Costa Blanca Parking Zones Compared

Parking-bay colours are not a Costa Blanca-wide code. Alicante and Benidorm both use blue, green or orange markings, but give them different limits. Torrevieja has a restriction on Calle Ramón Gallud that looks like ordinary short-stay parking yet prohibits parking outside its permitted hours.

Read the vertical sign at the bay before relying on its paint. It tells you which local rule applies on that street, at that time.

Alicante: one blue colour, two useful limits

Alicante’s blue visitor bays are divided into basic, commercial and medium-stay areas. The distinction matters because the paint alone does not tell you how long you can remain.

• Basic and commercial blue bays allow up to two hours. The official tariff runs from 0.30 EUR for 30 minutes to 1.80 EUR for two hours.
• Medium-stay blue bays allow up to five hours, from 0.15 EUR for 30 minutes to 1.50 EUR for five hours.

The hours differ too. Basic blue bays are normally controlled from 09:00–14:00 and 16:00–20:00 on working Mondays to Fridays, plus 09:00–14:00 on working Saturdays. Commercial and medium-stay bays also operate on Saturday afternoons. Sundays and public holidays are free under the published schedule.

That creates a practical trap: two Alicante streets can both have blue lines but different Saturday-afternoon rules. The official parking operator specifically tells drivers to check the vertical sign at the start of the street.

Alicante’s orange bays are not automatically residents-only. Visitors may use them without prior registration, but the published visitor tariff is 0.70 EUR for 30 minutes or 1.40 EUR for the one-hour maximum. Do not treat orange as a cheap long-stay option.

At a meter, identify the zone before paying. Alicante meters accept coins and, where marked, cards; they do not return change. A paper ticket must remain visible, while an authorised app issues a virtual ticket against the vehicle registration.

Benidorm: green is not free for visitors

Benidorm’s current municipal rules make green and orange bays particularly important for hire-car drivers:

• Green bays: residents can park free for up to 48 hours. Non-residents pay under the blue-zone tariff, and the restriction applies 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
• Orange bays: reserved for Benidorm residents, free for up to ten days. The restriction also applies 24/7, so arriving late at night does not turn an orange bay into a visitor space.

Some Benidorm streets change between green in winter and blue in summer. That is another reason not to save a parking rule from an earlier trip and assume it still applies.

The council is moving the regulated-parking service to a new contract and has said meters will remain while app payment is expanded. Because tariffs and permissions can be changed in the management platform, use the amount and end time shown on the street sign, meter or current authorised app rather than an old online price table.

Torrevieja: check the street, not a colour guide

Torrevieja is developing a new framework for regulated parking, so there is no responsible town-wide blue-zone tariff to quote for visitors yet. One current rule is very precise, however.

On Calle Ramón Gallud, parking is permitted from 09:00 to 17:00 for a maximum of two hours. The Local Police use registration-plate readers to enforce the limit. Crucially, the council says parking is prohibited outside that window; 17:01 is not the start of unrestricted overnight parking.

Apply that rule only to Calle Ramón Gallud. Elsewhere in Torrevieja, read the sign for that bay and do not transfer Alicante or Benidorm colour meanings to it.

A 30-second check before walking away

Photograph the vertical sign and the car in its bay, then confirm four things:

1. Is a non-resident vehicle allowed?
2. Is the restriction active now, including evenings, Saturdays or holidays?
3. What is the maximum stay—not merely the amount you are willing to pay?
4. Does the ticket or app show the correct registration and expiry time?

If a meter and an old travel guide disagree, use the current street restriction. If temporary signs suspend parking for works, events or removals, those signs control the bay.

For a trip based around Alicante, see Alicante Airport car hire. If you are approaching from the north, compare Valencia Airport car hire.

Sources: Alicante regulated parking: blue zones, Alicante regulated parking: orange zones, Benidorm City Council: regulated parking contract, Benidorm City Council: green and orange parking rules, Torrevieja City Council: Calle Ramón Gallud hours, and Torrevieja City Council: proposed regulated-parking framework. Last checked: August 2026.