Analysis on data
Every figure here is computed from the base at build time rather than typed by hand, so it cannot drift from the 132 place pages. Where a metric is ours rather than measured, the text says so outright.
Andalusia's beaches by water quality: five provinces, the Bay of Algeciras and the sea from the Strait to Mojácar
Grades from the European register for every sampling point on Andalusia's coast since 1990: where the water was not excellent in 2025, Huelva's bad first year, the bay against the ocean in Cádiz, eight clean seasons in Málaga and Almería, and the sea on five coasts.
Best time to visit Ibiza: the water, the price of a night and how much of the island is open each month
Twelve months on Ibiza and Formentera from the weather service's normals, sea temperature and two years of hotel statistics: when hotels open and close, who stays in winter, why September is cheaper than June with warmer water, and what keeps working in January.
Costa del Sol and Málaga beaches by water quality: from poor grades in 1990 to eight seasons of excellent everywhere
Grades from the European register for every sampling point on the Málaga coast since 1990: how the count changed, the city of Málaga's beaches, Marbella's last slip, Torremolinos, fourteen municipalities, the sea at the east and west ends, and hotels in September.
Tenerife or Gran Canaria: Tenerife grew dearer, Gran Canaria stayed fuller
The two big islands on government series: hotel prices and occupancy month by month, weather normals at the southern airports, the sea, bathing water, the census by nationality, appraised value per square metre on one basis, rent, winter flights and the drive to hospital.
Lanzarote's beaches by water quality: ten seasons of excellent everywhere, then a first slip at Famara
Grades from the European register for every sampling point on Lanzarote since 1990: ten seasons without a single lower grade, good at Caleta de Famara in 2025, Arrecife's beaches before and after 2015, neighbouring Costa Teguise beaches with different records, seven municipalities and the sea at our four places month by month.
Best time to visit Fuerteventura: guests from abroad come all year, guests from Spain in August
Twelve months on Fuerteventura from the weather service's normals, sea temperature and two years of hotel statistics: who fills the hotels and when, why August costs the most, why May was empty in both years and how Easter moves the spring wave.
Gran Canaria's beaches by water quality: excellent everywhere but Puerto de Mogán
Grades from the European register for every sampling point on Gran Canaria since 1990: Puerto de Mogán's beach with four seasons of good, El Confital with five seasons of poor, Telde's shore before and after 2016, twelve municipalities and the sea at our four places month by month.
Gran Canaria or Fuerteventura: about a third apart in winter, level in summer
Two islands on government series: two years of hotel prices side by side, weather normals, the sea, the census by nationality, appraised value per square metre, rent, winter flights and the drive to hospital. A year ago Gran Canaria cost more in every month; in July 2026 Fuerteventura was the dearer one.
Menorca's beaches by water quality: excellent across the island, except near Ciutadella
Grades from the European register for every sampling point on Menorca since 1990: the shore near Ciutadella against the rest of the island season by season, a beach with two points and two different grades, a point that stopped being tested, eight municipalities and the sea at our four places month by month.
Tenerife or Fuerteventura: nearly half dearer in winter, a few per cent in summer
Two islands on government series: two years of hotel prices, weather normals, the sea, the census by nationality, appraised value per square metre, rent, winter flights and the drive to hospital. Tenerife costs more in every month, but in winter the gap is nearly half the price and in summer it almost disappears.
Fuerteventura beaches by water quality: excellent almost everywhere, except one harbour
Grades from the European register for every sampling point on the island: the one point below excellent, its neighbours within two kilometres, five municipalities, the beaches excellent in every season, and the sea at our four places month by month.
Gran Canaria or Lanzarote: alike over the year, different month by month
Two islands on government series: two years of hotel prices, weather normals, the sea, the census by nationality, rent, winter flights and the drive to hospital. Over a year the islands are almost level; month by month their prices run in opposite directions.
Best time to visit Lanzarote: sea, sun, rain and the price of a hotel night, month by month
Twelve months on Lanzarote from the weather service's normals, sea temperature and two years of hotel statistics: why the warmest water comes in September and October and costs less than August, why May is the cheapest month yet sunnier than August, and why December's hotels are empty while its price is high.
Lanzarote or Fuerteventura: the price of a hotel night, neighbours, flights, hospitals and weather
Our eight places on two neighbouring islands from government series: why a hotel night costs more on Lanzarote in every month though Fuerteventura has more hotels, where Italians, Germans and Britons live and where January flights go, how far the hospital is and which island has warmer nights.
Best time to visit Gran Canaria: weather, sea, the price of a hotel night and who fills the hotels, month by month
Twelve months on Gran Canaria from the weather service's normals, sea temperature and hotel statistics: why December costs more than February or August though its hotels are emptier, how many nights foreign and Spanish guests stay, and why the south's quiet month is June.
Tenerife or Lanzarote: weather month by month, the price of a hotel night, neighbours, hospitals and flights home
Our seven places on the two islands from government series: which is warmer by day and by night each month, why a hotel night costs more on Tenerife in winter and on Lanzarote in summer, who the neighbours are, how far the hospital is and where January flights go.
Cost of living in the Canary Islands: a local tax instead of VAT, fuel, flights, spending and rent from government data
Why the Canaries have no Spanish VAT and what is taxed at 0, 3 and 7%, what fuel cost on the islands and the mainland on the same day, how much of a ticket the state pays, what Canarian households spend and how much of income rent takes in the island capitals.
Best time to visit Mallorca: weather, sea, the price of a hotel night and how much of the island is open, month by month
Twelve months on Mallorca from the weather service's normals, sea temperature and Spain's hotel statistics: when nine hotel beds in ten close, why December costs more than November, how September differs from June and what is left of the island in winter.
