They sit about 20 minutes apart by car, both on the good side of the C-32, and both are what people picture when they say Maresme. But the decision between Alella and Sant Andreu de Llavaneres usually comes down to one thing you can't see on a map: how you want your weekdays to feel.
Alella is the closer of the two, tucked into the hills right behind El Masnou. Most people who live there catch the R1 train at El Masnou station, which puts you at Plaça de Catalunya in around 25 to 30 minutes. Sant Andreu de Llavaneres has its own stop on the same line, but you're further out, so figure on 35 to 40 minutes. If you drive, both sit off the C-32, and the difference in real traffic is maybe 10 minutes on a good morning and nothing at all on a bad one.
Neither town is a hardship for a Barcelona office. The question is more about whether you mind the extra stretch of the line when you're heading back after a long day. Plenty of people don't. Some do, by December.
Alella feels more like a village that grew expensive. The old centre has a proper wine heritage, the DO Alella vineyards run right up to the edge of town, and the streets are tighter and older than people expect. Villas here tend to sit on medium plots with a pool and a view back towards the sea, and a lot of them are traditional Catalan houses that have been renovated rather than new builds.
Sant Andreu de Llavaneres is a different animal. Bigger plots, more privacy, more of the gated newer estates, and the El Balís marina and golf course a short drive down the hill. If you want a larger garden, a separate guest annexe, or a house that doesn't share a wall of hedge with the neighbours, this is where your search usually drifts.
This is where Alella quietly wins for a lot of expat families. It's within easy reach of several international schools, Hamelin-Laie on the coast at Montgat is a short drive, and there are a couple of well-regarded British and international options within 15 minutes. Sant Andreu de Llavaneres is not without schools, but the density is thinner, and some parents end up doing the run down towards Alella and El Masnou anyway.
If school is the deciding factor, do the drive yourself at actual drop-off time before you sign. A route that looks 12 minutes on Google Maps at 9am can be 25 at 8:15.
Neither town is cheap, and both have climbed since 2021. As a rough guide, a decent four-bedroom villa with a pool in Alella tends to rent from roughly €4,000 to €8,000 a month. In Sant Andreu de Llavaneres the same money often buys a bigger plot, but the top end stretches further, and the truly large estates with staff quarters can push well past €10,000.
These are ballpark figures, and the off-market part of this coast moves differently to the portals, so treat any single number with suspicion. What holds up is the pattern: Alella prices by convenience, Llavaneres by square metres.
Rent in Alella if the week is built around the commute and the school run, and you want the feel of a village with good wine bars on the doorstep. Rent in Sant Andreu de Llavaneres if you want space, quiet, and a house that feels like an estate, and you're fine trading a bit of travel for it. Both are genuinely lovely. The wrong one is only wrong because of how you live, not because of anything wrong with the town.
We're Grandiora, a Barcelona agency that covers this stretch of Maresme every day. Tell us your commute, your budget and your school situation, and we'll show you real homes in both towns, including plenty that never reach the portals.
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