Moving to Spain
Where in Spain should you live?
Rent, jobs, weather, safety and healthcare for regions and cities across Spain, using public and established data sources in plain English. Then plan the move itself with step-by-step guides.
Place data as of . Every figure shows the period it covers.
- 19
- regions
- 153
- cities
- 519
- comparisons
- 529
- guide topics
Start here
Five ways into the move
Pick a place first, or begin with the questions most movers hit early. Both paths link into each other.
Get to know Spain
The country at a glance: regions, key figures and guides by subject.
Find your city
Say what matters to you and get cities ranked for you.
Compare two places
Any two regions or cities side by side.
Who it suits
Retirees, families, remote workers, students and more.
All regions and cities
The full list, with search, filters and sorting.
Who it suits
Which big city suits you?
Spain’s six largest cities (Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Zaragoza, Sevilla, Málaga) ranked by all-round fit for ten kinds of mover, plus the best overall. Open a profile to see every city ranked.
Retirees
Best big city: Zaragoza
60/100 fit, good fit
- Health
- 68
- Housing
- 56
- Climate
- 49
Families with children
Best big city: Zaragoza
59/100 fit, good fit
- Safety
- 64
- Housing
- 56
- Health
- 68
Remote workers
Best big city: Valencia
61/100 fit, good fit
- Housing
- 20
- Digital
- 88
- Climate
- 51
Young professionals
Best big city: Madrid
65/100 fit, good fit
- Jobs
- 72
- Housing
- 34
- Transport
- 63
Students
Best big city: Barcelona
60/100 fit, good fit
- Housing
- 42
- Transport
- 65
- Safety
- 13
Founders and self-employed
Best big city: Barcelona
68/100 fit, good fit
- Housing
- 42
- Digital
- 77
- Links
- 65
High earners and investors
Best big city: Zaragoza
62/100 fit, good fit
- Links
- 25
- Prosperity
- 78
- Health
- 68
Budget-conscious movers
Best big city: Zaragoza
51/100 fit, mixed fit
- Housing
- 56
- Jobs
- 52
- Safety
- 64
Beach, mountains and the outdoors
Best big city: Málaga
84/100 fit, great fit
- Climate
- 72
- Health
- 18
- Safety
- 29
Culture, food and nightlife
Best big city: Madrid
85/100 fit, great fit
- Transport
- 63
- Links
- 62
- Health
- 94
Best overall
Best big city overall: Madrid
64/100 overall score
The big city with the highest overall score across every area we measure, before anyone’s priorities.
Your own mix
Not a retiree, a student or a founder?
Say what matters to you, from rent to weather to healthcare, and every city is ranked for you.
Places
The largest cities
Ranked by number of residents, with each city’s overall score and the typical rent for a 70 m² flat.
Madrid
Comunidad de Madrid
Spain's capital: direct, late-night and always in motion.
- Residents
- 3,506,730
- Overall
- 64/100
- 70 m² rent
- €978/mo
Barcelona
Cataluña
A dense Mediterranean city of beaches, business and design.
- Residents
- 1,731,649
- Overall
- 62/100
- 70 m² rent
- €958/mo
Valencia
Comunitat Valenciana
A flat, sunny, bike-friendly city on the sea, with a big port, a river-bed park and a paella tradition it takes seriously.
- Residents
- 840,792
- Overall
- 54/100
- 70 m² rent
- €573/mo
Zaragoza
Aragón
A flat, practical city on the Ebro, halfway between Madrid and Barcelona and shaped by wind.
- Residents
- 693,091
- Overall
- 61/100
- 70 m² rent
- €541/mo
Sevilla
Andalucía
Orange trees, flamenco and a very long summer, in the capital of Andalucía.
- Residents
- 689,423
- Overall
- 51/100
- 70 m² rent
- €642/mo
Málaga
Andalucía
A sunny port city that has swapped a sleepy past for museums, tech offices and a crowded property market.
- Residents
- 599,063
- Overall
- 49/100
- 70 m² rent
- €669/mo
Murcia
Región de Murcia
A warm, flat university city in the middle of an orchard, with low prices and long, hot summers.
