
Llanes
Llanes is a small town in eastern Asturias with around thirteen thousand residents. Remains of a medieval wall ring the old centre, and in the harbour stand the Cubes of Memory — breakwater blocks painted by an artist. The shore around is broken up: dozens of small beaches lie between the cliffs.
The defining feature here is mountains beside the sea: the Picos de Europa rise twenty kilometres inland, and snow lies on them while it is green below. For anyone moving, Llanes means quiet, cheap housing and distance: over an hour to Oviedo or Santander, and no large hospitals nearby. In summer the town fills up and in winter it empties noticeably. It rains in every month.
- Ribadesella · 30 km — the river mouth and the Tito Bustillo cave
- Picos de Europa · 25 km — the mountains, lakes and snow above a green coast
- Santander · 95 km — the Cantabrian capital and its bay
Llanes sits in Asturias, Costa Verde, right on the water. From November to March the town empties out: our rating is 2 out of 5. A resort in summer, shuttered bars and thin transport in winter. Winters are damp at 78% humidity, so ask about mould before you sign. Summers are packed: tourist load hits 5 out of 5 at the peak against 1 in winter.
Hospital, terrain, getting around
Where from: the Ministry of Health hospital catalogue, road time · elevations from the Copernicus terrain model · OpenStreetMap · ratings for car-free and hospital minutes are ours.
Llanes sea temperature by month
3 months above 20 °CsourceAverage sea surface temperature, °C, for 2015–2024 — NOAA OISST satellite series, grid cell 24.7 km from the centre.
Tourist load
Llanes beaches and water quality
sourceLlanes has 12 beaches tested under EU bathing water rules, at 13 sampling points. In the 2025 season, all 12 were graded excellent. The last “poor” grade here was in 1991: Playa El Sablon and Playa Poo.
The grade is bacteria in water samples over the last four seasons — not sand, views or crowds. “Poor” means bathing there is advised against.
| Beach | From the centre | Grade 2025 | “Excellent” in a row | Last “poor” |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Playa El Sablon | 0.4 km | excellent | 8 seasons | 1991 |
| Playa Toro | 1 km | excellent | 31 seasons | none since 1990 |
| Playa Poo | 2.8 km | excellent | 3 seasons | 1991 |
| Playa Andrin | 4 km | excellent | 10 seasons | none since 2016 |
| Playa Palombina / Las Camaras | 4.4 km | excellent | 10 seasons | none since 1990 |
| Playa Borizo | 4.9 km | excellent | 35 seasons | none since 1991 |
| Playa Barro | 5.9 km | excellent | 17 seasons | none since 1990 |
| Playa Toranda (Niembro) | 7.1 km | excellent | 31 seasons | none since 1995 |
| Playa Torimbia | 8.3 km | excellent | 5 seasons | none since 2021 |
| Playa Vidiago (Bretones) | 8.7 km | excellent | 5 seasons | none since 2021 |
| Playa San Antolin | 10 km | excellent | 4 seasons | none since 1990 |
| Playa Cuevas de Mar | 15.2 km | excellent | 14 seasons | none since 1990 |
No longer tested: Playa Palombina (last season 2014).
Where from: European Environment Agency, bathing water register, seasons 1990–2025, licence CC BY 4.0. Distance is from the centre in a straight line. Every place in one table
On the map
What tenants actually pay
sourcedThis is the median rent on active leases — tax records for 2024, a sample of 544 leases. It includes long-standing contracts at unchanged rents, so it sits below what is asked today: our estimate of asking rent is 620 € 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: SERPAVI, Ministerio de Vivienda · municipality: Llanes
Rent by number of bedrooms
asking price, estimate| 1 bedroom | 480 €/mo | |
| 2 bedrooms | 620 €/mo | |
| 3 bedrooms | ≈ 810 €/mo | model: two-bed × 1.3, no measurement yet |
| Median of active leases, 2024 | 422 €/mo | SERPAVI · 75 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.
Renting without a Spanish contract
How realistic a long lease is without a nómina — on foreign income, savings or prepayment.
- —7% foreign residents — the market is built for locals with a contract
- —Stock goes to tourist lets: long leases are scarce and competed for
This is our model, not a measurement: demanding a nómina 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
INE 2025- Venezuela176
- Colombia94
- Brazil62
- Dominican Republic56
- Senegal44
- Romania39
- Paraguay35
- Mexico32
- enEnglish~400Mostly second-home owners, not permanent residents
Where from: INE, Censo Anual de Población · the register-based census counts padrón 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 SDR
January 2026/2770 min to the airport- United Kingdom2
- other countries2
- Ireland1
- Belgium1
- France1
- Italy1
Destinations served at least weekly in January; checked 2026-09-17.
Paperwork and practicalities
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».
Articles that include this place
- Which coastal towns are actually alive in winterMost resorts shut down from November to March. Tourists never notice; people moving there notice everything — and no directory measures it.
- Retiring to coastal Spain: who already lives there, how far the hospital is, and whether the town stays open in winterThe share of residents over 65 and over 80 in every place we cover, from the INE census, the drive to the nearest public hospital, and the measured winter score. No ranking: only what the numbers show.
Where to look next
- Jerez de la Frontera1 803 €/m²
- Telde1 796 €/m²
- Huelva1 650 €/m²
- Garrucha2 200 €/m²
- Teguise2 200 €/m²
- Chiclana de la Frontera2 219 €/m²