Blanes is the first town of the Costa Brava coming from the south, with around forty-three thousand residents. The shore changes here — instead of the flat sand of the Maresme, cliffs and coves begin. The Sa Palomera rock stands above the harbour, and the town itself has two botanical gardens on the cliff above the sea, both open to visitors all year.
For anyone moving, Blanes is easier than neighbouring Lloret: an ordinary town with a life of its own rather than a resort that closes for the winter. Its winter score is above Lloret's and the square metre cheaper. It works all year, with a hospital and schools. Trains reach Barcelona in an hour and a half. There is a summer influx, but a smaller one than along the coast from here.
Worth a trip nearby
- Lloret de Mar · 8 km — the resort next door that empties in winter
- Tossa de Mar · 20 km — the fortress above the bay and the cliff road
- Barcelona · 70 km — the country's second city, an hour and a half by train
Resalesource
2 068€/m²
+7% price growth yoy
appraised valueappraisedValue from licensed appraisers, published by the Ministry of Housing. Not a listing price.Why it matters. It runs systematically below asking prices. Comparing it with another town's asking price flips the comparison., Ministerio de Vivienda
Populationsource
42 446
Foreign residents 19.7%
Sunshine hours per year
2 600h
Blanes sits in Costa Brava, Girona, right on the water. Summers are packed: tourist load hits 5 out of 5 at the peak against 1 in winter. Fast internet at a median of 400 Mbps: remote work is not a problem here.
Hospital, terrain, getting around
Nearest hospitalsource
13min by car
Hospital Comarcal de Blanes
Blanes · 5.1 km · public
Terrainsource
steep
Centre at 4 m, 110 m of elevation change
over 80 m of change — stairs and switchbacks; hard without a car or a lift
Car-freeour rating
3/5
possible without a car, with caveats
Stations: Blanes · bus stops within 1.5 km: 56
Where from: the Ministry of Health hospital catalogue, road time · elevations from the Copernicus terrain model · OpenStreetMap · ratingswinter liveabilityOur 1-to-5 rating of whether a town lives from November to March — open places, running transport, people around.Why it matters. Most resorts shut for winter. Tourists never notice; someone who moved gets four empty months. An estimate, not a measurement. for car-free and hospital minutes are ours.
Sea temperature
5 months above 20 °CTourist load
What tenants actually pay
sourced75th percentile75th percentileThe rent that only a quarter of leases exceed. The median is the middle of all leases, old ones included.Why it matters. A new lease is signed closer to this figure than to the median: long-standing tenants pay old rates, a newcomer pays today's.
634€/mo
This is the median rent on active leases — tax records for 2024, a sample of 3 122 leases. It includes long-standing contracts at unchanged rents, so it sits below what is asked today: our estimate of asking rent is 850 € for a two-bedroom.
The point of the 75th percentile: it is closer to what is being signed now than the median. The gap between them shows how much a new tenant overpays relative to long-standing ones.
Where from: SERPAVISERPAVIThe Ministry of Housing's public registry of rents: medians of actual signed leases by municipality.Why it matters. Asking rent and signed rent are different things: across our base listings run about one and a half times above the registry. The registry shows what people actually pay., Ministerio de Vivienda · municipality: Blanes
Rent by number of bedrooms
asking price, estimate| 1 bedroom | 650 €/mo | |
| 2 bedrooms | 850 €/mo | |
| 3 bedrooms | ≈ 1 110 €/mo | model: two-bed × 1.3, no measurement yet |
| Median of active leases, 2024 | 547 €/mo | SERPAVISERPAVIThe Ministry of Housing's public registry of rents: medians of actual signed leases by municipality.Why it matters. Asking rent and signed rent are different things: across our base listings run about one and a half times above the registry. The registry shows what people actually pay. · 71 m² |
Asking prices are what long lets are advertised at today; the registry is what tenants pay on signed leases, including old ones. The gap between them is your negotiating argument.
Schools nearby
estimateInternational schools counted in the base: 0. Names and curricula for this place are not verified yet — the school registry covers the thirty most-requested places so far.
3Renting without a Spanish contract
How realistic a long lease is without a nóminanóminaA Spanish employment contract with payslips. Landlords ask for it as proof of income.Why it matters. A newcomer does not have one and will not in the first year. Where it is required, a long lease is nearly impossible — even with money in the bank. — on foreign income, savings or prepayment.
- —Nothing notable either way: an ordinary market where the individual landlord decides
This is our model, not a measurement: demanding a nóminanóminaA Spanish employment contract with payslips. Landlords ask for it as proof of income.Why it matters. A newcomer does not have one and will not in the first year. Where it is required, a long lease is nearly impossible — even with money in the bank. is an individual landlord's practice and nobody publishes it. The rating is derived from the share of foreign residents, the presence of a community with services, price growth, seasonality of the stock and the size of the town.
Who lives here
INEINESpain's National Statistics Institute. It keeps the padrón — the official register of residents of every municipality.Why it matters. The only primary source of population for the whole country. A figure 'per INE' can be checked against a table; a figure 'from the internet' cannot. 2025Foreign residents on the padrónpadrónThe municipal register of residents. Registering in it — empadronamiento — proves you live here.Why it matters. Official population comes from it, and you will need it yourself: without registration there is no health card and no school enrolment.
19.7%
8,349 of 42,446
- Morocco1 350
- GM583
- Ukraine564
- Colombia512
- Russia463
- Italy442
- Senegal387
- Romania370
Communities and services in their language
Where from: INEINESpain's National Statistics Institute. It keeps the padrón — the official register of residents of every municipality.Why it matters. The only primary source of population for the whole country. A figure 'per INE' can be checked against a table; a figure 'from the internet' cannot., Censo Anual de Población · the register-based census counts padrónpadrónThe municipal register of residents. Registering in it — empadronamiento — proves you live here.Why it matters. Official population comes from it, and you will need it yourself: without registration there is no health card and no school enrolment. registrations by citizenship on 1 January, not everyone living here: seasonal owners and the unregistered are outside it, and naturalised residents count as Spanish.
Winter direct flights from BCNBarcelona — El Prat airportIATA code BCN.
January 2026/2755 min to the airport- other countries76
- Italy16
- United Kingdom14
- France11
- Germany9
- Poland6
- Netherlands3
- Switzerland3
- Portugal3
- Ireland2
- Belgium2
- Denmark2
- Austria2
- Sweden1
- Norway1
- Finland1
- Czechia1
Destinations served at least weekly in January; checked 2026-09-17.
Paperwork and practicalities
Appointment for the TIETIETarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero — the plastic residence card with your NIE and the permit's expiry. Issued at the police after entering on a visa or after a permit is approved.Why it matters. Without the card you cannot open a resident bank account, sign a long lease or prove your status at the border. The police appointment (cita) is a weeks-long bottleneck in some provinces.· Gironafrom reports
3Since September 2025 the card is issued not only in Girona but also in Figueres, Sant Feliu de Guíxols and Portbou, and the appointment is booked for you once the permit is approved. The watching services still report three to five weeks. Even so, in 2026 Barcelona residents were travelling here to book. Moderate confidence.
1 — no slots for weeks, 5 — freely available. Checked 2026-09-17
Coworking within 3 km
not on the map
Dog beaches within 8 km
not on the map
From OpenStreetMap — an open map filled in by volunteers. Something missing there may still exist: read this as «we found this many», not «there are no more».
Where to look next
Cheaper with the same sea