- Residents
- 479,405
- Overall
- 44/100
- 70 m² rent
- €457/mo
Palma
Illes Balears
Mallorca's capital: a Gothic cathedral on the sea, a yacht harbour and a year-round island city.
- Residents
- 434,786
- Overall
- 54/100
- 70 m² rent
- €689/mo
Or browse by region
All 19 regions, A to Z, with each region’s overall score out of 100.
- Andalucía42 out of 100, around the middle overall
- Aragón59 out of 100, around the middle overall
- Canarias47 out of 100, around the middle overall
- Cantabria55 out of 100, around the middle overall
- Castilla y León53 out of 100, around the middle overall
- Castilla-La Mancha49 out of 100, around the middle overall
- Cataluña52 out of 100, around the middle overall
- Ceuta47 out of 100, around the middle overall
- Comunidad de Madrid62 out of 100, above average overall
- Comunidad Foral de Navarra62 out of 100, above average overall
- Comunitat Valenciana46 out of 100, around the middle overall
- Extremadura52 out of 100, around the middle overall
- Galicia57 out of 100, around the middle overall
- Illes Balears54 out of 100, around the middle overall
- La Rioja56 out of 100, around the middle overall
- Melilla44 out of 100, around the middle overall
- País Vasco70 out of 100, above average overall
- Principado de Asturias56 out of 100, around the middle overall
- Región de Murcia47 out of 100, around the middle overall
Side by side
Featured comparisons
Two places on one page: cost, jobs, weather, safety, healthcare and more.
BarcelonavsMadrid
- Overall
- 62/100
- 64/100
- 70 m² rent
- €958
- €978
MálagavsValencia
- Overall
- 49/100
- 54/100
- 70 m² rent
- €669
- €573
MálagavsSevilla
- Overall
- 49/100
- 51/100
- 70 m² rent
- €669
- €642
BilbaovsSan Sebastián
- Overall
- 66/100
- 62/100
- 70 m² rent
- €806
- €979
MadridvsValencia
- Overall
- 64/100
- 54/100
- 70 m² rent
- €978
- €573
Las Palmas de Gran CanariavsPalma
- Overall
- 47/100
- 54/100
- 70 m² rent
- €567
- €689
Plan the move
Guides by subject
Plain-English guides to the move itself, from residency and money to housing, healthcare and daily life.
Move decision and planning
Is Spain right for you, when to go, and how to try it before you commit.
Immigration and residency
Visas, residence permits, the route that fits you, and keeping your status.
Money and taxes
Budgeting the first year, banking, tax residency, income and social security.
Work and business
Employment, remote work, self-employment, running a business and your rights at work.
Housing and where to live
Choosing where to live, renting safely, buying, and settling into a home.
Healthcare and insurance
Public and private care, health cover, and insurance for your life in Spain.
Family, children, and education
Partners, children, schools, childcare and studying in Spain.
Moving, documents, and setup
Paperwork, identity numbers, belongings, pets, utilities and the first weeks.
Language and integration
Learning Spanish, understanding local life and building a social circle.
Daily life and culture
Routines, food, local customs, holidays, transport and getting around.
Safety, rights, and support
Scams, disputes, emergencies, your rights and where to get help.
Long-term settlement and leaving
Staying for good, long-term residence and citizenship, retiring, or returning home.
Information Intelligence
How to read our place data
Scores make a large amount of place information easier to compare. They never change the facts behind them.
- Figures come from public and established data sources and show the period they cover.
- Cities are compared with cities, regions with regions, and Spain with other European countries.
- Where there is too little data, we leave a gap instead of filling it with a guess.
- Your priorities can change which places rise to the top, not the underlying information.
Need certainty before you act?
For important relocation decisions, speak with a qualified human specialist.
Always verify important information with the relevant official authority or a qualified adviser before acting. This website uses large language models together with various public data sources, official government documents and other established sources. Due to the amount of data on this website, some information might be wrong. Information may also be incomplete or outdated.