Everything you might want to know before you come.

Getting a taxi: Uber and Bolt

This used to be the single biggest complaint about the Orihuela Costa. Taxis were scarce, ranks were empty, and getting home after dinner meant a long wait or a longer walk. That has changed. Both Uber and Bolt now operate here, and you can order a car from the terrace and watch it arrive.

Set your pickup or your destination to Flamenca Beach Centro Comercial, Calle Niágara 63, Orihuela Costa. If the app struggles with the name, the plus code W7MG+XC drops the pin on the centre exactly.

Both work the same way: set the pickup, confirm the price before you accept, and pay in the app. Neither needs cash and neither needs Spanish.

Parking and arriving

There is parking around the centre. Most people arrive on the middle floor, which is where the main entrance is, and the directory on this site starts there for that reason.

The centre is signposted from the N332 between Torrevieja and Campoamor. Full directions, a map and both map apps are on the contact page.

Lifts, ramps and step free access

• Lifts reach all three levels. You do not have to use the stairs to get anywhere in the centre.
• The main ramp from street level to the lower floor has been reformed, repaired and repainted.
• The walkways are open air and level along each floor, with the businesses opening directly onto them.
• Disabled handrails are still to come. They are on the list of work, and we would rather say so than let you find out on the day.

Dogs are welcome

The centre is open to the air, and dogs are welcome throughout it. The terraces are outdoors, so in practice most people sit out with the dog at their feet without anyone raising an eyebrow.

Individual businesses decide about their own interiors, so ask before you take a dog inside a shop or a dining room. There is also a vet and a dog grooming salon at the centre, both in the directory.

Cash machines

There are cash machines at the centre, so you do not need to go into Playa Flamenca for cash before you eat. Most businesses here take cards, but a few of the smaller ones prefer cash, and some have a minimum for card payments.

Defibrillators on every level

Flamenca Beach is a cardioprotected space. Cardio protection columns have been installed across the centre, with a defibrillator on every level beside the lifts, and they are there for anyone to use in an emergency.

The units are designed to be used by someone who has never seen one before. They talk you through it out loud, step by step, and they will not deliver a shock unless the person needs one.

When the centre is open

The centre itself is open every day from 08:00 to 01:00. You can walk through it, use the lifts, reach a cash machine or reach a defibrillator at any point inside those hours, all year round.

The businesses set their own hours within that, and most keep shorter ones. Some close on Mondays, some close through the winter, and a few stay open until the last table leaves. The homepage counts who is open at this exact moment rather than making you work it out, so check there or search the directory before you travel.

Tell us what would make it better

There is a suggestion sheet at the Customer Point, and a good number of the improvements made this year started life on one of them. If you would rather not fill in a sheet, there is a form on the contact page that reaches the same people.

We read all of them. We cannot act on all of them, but we would rather know.