast, higher inland
- Popular areas
- Castellón de la Plana, Peñíscola, Benicàssim, Oropesa del Mar, Vinaròs
The Dream Nest view
Who it suits
Mostly British, Belgian and French retirees and second-home buyers on the coast; very limited international presence inland
Mortgage notes
Real but modest non-resident mortgage demand along the coast, concentrated in Peñíscola, Benicàssim and Oropesa del Mar. The interior, including Morella, is an almost exclusively domestic market with very little mortgage activity from international buyers.
Worth knowing before you commit
Many coastal urbanisations date from the 1970s–80s tourism boom and vary widely in build quality — check community fees and structural condition property by property. Castellón's airport currently has very limited scheduled commercial flights, so factor real travel times into any purchase decision.
Indicative information, pending verification by Dream Nest. Sources consulted: INE, AEMET, Registradores de España, Generalitat Valenciana
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