Buying a property on the Mar Menor and the Costa Cálida: the checks to make
Golf resorts, beach flats on the Mar Menor and quiet towns around Mazarrón attract buyers from the UK, Ireland and Northern Europe. The area is flat, warm and affordable — and flat land next to a lagoon floods.
Check a specific property →Costa Cálida and Mar Menor by town: official data
Town-level figures from official sources. They describe the area, not your house: a villa on high ground in a town with floods can be safe, and the opposite. The Hogarfax report checks the exact plot.
| Town | Population | Urban plots in 100-year flood zone | Forest fires 2006–2015 | Seismic acceleration (ab) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Alcázares | 20,408 | 7.2% | none recorded | 0.08 g |
| San Javier | 36,524 | 2.4% | 1 (+2 small) | 0.10 g |
| Torre-Pacheco | 41,479 | 7.6% | none recorded | 0.09 g |
| Mazarrón | 35,449 | 4.2% | 5 (+34 small) | 0.09 g |
| Cartagena | 220,704 | 2.3% | 23 (+44 small) | 0.07 g |
| Águilas | 37,811 | 2.4% | 4 (+9 small) | 0.11 g |
Sources: population, INE municipal register (2025); flood, share of urban cadastral plots inside the 100-year river flood zone (SNCZI, MITECO; it does not cover rain or sea flooding, nor the Canary Islands); fires, municipal forest fire statistics (EGIF, MITECO, CC-BY 4.0); seismic, basic acceleration of the Spanish seismic building code NCSE-02.
Floods around the Mar Menor
Los Alcázares flooded badly in December 2016 and again in the DANA of September 2019, when water from the Campo de Cartagena ran towards the lagoon. In Torre-Pacheco and Los Alcázares about 7% of urban plots are in the official 100-year river flood zone (SNCZI). Ask whether the house has flooded and check the plot.
Seismic hazard
Most of the Region of Murcia is in a moderate seismic zone: the seismic building code (NCSE-02) gives San Javier a basic acceleration of 0.10 g. The 2011 Lorca earthquake showed what this means for older buildings.
Golf resorts and community fees
On golf resorts, ask for the community fees certificate, check whether the urbanisation has been formally handed over to the town hall, and compare the advertised size with the Cadastre's built area.
41 things to check before buying a home in Spain
Many buyers think they can check it all themselves. In practice the data is spread across the Cadastre, the Land Registry, the Ministry for the Ecological Transition, the Nuclear Safety Council, the National Geographic Institute, regional planning and town halls, each with its own maps and its own language. Missing just one can cost far more than the house's renovation.
Legal status and land
- Cadastral use (is it legally a home?)
- Planning classification of the land
- Urban, developable or rustic land
- Livestock trails (vías pecuarias)
- River public domain (DPH)
- Coastal public domain and easements (Costas)
- Minimum habitable floor area
- Building inspection status (ITE/IEE)
- Land Registry: owner, mortgages, seizures, easements (Land Registry Study)
Natural hazards
- River flooding (100-year flood zone)
- Sea and coastal flooding
- Wildfire: forest next to the house
- Wildfire history of the area
- Areas burned in recent fires
- Active fires detected by satellite
- Earthquake hazard
- Radon gas
- Dams upstream
Installations and surroundings
- High-voltage power lines
- Electrical substations and energy plants
- Wind farms
- Solar farms
- Nuclear power plants
- Thermal power plants
- Macro-farms (intensive livestock)
- Factories and industrial land
- Landfills and incinerators
- Petrol stations next to the home
- Vacant plots next door (what will be built?)
- Noisy roads and motorways
- Railways
- Airports
The house and the price
- Real square metres vs the listing
- Age of the building and its parts
- Estimated renovation cost
- Asking price vs real sales nearby
- Indicative price range
- Estimated rent
- Real buying costs (taxes, notary, registry)
- Annual costs (IBI, community, waste)
- Facade photo and official record
The one you forget is the one that matters: a power line behind the garden, a macro-farm just down the road, a vacant plot next door where a block will go up, a ravine that floods once every few years, or a "villa" that the Cadastre doesn't record as a home. Hogarfax checks all of them for the exact property, with the official source of each one.
Before you pay a deposit in Costa Cálida and Mar Menor
- Check the exact plot, not the town: flood zone, distance to forest, planning classification and what is planned around it.
- Check it is legally a home: the cadastral use, the Land Registry description (nota simple) and the occupancy licence.
- Compare the real square metres with the listing and the price with real sales nearby.
- Make the deposit conditional on anything that doesn't add up, and have a lawyer review the contract.
Check the house you like in Costa Cálida and Mar Menor
The Hogarfax report checks the specific property against 30+ official sources — legal use, flood zone, wildfire, planning, real size and price — in English, reviewed by a person and emailed within 24 hours. €24.90 VAT included. Add the Land Registry Study (€89) and we request and explain the nota simple for you.
Find the property →Free: check the flood zone of an address on the flood zone page or the wildfire history on the wildfire map.
Frequently asked questions
Does Los Alcázares flood?
Yes: it flooded in 2016 and in the 2019 DANA. About 7% of its urban plots are in the official 100-year river flood zone (SNCZI). Check the specific plot and ask the seller for its flood history.
Is Murcia at risk of earthquakes?
Moderately. The seismic building code gives the region between 0.07 g and 0.16 g (Murcia city 0.15 g, Lorca 0.12 g); the 2011 Lorca earthquake damaged many older buildings.
Other areas
Are you a lawyer, agent or adviser working with buyers here? See our partner programme. Written by Diana Popescu, Hogarfax. This guide is general information, not legal advice.