Village
Sant Vicent del Raspeig is a municipality in the comarca of L'Alacantí, in the province of Alicante, home since 1979 to the campus of the University of Alicante, which has earned it the label of university city. It has 60247 inhabitants and forms, together with Alicante, a continuous built-up area linked by Cercanías commuter trains, tram and bus. The place name recalls a local tradition, not documented, about a stay by San Vicente Ferrer in these lands around 1411; the municipality grew up around a hermitage first dedicated to San Ponce and later converted into the parish of San Vicente Ferrer. It gained independence from Alicante in 1848, and in the 20th century underwent strong industrialisation which, after the later deindustrialisation, gave way to residential development.
Activity
The Moors and Christians festivities of Sant Vicent del Raspeig are held around the week following Easter Sunday, in honour of San Vicente Ferrer, the patron saint who gives the municipality its name and whom tradition places preaching in the old site of Raspeig in the early 15th century. They were declared of Interés Turístico Provincial (a provincial-level tourism designation) in 2007. The first participation of comparsas in the patronal festivities dates from 1975, with only three filaes; since then their number has grown to the current twenty, ten Christian and ten Moorish, grouped in the Unió de Comparses Ber-Llargues federation. More than 2,000 festival participants take part in the parade, with the Christian entrance on Saturday and the Moorish entrance on Sunday.
Monument
The University of Alicante, with its main campus in Sant Vicent del Raspeig (L'Alacantí), was founded in 1979 under Law 29/1979, as heir to the former University of Orihuela, active between 1569 and 1835, and incorporating the Centro de Estudios Universitarios created in 1968; in 1991 the Escuela Politécnica Superior was added. Besides the main campus, it has premises in towns such as Benissa, Biar, Cocentaina, Jijona, Orihuela and Villena. In the 2025/2026 academic year it has around 24,788 students, making it the third-largest public university in the Valencian Community, with eight faculties and schools, more than fifty official and own degree programmes, and more than seventy departments and fifteen research institutes.
Monument
The church of San Vicente Ferrer, a 16th-century parish in Sant Vicent del Raspeig, originated as a hermitage dedicated to San Ponce which, over the centuries, was transformed into the present-day church dedicated to San Vicente Ferrer. The change of dedication recalls a local tradition, not confirmed by documents, according to which the Valencian preacher stopped in these lands around 1411. It is one of the most notable historic buildings in the municipality.
Monument
The Didactic Olive Oil Museum of Sant Vicent del Raspeig occupies an old oil mill founded in the early 19th century by Isidro Lillo and later continued by his sons Joaquín and Baltasar, which stopped pressing olives in the mid-1970s and was preserved for its historical value. It houses the first animal-powered press and a motorised mechanical press, along with the milling and pressing machinery, boilers for heating water, settling vessels and the old hollow gourds used to extract the oil. The visit goes through a didactic area with panels on the stages of production, from harvesting to bottling, with audiovisual material in Spanish and Valencian, and rooms such as the mule stable, the chimney and the storerooms.
Activity
Hogueras festivities of Sant Vicent del Raspeig, held in July.
Activity
The Moors and Christians festival of Sant Vicent del Raspeig is held at the end of April, from the Tuesday following Easter Sunday until the Tuesday of the following week, in honour of the patron saint, San Vicente Ferrer, who according to tradition preached in the old settlement of Raspeig in the early 15th century. It was declared Interés Turístico Provincial (a designation for festivities of note in the province) in 2007. The first comparsas (festival companies), Moros Nous, Moros Vells and Moros Zulús, paraded in 1975, and since then their number has grown to the current 20, ten Christian and ten Moorish, with more than 3,000 festival participants. The Christian entrance parade is held on Saturday and the Moorish one on Sunday, organised by the Unió de Comparses Ber-Llargues federation.
Nature
A park of 85,000 square metres laid out on the former Villa Margarita country estate, which preserves the place name and the distinctive concrete arches as a mark of local identity.
Historical milestone
The settlement born beside the Madrid road and the hermitage dedicated to San Vicente Ferrer separated from Alicante in 1848 and constituted its own town council. It lived then on dryland farming, on almonds and on the gypsum quarries of the district.