Shoes, marble and grapes

The middle Vinalopó is working country rather than holiday country. Elda and Petrer make shoes and have done for over a century; Aspe quarries marble and grows table grapes; Novelda has a Modernista house and a saffron trade. It is half an hour from the beach and almost never visited by people who came for one.

Town guides in this comarca

• Elda — the centre of Spain’s footwear industry
• Novelda — Modernista architecture and the saffron trade
• Aspe — marble quarries and table grapes in the Vinalopó valley

For the coast as a whole, see the full Costa Blanca map or the Costa Blanca guide.