Burgos · Castilla Y Leon
Burgos
The capital of Old Castile for almost five hundred years, home of El Cid, and a firm station on the Camino pilgrim route — a handsome, much-restored cathedral city that isn't as big as it feels.
Living in Burgos
Burgos is a handsome Castilian cathedral city of 178,000, capital of Old Castile for close to five centuries and home to the legend of El Cid — its 13th-century Gothic cathedral, which holds his tomb, is one of the great churches of Spain. It sits high on the meseta at 866m, and the climate shows it: winters are long and cold, averaging under 5°C with rain or snow on many days, and summers warm but short, rarely above the high 20s. Most residents are Spanish-born, with Colombian, Romanian and Venezuelan communities. It's a well-equipped city with a hospital of its own that still keeps a small-town intimacy, though it lies a fair way inland from the coast and the bigger airports.
Burgos'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 Burgos's percentile for that group — 87 means it beats 87% of the towns we could score. How scoring works.
Higher than 32% of the 2,555 Spanish municipalities we could score for heat-averse settlers.
The capital of Old Castile for almost five hundred years, home of El Cid, and a firm station on the Camino pilgrim route — a handsome, much-restored cathedral city that isn't as big as it feels. A strong pick if you can't stand hot summers — a hospital in town and mild 28°C summer highs.
- Summer high (Jul–Aug) 28°C
- Rainy days a year 85 days
- Summer water stress (WEI+) 95
- Winter average temp 4.7°C
Higher than 29% of the 8,088 Spanish municipalities we could score for retiring couples.
The capital of Old Castile for almost five hundred years, home of El Cid, and a firm station on the Camino pilgrim route — a handsome, much-restored cathedral city that isn't as big as it feels. A strong pick for a retiring couple — a hospital in town and a health centre close by.
- Winter average temp 4.7°C
- Drive to a hospital 0 min
- Surgical wait (region) 87 days
- Registered long-let rent €7.09/m²·mo
Higher than 29% of the 8,088 Spanish municipalities we could score for American retirees.
The capital of Old Castile for almost five hundred years, home of El Cid, and a firm station on the Camino pilgrim route — a handsome, much-restored cathedral city that isn't as big as it feels. A strong pick for American retirees — a hospital in town and a health centre close by.
- Winter average temp 4.7°C
- Drive to a hospital 0 min
- U.S.-born residents 0.67 per 1,000
- Registered long-let rent €7.09/m²·mo
Higher than 28% of the 2,555 Spanish municipalities we could score for families.
The capital of Old Castile for almost five hundred years, home of El Cid, and a firm station on the Camino pilgrim route — a handsome, much-restored cathedral city that isn't as big as it feels. A strong pick for a family with school-age kids — a hospital in town and 178,370 people.
- Schools in town 88
- PISA maths (region) 499
- Registered long-let rent €7.09/m²·mo
- Drive to a hospital 0 min
Higher than 22% of the 2,555 Spanish municipalities we could score for remote workers.
The capital of Old Castile for almost five hundred years, home of El Cid, and a firm station on the Camino pilgrim route — a handsome, much-restored cathedral city that isn't as big as it feels. A strong pick for a remote-working couple — 178,370 people and a hospital in town.
- 100 Mbps+ coverage 100%
- Drive to nearest airport 87 min
- Registered long-let rent €7.09/m²·mo
- Summer high (Jul–Aug) 28°C
Higher than 13% of the 2,555 Spanish municipalities we could score for budget-first coastal settlers.
The capital of Old Castile for almost five hundred years, home of El Cid, and a firm station on the Camino pilgrim route — a handsome, much-restored cathedral city that isn't as big as it feels. A strong pick for coastal living on a budget — a hospital in town and 178,370 people.
- Registered long-let rent €7.09/m²·mo
- Net income per person €16,707
- Summer high (Jul–Aug) 28°C
What is the climate like in Burgos?
Burgos's reported winter average is 4.7°C, while July–August highs reach 28°C.
Climate
- Winter average temp
- 4.7°C bottom 8% of 8,131 towns 3.1°C below the Spanish average (7.8°C)
- Summer high (Jul–Aug)
- 28°C top 18% of 8,131 towns 2.2°C below the Spanish average (30.2°C)
- Rainy days a year
- 85 days bottom 20% of 8,088 towns 24% more than the Spanish average (69 days)
- Sunshine
- 6.3 h/day bottom 17% of 3,829 towns 13% less than the Spanish average (7.2 h/day)
- Summer water stress (WEI+) regional estimate
- 95 bottom 22% of 8,033 towns 39 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)
- 1.04 ha/km² bottom 17% of 8,132 towns 1.26 ha/km² below the Spanish average (2.31 ha/km²)
- Forest fires (2010–23)
- 15 bottom 7% of 8,132 towns 9 above the Spanish average (6)
- High fire-weather days (province) regional estimate
- 22.9% bottom 48% of 8,130 towns about 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 Burgos?
Burgos's nearest health centre is 0.2 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
- 0.2 km top 1% of 8,132 towns
- Surgical wait (region) regional estimate
- 87 days #5 of 17 regions, −16 days vs national 19% less than the Spanish average (108 days)
What are schools like in Burgos?
Burgos has 88 schools in town; the nearest international school is 3 km away.
Schools
- Schools in town
- 88 top 1% of 7,042 towns
- Nearest international school
- 3 km top 2% of 8,132 towns
- PISA maths (region) regional estimate
- 499 #1 of 17 regions, +20 vs national 18 above the Spanish average (481)
How much does it cost to live in Burgos?
Burgos's reported home price is €1,959/m², while registered long-let rent is €7.09/m²·mo.
Cost & economy
- Home price
- €1,959/m² appraisal (valor tasado) top 47% of 306 towns 11% less than the Spanish average (€2,208/m²)
- Asking price
- no local data
- Registered long-let rent
- €7.09/m²·mo
- Registered rent p25
- €5.81/m²·mo
- Registered rent p75
- €8.7/m²·mo
- Registered-rent yield
- 4.34% top 42% of 306 towns
- Net income per person
- €16,707 top 19% of 8,059 towns 15% more than the Spanish average (€14,495)
- Income growth ’18–’23
- 20% bottom 18% of 6,605 towns
Which languages are used in schools in Burgos?
Spanish is the only region-wide official language in Castilla y León, and Spanish-medium teaching is the public-school default. Individual bilingual and international programmes can use other languages, so check the specific school. See the Castilla y León region guide for the wider regional context.
What is the community like in Burgos?
Burgos's reported population is 178,370.
Who lives here
- Population
- 178,370
- Born in Spain
- 85.3% 3.5% below the Spanish average (88.8%)
- Born elsewhere in EU/UK
- 3% 0.8% below the Spanish average (3.8%)
- U.S.-born residents
- 0.67 per 1,000
How easy is it to get around Burgos?
Burgos is a reported 87 min drive from the nearest airport, with 99% fibre-to-home coverage.
Getting around
- Drive to nearest airport
- 87 min bottom 37% of 8,132 towns
- Fibre-to-home coverage
- 99% top 7% of 8,132 towns 20% 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 Burgos 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 Burgos against every one of Spain's 8,132 municipalities on your priorities. It sits about 73 min from Palencia, if that's your anchor.
Take the quiz — rank Burgos for you →Questions to verify locally
- Ask whether current long-let rents match the registered-contract figure.
- Request recent comparable sales before relying on the appraisal figure.
- 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.
- Ask an insurer how the mapped flood or wildfire exposure affects cover.
Nearby towns
Other places we profile within easy reach.