Where in Spain should we live?

Spain’s big cities and its two most British coasts feel very different. Your choice decides your rent, your summer heat, which languages you’ll hear at the school gate and how easy it is to fly home.

The cities at a glance

Populations are INE’s official figures for 1 January 2025. Temperatures are AEMET’s average daily highs for 1981–2010. Rents are the typical asking rent for a 2-bedroom flat used in our calculators (September 2026, market estimate).

Inland Madrid has the coolest winter days and the hottest summer days of the six; the coastal cities are milder all year but much more humid in summer. More in Summer in Spain and Winter and the cooler months.

What each city is like

Popular areas with British residents

At the start of 2023 the town hall registers counted 76,739 British residents in Alicante province and 56,019 in Málaga province, the two highest in Spain, with about 20,000 in the Balearic Islands. These towns have long-established British communities. Populations are for 1 January 2025.

Without a car, check bus and train links before you choose a coastal town. Málaga province is now one of the most expensive in Spain to rent in: €18.80 per m² in September 2026, behind only Madrid and the Balearic Islands.

Rent pressure and the rules

Rents rose 5.6% across Spain in the year to September 2026. Some of the rules you will meet:

• Stressed areas (zonas de mercado residencial tensionado): regions can declare these under the 2023 housing law, which caps rents on new leases. At 30 September 2026 there were 317 municipalities: 271 in Catalonia (including Barcelona), 21 in Navarre, 18 in the Basque Country, 5 in Asturias and 2 in Galicia. None were in the Madrid region, the Valencia region, Andalusia or the Balearic Islands
• Leases for a main home last at least 5 years (7 if the landlord is a company), even if the contract says less, unless you give notice
• The deposit (fianza) is one month’s rent, and agency and contract fees can’t be charged to the tenant
• Tourist flats: since 3 April 2025, a new holiday let in a block of flats needs approval from three-fifths of the owners. A national register of short lets was partly struck down by the Supreme Court in May 2026, so the regional registers matter most
• Barcelona has said it will not renew its tourist-flat licences, which are due to end in November 2028. Palma bans holiday lets in blocks of flats

See Renting a home in Spain and Rental scams.

A shortlist by household

How to decide

1. Start with where the jobs in your field are, or how far you’ll travel to work
2. Compare rents for the home you need, not the city average
3. Think about language: in Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearics your children will learn in Catalan or Valencian as well as Spanish
4. Look at the summer heat: July highs above 30°C are normal in most of the six cities
5. Check flights to your nearest UK airport, in winter as well as summer
6. Visit in July or August and again in winter before you sign a long lease