Region · Spain
Living in Cantabria
Cantabria is Atlantic Spain: winters average 9.7°C and summers stay comparatively mild — 24.1°C highs against a hotter national norm — across roughly 116 rainy days a year. The trade is grey, wet spells rather than reliable sun, but summer water stress runs low (WEI+ 9 vs a national 56). As Spain's south dries out, that green-and-watered profile is a genuine climate-refuge trait. On our six settler profiles, Cantabria is worth a look if you're heat-averse settlers (ranks #2 of 17 regions), and probably not the one if you're investor (#16 of 17).
Overview
On the wallet: homes run about €2,332/m² (15% above the national average (€2,024/m²)); median net income is about €13,917 per person (3% below the national average (€14,279)).
Public healthcare here means a mean surgical wait around 137 days (33% above the national average (103 days)), with 26.2% of the surgical list waiting over six months — a real, published number, not a brochure claim.
We publish 8 of Cantabria's 102 municipalities in depth so far — the ones with a full guide portrait to sit alongside the numbers, weighted toward the milder-summer north. Every figure below is shown against the national reference, gaps included.
Who Cantabria is for — and who should look elsewhere
Not our opinion: we ran the same scoring engine behind the quiz for six settler profiles across all 8,132 municipalities, then took the median score of Cantabria's towns and ranked it among Spain's 17 comunidades. It answers "how does the typical town here score, versus the typical town elsewhere?"
Good to explore if you're
- Heat-averse settlers #2 of 17 regions
- couple_starting_family #5 of 17 regions
- Families with school-age kids #6 of 17 regions
Probably skip if you want
- investor #16 of 17 regions
- budget_inland #13 of 17 regions
Ranked 1–17 by the median national percentile of the region's municipalities for each profile (higher median = better place to explore). Hover a town's own page for the town-level version.
The numbers for Cantabria
Region-level data, each figure against the national reference. Where a figure is a comunidad-autónoma reading rather than a town measurement, we say so under the card.
Climate
- Winter average
- 9.7°C #6 of 17 regions · +1.9°C vs national 1.9 °C above the national average (7.8°C)
- Summer high
- 24.1°C #2 of 17 regions · −6°C vs national 6 °C below the national average (30.2°C)
- Rainy days a year
- 116 days #14 of 17 regions · +47 days vs national 69% above the national average (69 days)
- Sunshine
- 4.9 h/day #15 of 17 regions · −2.3 h/day vs national 32% below the national average (7.2 h/day)
- Summer water stress (WEI+)
- 9 #3 of 16 regions · −48 vs national 48 points below the national average (56)
Aggregated from the region's municipalities (AEMET/derived); summer water stress is a river-basin (WEI+) reading.
Schools
- PISA maths
- 495 #2 of 17 regions · +16 vs national 16 points above the national average (479)
- PISA reading
- 494 #4 of 17 regions · +16 vs national 16 points above the national average (478)
- PISA science
- 504 #3 of 17 regions · +15 vs national 15 points above the national average (489)
PISA 2022, reported per comunidad autónoma (INEE). National reference = the mean across the 17 comunidades.
Healthcare
- Surgical wait
- 137 days #15 of 17 regions · +34 days vs national 33% above the national average (103 days)
- Waiting over 6 months
- 26.2% #15 of 17 regions · +9.6 pts vs national 9.6 pts above the national average (16.6%)
- Specialist consult wait
- 61 days #3 of 17 regions · −34 days vs national 36% below the national average (95 days)
Public waiting lists, SISLE-SNS Dic 2025 (2025-12-31), per comunidad autónoma.
Cost & economy
- Median net income / person
- €13,917 #10 of 17 regions · −€362 vs national 3% below the national average (€14,279)
- Median home price
- €2,332/m² #13 of 17 regions · +€308/m² vs national 15% above the national average (€2,024/m²)
Median across the region's municipalities (INE net income; Catastro-derived sale price).
Who lives here
- Born in Spain
- 91.8% 3 pts above the national average (88.8%)
- Born elsewhere in EU/UK
- 2.0% 1.8 pts below the national average (3.8%)
Share of residents by place of birth, averaged across the region's municipalities (INE).
Tax posture (2025)
- Wealth tax none
- ≈100% bonificación for net wealth up to €3M (difference/capture design above) — no annual wealth tax for ordinary residents.
- Inheritance & gifts none
- 99% bonificación for spouse, children and parents (Grupo I & II).
- Buying resale (ITP)
- General transfer tax around 10% — General often cited ~8–10%; 10 used as conservative general. Reduced rates for under-30/35 / habitual.
- Buying new-build
- IVA/IGIC around 10%; AJD around 1.5%.
- Annual property tax (IBI)
- Municipal rates typically 0.4–1.1% of cadastral value — set by each town, not the region.
State ITSGF applies above ~€3M net worth, but Cantabria's bonificación is designed to absorb it so there is no extra bill. Source: primary source. General posture, not personal tax advice — thresholds, reduced rates and reliefs change and depend on your circumstances. ITP/AJD figures are regional general rates for budgeting, not a quote.
Best towns in Cantabria, by what you're after
The same engine as the quiz, run over Cantabria's towns and filtered to the ones we profile in depth. Top of each list, in the engine's order — not hand-picked.
Best towns in Cantabria for families
schools, coast and cost, scored for remote-working parents
- San Vicente de la Barquera 4 km from the sea · 30 min to a hospital
- Laredo 4 km from the sea · a hospital in town
- Santillana del Mar 3 km from the sea · 13 min to a hospital
- Comillas 4 km from the sea · 30 min to a hospital
- Santander 3 km from the sea · a hospital in town
Best towns in Cantabria for mild summers
ranked on the July–August average high
- Comillas 4 km from the sea · mild 22.4°C summer highs
- Laredo 4 km from the sea · mild 22.7°C summer highs
- San Vicente de la Barquera 4 km from the sea · mild 22.4°C summer highs
- Santillana del Mar 3 km from the sea · mild 23.3°C summer highs
- Santander 3 km from the sea · mild 22.7°C summer highs
Best-value towns in Cantabria
cheap to buy in, but still a real town with services
- San Vicente de la Barquera 4 km from the sea · 30 min to a hospital
- Laredo 4 km from the sea · 10,675 people
- Comillas 4 km from the sea · 30 min to a hospital
- Puente Viesgo 12 km from the sea · 16 min to a hospital
- Santillana del Mar 3 km from the sea · 13 min to a hospital
Town profiles in Cantabria
We profile 8 of Cantabria's 102 municipalities in depth — numbers plus an honest portrait. More as we cover them.
Compare Cantabria with…
Torn between two regions? Head-to-head, data-only — climate, cost, schools, health waits and tax, side by side.
See how Cantabria's towns rank for you
These are Cantabria's regional numbers. Whether it fits you depends on your priorities — winter sun or mild summers, short medical waits, a city or a village, an easy flight home. The 3-minute quiz scores every one of Spain's 8,132 municipalities on what you care about — and we'll flag Cantabria as one to watch, so your results surface its best towns for you.
Take the quiz — rank Cantabria for you →