Torrevieja mayor demands 100+ extra Guardia Civil officers

Today's essentials (5 key points)

• Alicante-Elche airport has passed the 12 million passenger mark, according to AlicanteOut, a sign of how central air travel has become to Costa Blanca life.
• The Costa Blanca reaches 33°C today under mostly dry skies, but AEMET has warned of temperatures up to 43°C on Wednesday and Thursday across Alicante province.
• Rising prices and the euríbor have made a typical Alicante mortgage about 1,600 euros more expensive per year, according to Informacion.
• A meteotsunami in Dénia caused the sea to drop almost half a metre in five minutes, alarming bathers and hampering boats entering the port.
• Alicante has floated extending its Tram line to Elche along the A-79 in its new General Plan, a long-term proposal reported by TodoAlicante.

Today's essentials

Torrevieja mayor demands 100+ extra Guardia Civil officers. Torrevieja's mayor is pressing the Spanish government for more than 100 additional Guardia Civil officers, arguing the town's police numbers have stood still for a decade while its population and crime have grown.

According to El Periódico, mayor Eduardo Dolón hit back at Manuel Pineda, the central government's subdelegate in Alicante, after Pineda highlighted a recent drop in criminal offences during the first months of 2026. Dolón leaned on the annual figures to make his point: the Interior Ministry recorded 10,089 criminal offences in Torrevieja in 2025, up from 9,316 in 2024, an 8.3% rise. His line, quoted by the paper: a one-off dip is welcome, but it cannot become an excuse.

The heart of his argument is staffing. The Guardia Civil unit handling public safety in Torrevieja (more than 200 officers) has barely changed in roughly ten years, Dolón says, even as the town has grown fast. Torrevieja counts somewhere between 110,000 and 115,000 registered residents, yet its real summer population is estimated at 450,000 to 500,000 people. On that basis the town hall is formally asking Madrid for over 100 extra Guardia Civil officers, with the vehicles and equipment to match.

Pineda tells a different story, citing a 7% increase last year in the Guardia Civil officers assigned to Torrevieja's main station and its district. The same reporting sets out why residents feel the strain: 2025 brought 87 offences against sexual freedom in the town, including 26 rapes, a 44.4% jump on 2024, alongside 1,022 cybercrimes. In parallel, the town hall is expanding its own local police with 63 new officer posts. The dispute was picked up the same day by Todo Alicante and the English-language outlet The Leader, without adding independently verified figures.

What this means for you: if you live in or spend the summer around Torrevieja, this is a political tug-of-war over who staffs your streets, and it will not change patrol numbers overnight. The practical takeaway is that reinforcements, both national (Guardia Civil) and local police, are being requested and recruited but are not yet on the ground, so keep reporting incidents through official channels rather than assuming coverage has already improved. The local-police expansion is expected to keep rolling out into early 2027, according to El Periódico, though its sources differ on the final headcount target.

Weather today

Hot and dry today, 33°C on the Costa Blanca. Expect a hot but calm day across the Costa Blanca, with highs around 33°C and virtually no chance of rain, according to Open-Meteo.

In Alicante city, Open-Meteo puts the low at 23°C and the high at 33°C under partly cloudy skies, with a 0% chance of rain and a light breeze topping out near 14 km/h: comfortable enough for the beach, though shade and water in the early afternoon are wise. Inland around Elda, temperatures run from 21°C to 33°C with more overcast cover, a 3% rain probability and gusts up to 20 km/h, while the southern coast at Santa Pola mirrors the city at 23°C to 33°C, partly cloudy with a 17 km/h sea breeze. Bear in mind that AEMET has flagged far hotter conditions midweek, so today is the easier day to be outdoors.

Transport & traffic

• Alicante-Elche airport hits a 12-million passenger milestone. Alicante's airport has passed the 12 million passenger mark, a sign of how central air travel has become to Costa Blanca life, according to AlicanteOut. For anyone flying home or hosting visitors, that scale matters: a busier Alicante-Elche airport tends to bring more routes and more frequencies, but also longer queues on peak summer weekends. If you are collecting family this August, build in extra time for drop-off and pick-up, and check your airline's terminal and gate before you leave the house.
• Dénia meteotsunami: sea dropped half a metre in five minutes. A sudden sea-level swing in Dénia saw the tide fall by nearly half a metre in five minutes, unsettling bathers and complicating sailboats' entry to port, La Marina Plaza reports. The phenomenon, a meteotsunami driven by abrupt swings in atmospheric pressure, rattled swimmers at the Marineta Cassiana, while in nearby Xàbia observers said the pressure graphs 'went crazy'. If you sail or swim along the northern Marina Alta coast, these fast surges are short-lived but real: keep an eye on harbour advisories and hold off launching small craft when conditions look unstable.

What's changing for you

• Alicante mortgages now cost 1,600 euros more a year. Rising house prices and the euríbor have pushed the annual cost of a mortgage in Alicante up by about 1,600 euros, according to Informacion. If you are house-hunting on the Costa Blanca, factor this in before you sign: with prices at a fresh record high and borrowing more expensive, the same property stretches your monthly budget further than it did a year ago. It pays to compare fixed and variable offers across several banks, and to ask a broker to run the numbers on the total cost over the life of the loan, not just the headline rate.
• Benidorm: 117 protected homes at risk of a price rise. The PSPV-PSOE is urging Benidorm's mayor to stop the regional government from letting the price of 117 publicly protected homes (VPO) climb again, according to elperiodic. If you are on a protected-housing (VPO) list in Benidorm, this bears directly on what you might eventually pay: regional deputy Mario Villar has asked the Consell not to reprice the 117 units already in the pipeline. Keep your application details current with the town hall and watch for any official notice on revised prices or deadlines, since changes to VPO terms can move quickly once approved.

Local news to know

• The undocumented hero of the Dénia fire, revisited. La Marina Plaza revisits Gorgui Lamine, the Senegalese man who won residency after climbing a burning building in Dénia to save a disabled neighbour, and who then survived the 2024 València flood that devastated the La Torre district where he now lives.
• A mostly clear day in Alicante city. Alicante will be largely clear with light cloud today, Tuesday 25 August, with morning temperatures around 26°C, according to Informacion.
• Where you can sail to from Alicante. AlicanteOut rounds up the best Mediterranean destinations reachable by boat from Alicante, a reminder of how much the city's port opens up in summer.
• AEMET warns of up to 43°C midweek. Spain's state weather agency AEMET has issued a warning of 'very adverse' conditions with temperatures up to 43°C on Wednesday and Thursday across Alicante province, though the Olive Press notes the extreme heat should ease afterwards.

Things to do today

• Benidorm's summer nights roll on. Benidorm keeps up its packed August line-up of concerts and parties, from symphonic music to electronic sets at venues such as Penélope, with events like BRESH and the Summer Urban Fest, according to Life in Benidorm.
• Club nights and festivals in Benidorm. Venues such as Penélope have been hosting summer events like BRESH and the Summer Urban Fest, part of Benidorm's busy nightlife calendar, per Life in Benidorm.