Expectations of longevity in the coastal towns of the Vega Baja and Marina Alta are the highest in the province with the climate and accessibility to socio-health services being the decisive factors.
In a survey released by the statistics portal of the Catalonian Government the coastal areas are generally shown to have a higher life expectancy than towns in interior areas. Indeed longevity also increases the further south you travel, with men in the Vega Baja now expecting to reach the grand age of 85.71, outliving women just ever so slightly at 85.44.
The contrast between coast and interior is exclusive to the Vega Baja as within the other two provinces in the Community the pattern is completely the opposite with the interior regions in the Camp de Túria and Alto Palancia in València and in Castellón both having higher expectations of longevity that on the coast.
It may also seem slightly confusing that the regions in the province with the lowest family incomes, the Vega Baja and the Marina Alta, both have the highest life expectancy for women and for men. However, as pointed out by the Professor of Human Geography at the University of Alicante (UA) Antonio Martínez Puche, the key is more “the mildness of the climate and the greater number of social health services available where, in the coastal areas, there is a “concentration” of resources of this type, both public and private.
