Girona · Cataluña
Banyoles
A town beautifully set on Lake Banyoles, founded around a 9th-century Benedictine monastery and drawing tourists since the 19th century for its medicinal waters.
Living in Banyoles
Banyoles is a lakeside town of 21,000 in inland Girona, wrapped around the large natural lake that gave it its name — an Olympic rowing venue in 1992 and still the centre of local life. It grew up around a 9th-century Benedictine monastery and has a mixed, working population: about three-quarters Spanish-born, with sizeable Moroccan, Honduran and Gambian communities. The climate is inland-Mediterranean — summers warm around 30°C, winters cool near 9°C with cold nights. It has its own hospital, the lake shore is a few minutes away, and Girona with its airport is under half an hour.
Banyoles's Spainability Scores — by who's moving
Not our opinion: we ran the same scoring engine behind the quiz for six settler profiles across all 8,132 municipalities. Each score is Banyoles's percentile for that group — 87 means it beats 87% of the towns we could score. How scoring works.
Higher than 82% of the 8,088 Spanish municipalities we could score for American retirees.
A town beautifully set on Lake Banyoles, founded around a 9th-century Benedictine monastery and drawing tourists since the 19th century for its medicinal waters. A strong pick for American retirees — a hospital in town and a health centre close by.
- Winter average temp 8.8°C
- Drive to a hospital 0 min
- U.S.-born residents 1.77 per 1,000
- Registered long-let rent €6.45/m²·mo
Higher than 82% of the 2,555 Spanish municipalities we could score for families.
A town beautifully set on Lake Banyoles, founded around a 9th-century Benedictine monastery and drawing tourists since the 19th century for its medicinal waters. A strong pick for a family with school-age kids — a settled international community and 34 km from the sea.
- Schools in town 11
- PISA maths (region) 469
- Registered long-let rent €6.45/m²·mo
- Drive to a hospital 0 min
Higher than 82% of the 2,555 Spanish municipalities we could score for remote workers.
A town beautifully set on Lake Banyoles, founded around a 9th-century Benedictine monastery and drawing tourists since the 19th century for its medicinal waters. A strong pick for a remote-working couple — a settled international community and 20,887 people.
- 100 Mbps+ coverage 100%
- Drive to nearest airport 37 min
- Registered long-let rent €6.45/m²·mo
- Summer high (Jul–Aug) 30.7°C
Higher than 78% of the 8,088 Spanish municipalities we could score for retiring couples.
A town beautifully set on Lake Banyoles, founded around a 9th-century Benedictine monastery and drawing tourists since the 19th century for its medicinal waters. A strong pick for a retiring couple — a hospital in town and a health centre close by.
- Winter average temp 8.8°C
- Drive to a hospital 0 min
- Surgical wait (region) 142 days
- Registered long-let rent €6.45/m²·mo
Higher than 73% of the 2,555 Spanish municipalities we could score for heat-averse settlers.
A town beautifully set on Lake Banyoles, founded around a 9th-century Benedictine monastery and drawing tourists since the 19th century for its medicinal waters. A strong pick if you can't stand hot summers — 34 km from the sea and a settled international community.
- Summer high (Jul–Aug) 30.7°C
- Rainy days a year 65 days
- Summer water stress (WEI+) 73
- Winter average temp 8.8°C
Higher than 73% of the 2,555 Spanish municipalities we could score for budget-first coastal settlers.
A town beautifully set on Lake Banyoles, founded around a 9th-century Benedictine monastery and drawing tourists since the 19th century for its medicinal waters. A strong pick for coastal living on a budget — a settled international community and 20,887 people.
- Registered long-let rent €6.45/m²·mo
- Net income per person €16,164
- Summer high (Jul–Aug) 30.7°C
What is the climate like in Banyoles?
Banyoles's reported winter average is 8.8°C, while July–August highs reach 30.7°C.
