€1,033 per month
Pensioners in Marina Alta are among the lowest earners in the entire Valencian Community. According to data from the Institut Valencià d'Estadística (IVE) reported by La Marina Plaza, the average pension in the comarca is €1,033.98 per month, €438.40 less than in the comarca of València, which tops the ranking with €1,472.38.
Marina Alta ranks 26th among Valencian comarcas. Only seven fall below it: Baix Maestrat, Vinalopó Mitjà, Alt Millars, els Ports, Canal de Navarrés, Baix Segura and Alt Maestrat.
Differences of over €400 between municipalities
Within the comarca, differences are also notable. La Vall d'Alcalà leads the ranking with €1,308.87, followed by Dénia with €1,180.26 and Xàbia with €1,059.92. In total, eleven of the 33 municipalities exceed €1,000 in average pension, and two fall short of €900.
Six municipalities show exactly the same figure, €936.20: Benigembla, Xaló, Sagra, Sanet i els Negrals, la Vall de Gallinera and els Poblets.
A recurring gap
This is not the first time data has placed the comarca at the bottom. In August, the same IVE showed that the median retirement pension in Marina Alta, at €1,031, was the eighth lowest in the Community, €172.79 below the regional average.
Comparison with the system as a whole reinforces this picture. According to Social Security data from August, the average pension in the province of Alicante is €1,194.73 and in the Valencian Community is €1,272.25, although these figures come from another statistical source and are not directly comparable with IVE data.
What the data does not show
Statistics include only pensions paid by the Spanish system. They do not reflect those received from their countries of origin by the numerous retired European residents in the comarca, a significant part of the elderly population in municipalities such as Xàbia, Teulada-Moraira or Calp.
The data come at a time when the local labour market is setting records for employment linked to hospitality, and in a comarca where housing costs are among the highest on the coast: buying a house in Xàbia now requires 69 % of family income.
