Madrid · Madrid
Alcalá de Henares
One of Europe's most ancient university towns and the birthplace of Miguel de Cervantes, though today virtually a suburb of Madrid.
Why people fall for Alcalá de Henares
Portrait drawn from The Rough Guide.
A little over 30km east of Madrid.
A little history
In the sixteenth century the university was a rival to Salamanca's, but in 1836 the faculties moved to Madrid and the town went into decline.
Who it suits: Cervantes literary pilgrims
Who Alcalá de Henares is for — and who it isn't
Not our opinion: we ran the same scoring engine behind the quiz for six settler profiles across all 8,132 municipalities and read off where Alcalá de Henares lands.
Good for
- American retirees 95th percentile of 8,132 towns a hospital in town · a health centre close by
The numbers
The decision data — each figure placed among all Spanish municipalities that report it ("top 10%" always means good, also where lower is better). Regional overlays and estimates are labelled, and where there's no local reading we say so plainly.
Climate
- Winter average temp
- 7.2°C top 48% of 8,131 towns 0.6°C below the Spanish average (7.8°C)
- Summer high (Jul–Aug)
- 33.6°C bottom 16% of 8,131 towns 3.4°C above the Spanish average (30.2°C)
- Rainy days a year
- 56 days top 32% of 8,088 towns 19% less than the Spanish average (69 days)
- Sunshine
- 7.8 h/day top 27% of 3,829 towns 7% more than the Spanish average (7.2 h/day)
- Summer water stress (WEI+) regional estimate
- 117 bottom 10% of 8,033 towns 60 above the Spanish average (56)
Cost & economy
- Home price
- €2,839/m² bottom 24% of 306 towns 29% more than the Spanish average (€2,208/m²)
- Net income per person
- €15,598 top 33% of 8,059 towns 8% more than the Spanish average (€14,495)
- Income growth ’18–’23
- 24% bottom 38% of 6,605 towns
Schools
- Schools in town
- 104 top 1% of 7,042 towns
- Nearest international school
- 21 km top 21% of 8,132 towns
- PISA maths (region) regional estimate
- 494 #4 of 17 regions, +15 vs national 13 above the Spanish average (481)
Healthcare
- Drive to a hospital
- 0 min top 1% of 8,132 towns
- Nearest health centre
- 0.7 km top 2% of 7,025 towns
- Surgical wait (region) regional estimate
- 50 days #1 of 17 regions, −53 days vs national 54% less than the Spanish average (108 days)
Getting around
- Drive to nearest airport
- 29 min top 7% of 8,132 towns
- Fibre-to-home coverage
- 99% top 8% of 8,132 towns 20% above the Spanish average (79%)
- 100 Mbps+ coverage
- 100% top 1% of 8,132 towns 17% above the Spanish average (83%)
Who lives here
- Population
- 202,549
- Born in Spain
- 77.2% 11.6% below the Spanish average (88.8%)
- Born elsewhere in EU/UK
- 6.2% 2.4% above the Spanish average (3.8%)
- U.S.-born residents
- 1.68 per 1,000
Numbers: SpainScore town dataset, derived from INE, AEMET, Mitma and the Catastro. Percentile chips count only the municipalities that report the figure — the "of n" says how many. Region-ranked figures (PISA, surgical waits) compare Spain's 17 comunidades autónomas. A blank means no municipal-level figure is published — not a zero.
The year, month by month
AEMET 30-year climate normals — what a January or an August actually feels like, not the annual average.
How does Alcalá de Henares fit you?
These are the town's numbers. Whether it's your town depends on what you're optimising for — winter sun or mild summers, a city or a village, short medical waits, an easy flight home. The 3-minute quiz scores Alcalá de Henares against every one of Spain's 8,132 municipalities on your priorities. It sits about 15 min from Torrejón de Ardoz, if that's your anchor.
Take the quiz — rank Alcalá de Henares for you →Nearby towns
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