How the Spanish school system works: year groups by birth year, subjects, grades and five coastal regions
Spanish schooling from the education act, the curriculum decrees and the Ministry's statistics: which year group a child joins by birth year, what is taught, how grades and the university score work, how places are shared out, and how Andalucía, Murcia, Valencia, the Balearics and the Canaries differ.
Best time to visit Tenerife: weather, sea and the price of a hotel night, month by month
Twelve months on Tenerife from the weather service's normals, sea temperature and Spain's hotel statistics: when a hotel night costs most, when hotels empty, how the south, the capital and the north differ, and where a warm sea meets a cheaper night.
Which Canary Island: warmth, sun, sea, crowds and rent compared on official data
The warmest winter day, the warmest night, the most sun, the fewest guests per resident and the lowest rent: each question has its own island and its own measurement.
Cost of living in Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza: spending, rent and pay from government data
What island households spend and on what, what tenants pay in twelve towns on three islands, and what people here earn — with the survey's margin of error, and no guessed baskets.
Costa Blanca and Alicante beaches by water quality: every beach's record since 1990
Every beach in Alicante province with an official sampling point: where the water has stayed excellent, where it slipped in recent seasons, and when the coast is quieter for the same sea.
Mallorca or Menorca: winter, jobs, rent and prices, measured
Seven places on the two islands, by state data: how much work is left in winter, what tenants pay, the price per square metre on one basis, who the neighbours are, and how far the hospital is.
Tenerife beaches by water quality: where the grade has never dropped, and where it slips now
Grades from the European register for every tested beach on the island since 1990: the one poor grade, the points below excellent last season, the natural pools, and the sea near our three places month by month.
Which sea is Spain on? The Mediterranean, the Atlantic and the Bay of Biscay — and how warm each gets
The limits of each sea from the International Hydrographic Organization, the sea of every coast worked out from our places' coordinates, and the water temperature month by month, from the Canaries to the Costa Brava.
Ibiza and Formentera beaches by water quality: each beach's record since 1990
Two islands in one European register entry, and very different water: where excellent has held since the record began, where it slipped and when, and what each beach got last season.
Renting long-term on the Spanish coast: what the law says and what tenants pay
The five-year renewal and the seasonal lease, article by article. And what tenants on each coast pay under live leases: from tax records, not listings.
Spain's cleanest beaches: 36 years of EU water tests
The water grade for every bathing point in Spain, every season since 1990: where excellent has held every single year, where the water was poor in the latest season, and how the grade differs from the Blue Flag.
Which Spanish coast is best? 26 coasts on the same numbers
January, warm sea, beach water, price per square metre, damp, neighbours and the airport run: all 26 coasts on the same fields. Every question has a different winner.
Where are the Balearic Islands? Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera
Spain, not a country of their own. Which island is where and how far from Barcelona and Valencia, why winter splits the islands, the sea month by month, and the water at each island's beaches.
Mallorca's beaches by water quality: each beach's record since 1990
Every Mallorca beach with an official sampling point: how many seasons in a row its water has been excellent, when it was last poor, and whose record is too short to judge.
Where are the Canary Islands? Seven islands, one Spain
Spain, in the Atlantic, 97 km off Africa. Each island through the places in our base: its province, the distance to Madrid, the February sea, winter by state data and the water at its beaches.
Spain's minimum wage and average salary in 2026, with sources — and what rent takes on the coast
The 2026 minimum wage from the decree, and the mean and median from INE — every figure linked to its primary source. Then how much of the wage lease rents take, coast by coast.
Where property is cheapest on the Spanish coast, on a single price basis
The housing ministry's appraised value, ranked by coast and by town, with the price of a 70 m² flat and local incomes alongside. Asking prices get a list of their own: the two bases never share a ranking.
Mallorca or Majorca: one island, two spellings — and what the numbers say
It is the same island, and the official name is Mallorca. Then the part no spelling guide covers: of the places we cover there, only the capital stays open in winter, and the water varies beach by beach.
Moving from the UK: four differences nobody writes about
Not the paperwork but daily life: a house with no heating, a winter both sunny and cold, a compulsory car, and a community that stops you learning the language.
What a month on the Spanish coast costs, town by town
One identical scenario costed across all 132 places. The spread between towns is wider than between countries, and nearly as wide within a single coast.
Best places to live in coastal Spain: five lists, not one ranking
Alive in winter, longer swimming, no car needed, cheaper, with children — five sorts of the base by measured fields. A single ranking does not exist.
Seven mistakes people make moving to coastal Spain
Every mistake counted across 132 coastal places: how many empty out in winter, where it is damp, where a car is unavoidable and where the sea is warm for three months.
Where Britons in Spain actually live
A hundred thousand Britons from the census, broken down by town. The places with the densest community and the places that live in winter are different lists.
Winter sun in Spain: 30 towns that stay open all winter
Winter-sun lists usually rank the weather. This one ranks what stays open: January against the summer peak from Spain's social security data, plus sea months, rent and the drive to the airport.
Price per m² lies unless you ask what it measures
Appraised value and asking price differ systematically. On one pair of cities the difference in sources flips the comparison entirely.
Which coastal towns are actually alive in winter
Most resorts shut down from November to March. Tourists never notice; people moving there notice everything — and no directory measures it.
How long the swimming season actually lasts
«Three hundred days of sunshine» is said of every coast. You swim in the water, and by water the places range from two months to nine.
The coast without a car
A resort stretched along a highway and an old port with a dense centre are different ways of living. Size is not what separates them.
Who already lives there — and why it is not about neighbours
A headcount of compatriots and a doctor and lawyer who speak your language are different things. A move runs into the second.
International schools: where a family has a choice
School decides the town more firmly than price. What is counted is the choice, not the quality — we have no honest ranking and cannot build one.