Girona · Cataluña
Besalú
A captivating medieval town and former capital of a county, crossed by an iconic fortified Romanesque bridge — one of the richest Romanesque ensembles in Catalonia. Michelin rates it worth a special journey (2 stars).
Living in Besalú
Besalú is a captivating medieval town of 2,600 in inland Girona, once the seat of its own county and still crossed by a photogenic fortified Romanesque bridge over the Fluvià — one of Catalonia's richest medieval ensembles, complete with a rare surviving Jewish ritual bath. It is small but not isolated: a hospital is fifteen minutes away and Girona under forty. The climate is inland-Mediterranean, summers around 30°C and cool winters near 9°C. Its population is mixed for its size, roughly four-fifths Spanish-born with Central American and Moroccan residents — a lived-in town rather than an open-air museum.
Besalú'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 Besalú's percentile for that group — 87 means it beats 87% of the towns we could score. How scoring works.
Higher than 80% of the 8,088 Spanish municipalities we could score for retiring couples.
16 min to a hospital and a health centre close by — a natural fit for a retiring couple.
- Winter average temp 8.8°C
- Drive to a hospital 16 min
- Surgical wait (region) 142 days
- Registered long-let rent €6.43/m²·mo
Higher than 79% of the 8,088 Spanish municipalities we could score for American retirees.
16 min to a hospital and a health centre close by — a natural fit for American retirees.
- Winter average temp 8.8°C
- Drive to a hospital 16 min
- U.S.-born residents 1.54 per 1,000
- Registered long-let rent €6.43/m²·mo
Higher than 68% of the 2,555 Spanish municipalities we could score for remote workers.
A settled international community and 16 min to a hospital — a natural fit for a remote-working couple.
- 100 Mbps+ coverage 98%
- Drive to nearest airport 46 min
- Registered long-let rent €6.43/m²·mo
- Summer high (Jul–Aug) 30.7°C
Higher than 64% of the 2,555 Spanish municipalities we could score for heat-averse settlers.
A settled international community and 41 km from the sea — a natural fit if you can't stand hot summers.
- 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 63% of the 2,555 Spanish municipalities we could score for families.
A settled international community and 16 min to a hospital — a natural fit for a family with school-age kids.
- Schools in town 2
- PISA maths (region) 469
- Registered long-let rent €6.43/m²·mo
- Drive to a hospital 16 min
Higher than 63% of the 2,555 Spanish municipalities we could score for budget-first coastal settlers.
A settled international community and 16 min to a hospital — a natural fit for coastal living on a budget.
- Registered long-let rent €6.43/m²·mo
- Net income per person €15,948
- Summer high (Jul–Aug) 30.7°C
What is the climate like in Besalú?
Besalú'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 estimated
- 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 Besalú?
Besalú's nearest health centre is 0.5 km away, and the reported hospital drive is 16 min.
Healthcare
- Drive to a hospital
- 16 min top 14% of 8,132 towns
- Nearest health centre
- 0.5 km top 2% 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 Besalú?
Besalú has 2 schools in town; the nearest international school is 28 km away.
Schools
- Schools in town
- 2 top 26% of 7,042 towns
- Nearest international school
- 28 km top 31% 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 Besalú?
Besalú's reported registered long-let rent is €6.43/m²·mo.
Cost & economy
- Home price
- no local data
- Asking price
- no local data
- Registered long-let rent
- €6.43/m²·mo
- Registered rent p25
- €4.84/m²·mo
- Registered rent p75
- €7.56/m²·mo
- Registered-rent yield
- no reliable sale-price data — yield not imputed
- Net income per person
- €15,948 top 28% of 8,059 towns 10% more than the Spanish average (€14,495)
- Income growth ’18–’23
- 18.7% bottom 14% of 6,605 towns
Which languages are used in schools in Besalú?
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 Besalú?
Besalú's reported population is 2,591.
Who lives here
- Population
- 2,591
- Born in Spain
- 82.3% 6.5% below the Spanish average (88.8%)
- Born elsewhere in EU/UK
- 3.4% 0.5% below the Spanish average (3.8%)
- U.S.-born residents
- 1.54 per 1,000
How easy is it to get around Besalú?
Besalú is a reported 46 min drive from the nearest airport, with 98% fibre-to-home coverage.
Getting around
- Drive to nearest airport
- 46 min top 20% of 8,132 towns
- Fibre-to-home coverage
- 98% top 10% of 8,132 towns 19% above the Spanish average (79%)
- 100 Mbps+ coverage
- 98% top 25% of 8,132 towns 15% 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 Besalú 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 Besalú against every one of Spain's 8,132 municipalities on your priorities. It sits about 37 min from Girona, if that's your anchor.
Take the quiz — rank Besalú 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.