
Salou
Salou is a resort town on the Costa Daurada, ten kilometres from Tarragona. Thirty-one thousand residents in winter and several times that in summer. The shore here is shallow and sandy — hence the name of the coast, the golden shore. The town grew out of a fishing village in the second half of the twentieth century and was built for holidays: a promenade, blocks of hotels and apartments, a theme park in neighbouring Vila-seca.
The main thing to know before moving: Salou lives on the season. From November to March most of what works in summer is shut, and you can see it on the street. There are no international schools and the nearest hospital is in the next town. In exchange: a railway station in the town itself, an hour to Barcelona, and housing well below Barcelona prices. A third of residents are foreign. For seasonal living the trade works; for living here all year, test it in February rather than August.
- Tarragona · 10 km — the Roman amphitheatre above the sea and a real city
- Cambrils · 7 km — the fishing harbour and restaurants of the next town
- Reus · 15 km — the low-cost airport and the modernist houses
Salou sits in Costa Daurada, Tarragona, right on the water. The square metre is 39% above the Costa Daurada median: €2 549 against €1 833. 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. 33% of residents are foreign nationals per the census: Spanish is not the only language you will hear on the street.
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.
Sea temperature
5 months above 20 °CTourist load
On the map
What tenants actually pay
sourcedThis is the median rent on active leases — tax records for 2024, a sample of 2 904 leases. It includes long-standing contracts at unchanged rents, so it sits below what is asked today: our estimate of asking rent is 1 000 € 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: Salou
Rent by number of bedrooms
asking price, estimate| 1 bedroom | 750 €/mo | |
| 2 bedrooms | 1 000 €/mo | |
| 3 bedrooms | ≈ 1 300 €/mo | model: two-bed × 1.3, no measurement yet |
| Median of active leases, 2024 | 536 €/mo | SERPAVI · 66 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.
- —33% foreign residents — income from abroad is routine for landlords here
- —Prices rising 10.6% a year — the landlord picks, and the first filter is a nómina
- —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- Ukraine955
- Senegal867
- Russia814
- Romania730
- India673
- Morocco594
- Italy558
- Colombia531
- ruRussian~870
- frFrench~1 160Includes the francophone Senegalese community — the city's largest foreign group
- roRomanian~820
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 BCN
January 2026/2780 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
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».
Month by month
Air, sea, how busy it gets and what stays open — for each month on its own.
Where to look next
- Vélez-Málaga2 529 €/m²
- San Roque2 523 €/m²
- Santander2 587 €/m²