Where €200k still buys a house near the sea

We cross-referenced the property layer with coastline distance in Portugal, Spain and Italy. 31 municipalities came back under €1,500/m² within 15 minutes of a beach — and most share one inconvenient trait.

The Mediterranean premium is real, but it is not evenly distributed. Filter the property layer to transactions under €1,500 per square metre, clip it to municipalities whose centre sits within 12 kilometres of the coast, and three clusters light up: Portugal's Alentejo coast, Spain's Costa Tropical hinterland, and the arch of Italy's instep between Basilicata and northern Calabria.

A €200,000 budget buys 130–150 m² of habitable space in most of these markets — a house, not an apartment. The catch shows up when you toggle a second layer.

The short list

The inconvenient trait

Turn on the risk layer and 22 of the 31 municipalities show elevated flood or wildfire exposure — the very reason their prices have lagged the coast around them. That is not automatically disqualifying: exposure is zoned street by street, and the municipal figure is an average. But it means the discount is information, not luck.

Check it yourself

Open the map, activate the property layer, then add flood risk at 45% opacity. Anywhere pink stays green is the short list. Click through for the exact figures and their sources.