Palmas, Las · Canarias
Arrecife
The capital of Lanzarote, established on a reef-strewn coast, once defended by an islet castle — its historic heart invites strolling along a pleasant seafront promenade.
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Why people fall for Arrecife
Portrait drawn from the Michelin Green Guide.
On a reef-strewn coast of Lanzarote.
On the table. Popular bars and restaurants line the Charco de San Ginés lagoon.
Worth the trip
- Castillo San Gabriel (16th century), built on an islet
- Castillo de San José, restored by César Manrique and transformed into a Contemporary Art Museum
- Playa del Reducto, for sunset views over volcanoes
Who it suits: Art and beach travellers
Who Arrecife 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 Arrecife lands.
Good for
- Retiring couples 100th percentile of 8,132 towns a hospital in town · only 18 rainy days a year
- American retirees 99th percentile of 8,132 towns a hospital in town · only 18 rainy days a year
- Remote-working couples 97th percentile of 8,132 towns 2 km from the sea · 70,265 people
- Families with school-age kids 96th percentile of 8,132 towns 2 km from the sea · a hospital in town
- Budget-first coastal settlers 96th percentile of 8,132 towns 2 km from the sea · 70,265 people
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
- 18.8°C top 1% of 8,131 towns 11.1°C above the Spanish average (7.8°C)
- Summer high (Jul–Aug)
- 29°C top 33% of 8,131 towns 1.2°C below the Spanish average (30.2°C)
- Rainy days a year
- 18 days top 1% of 8,088 towns 74% less than the Spanish average (69 days)
- Sunshine
- 8.2 h/day top 5% of 3,829 towns 14% more than the Spanish average (7.2 h/day)
- Summer water stress (WEI+)
- no local data
Cost & economy
- Home price
- €1,947/m² top 47% of 306 towns 12% less than the Spanish average (€2,208/m²)
- Net income per person
- €12,079 bottom 19% of 8,059 towns 17% less than the Spanish average (€14,495)
- Income growth ’18–’23
- 24% bottom 38% of 6,605 towns
Schools
- Schools in town
- 24 top 2% of 7,042 towns
- Nearest international school
- 3 km top 1% of 8,132 towns
- PISA maths (region) regional estimate
- 447 #17 of 17 regions, −32 vs national 34 below the Spanish average (481)
Healthcare
- Drive to a hospital
- 0 min top 1% of 8,132 towns
- Nearest health centre
- 1.3 km top 6% of 7,025 towns
- Surgical wait (region) regional estimate
- 106 days #12 of 17 regions, +3 days vs national about the Spanish average (108 days)
Getting around
- Drive to nearest airport
- 15 min top 1% of 8,132 towns
- Fibre-to-home coverage
- 98% top 14% of 8,132 towns 19% above the Spanish average (79%)
- 100 Mbps+ coverage
- 99% top 19% of 8,132 towns 16% above the Spanish average (83%)
Who lives here
- Population
- 70,265
- Born in Spain
- 62.6% 26.2% below the Spanish average (88.8%)
- Born elsewhere in EU/UK
- 3.4% 0.4% below the Spanish average (3.8%)
- U.S.-born residents
- 0.51 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 Arrecife 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 Arrecife against every one of Spain's 8,132 municipalities on your priorities.
Take the quiz — rank Arrecife for you →Nearby towns
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