Climate
- Winter average temp
- 8.8°C top 30% of 8,131 towns 1°C above the Spanish average (7.8°C)
- Summer high (Jul–Aug)
- 30.7°C bottom 47% of 8,131 towns 0.5°C above the Spanish average (30.2°C)
- Rainy days a year
- 65 days bottom 46% of 8,088 towns 5% less than the Spanish average (69 days)
- Sunshine
- 6.7 h/day bottom 22% of 3,829 towns 7% less than the Spanish average (7.2 h/day)
- Summer water stress (WEI+) regional estimate
- 73 bottom 31% of 8,033 towns 16 above the Spanish average (56)
- River-flood depth (T=100, town centre) estimated
- 0 m top 1% of 8,129 towns 0.04 m below the Spanish average (0.04 m)
- River-flood risk score estimated
- 0 top 1% of 8,129 towns about the Spanish average (0)
- Wildfire burn rate (2010–23)
- 0 ha/km² top 1% of 8,132 towns 2.31 ha/km² below the Spanish average (2.31 ha/km²)
- Forest fires (2010–23)
- 0 top 1% of 8,132 towns 6 below the Spanish average (6)
- High fire-weather days (province) regional estimate
- 28.4% bottom 7% of 8,130 towns 5.5% above the Spanish average (22.9%)
The year, month by month
AEMET 30-year climate normals — what a January or an August actually feels like, not the annual average.
How good is healthcare in Banyoles?
Banyoles's nearest health centre is 0.7 km away, and the reported hospital drive is 0 min.
Healthcare
- Drive to a hospital
- 0 min top 1% of 8,132 towns
- Nearest health centre
- 0.7 km top 3% of 8,132 towns
- Surgical wait (region) regional estimate
- 142 days #16 of 17 regions, +39 days vs national 32% more than the Spanish average (108 days)
What are schools like in Banyoles?
Banyoles has 11 schools in town; the nearest international school is 17 km away.
Schools
- Schools in town
- 11 top 6% of 7,042 towns
- Nearest international school
- 17 km top 18% of 8,132 towns
- PISA maths (region) regional estimate
- 469 #12 of 17 regions, −10 vs national 12 below the Spanish average (481)
How much does it cost to live in Banyoles?
Banyoles's reported registered long-let rent is €6.45/m²·mo.
Cost & economy
- Home price
- no local data
- Asking price
- no local data
- Registered long-let rent
- €6.45/m²·mo
- Registered rent p25
- €5.37/m²·mo
- Registered rent p75
- €7.84/m²·mo
- Registered-rent yield
- no reliable sale-price data — yield not imputed
- Net income per person
- €16,164 top 24% of 8,059 towns 12% more than the Spanish average (€14,495)
- Income growth ’18–’23
- 23.1% bottom 33% of 6,605 towns
Which languages are used in schools in Banyoles?
Catalonia has a co-official regional language, and public schools commonly use regional-language immersion or bilingual models rather than Spanish-only teaching. The exact classroom language depends on the school and programme, so confirm the current model before enrolling. See the Catalonia region guide for the wider regional context.
What is the community like in Banyoles?
Banyoles's reported population is 20,887.
Who lives here
- Population
- 20,887
- Born in Spain
- 76.7% 12.1% below the Spanish average (88.8%)
- Born elsewhere in EU/UK
- 2.5% 1.3% below the Spanish average (3.8%)
- U.S.-born residents
- 1.77 per 1,000
How easy is it to get around Banyoles?
Banyoles is a reported 37 min drive from the nearest airport, with 100% fibre-to-home coverage.
Getting around
- Drive to nearest airport
- 37 min top 12% of 8,132 towns
- Fibre-to-home coverage
- 100% top 2% of 8,132 towns 21% above the Spanish average (79%)
- 100 Mbps+ coverage
- 100% top 8% of 8,132 towns 17% above the Spanish average (83%)
Numbers: Spainability town dataset, derived from INE, AEMET, Mitma and the Catastro. Registered long-let rent is SERPAVI declared-contract data; its p25–p75 values show the observed band. Registered-rent yield is gross, excludes costs and is never imputed. Percentile chips count only the municipalities that report the figure — the "of n" says how many. Region-ranked figures (PISA, surgical waits) compare Spain's 17 comunidades autónomas. A blank means no municipal-level figure is published — not a zero.
How does Banyoles fit you?
These are the town's numbers. Whether it's your town depends on what you're optimising for — winter sun or mild summers, a city or a village, short medical waits, an easy flight home. The 3-minute quiz scores Banyoles against every one of Spain's 8,132 municipalities on your priorities. It sits about 28 min from Girona, if that's your anchor.
Take the quiz — rank Banyoles for you →Questions to verify locally
- Ask whether current long-let rents match the registered-contract figure.
- Request comparable sales; neither appraisal nor asking data is published.
- Test fibre speed at the exact address, not the town average.
- Visit local schools and confirm places for incoming families.
- Confirm health-centre registration and opening hours in person.
- Test the reported airport drive at the time you would travel.
Nearby towns
Other places we profile within easy reach.