Girona · Cataluña
Besalú
A captivating medieval town and former capital of a county, crossed by an iconic fortified Romanesque bridge — one of the richest Romanesque ensembles in Catalonia. Michelin rates it worth a special journey (2 stars).
Why people fall for Besalú
Portrait drawn from the Michelin Green Guide & The Rough Guide.
In a valley crossed by the Fluvià River, about 50km north of Girona.
Worth the trip
- The Pont Vell, a beautiful fortified Romanesque bridge across the Fluvià
- The Romanesque Church of Sant Pere (11th century)
- A medieval Miqvé (Jewish ritual bath), said to be the only one surviving in Spain
A little history
Capital of the County of Besalú from the 10th to 12th centuries, until power was transferred to Barcelona; had a Jewish community from the ninth century until Jews were forced out in 1436.
Who it suits: Medieval-architecture travellers
Who Besalú 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 Besalú lands.
Besalú is mid-pack for all six profiles we score (between the 80th and 88th percentile) — a solid all-rounder, a standout for nobody. Your own priorities may read it differently: that's what the quiz is for.
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
- 8.8°C top 30% of 8,131 towns 1°C above the Spanish average (7.8°C)
- Summer high (Jul–Aug)
- 30.7°C bottom 47% of 8,131 towns 0.5°C above the Spanish average (30.2°C)
- Rainy days a year
- 65 days bottom 46% of 8,088 towns 5% less than the Spanish average (69 days)
- Sunshine estimated
- 6.7 h/day bottom 22% of 3,829 towns 7% less than the Spanish average (7.2 h/day)
- Summer water stress (WEI+) regional estimate
- 73 bottom 31% of 8,033 towns 16 above the Spanish average (56)
Cost & economy
- Home price
- no local data
- Net income per person
- €15,948 top 28% of 8,059 towns 10% more than the Spanish average (€14,495)
- Income growth ’18–’23
- 18.7% bottom 14% of 6,605 towns
Schools
- Schools in town
- 2 top 26% of 7,042 towns
- Nearest international school
- 28 km top 29% of 8,132 towns
- PISA maths (region) regional estimate
- 469 #12 of 17 regions, −10 vs national 12 below the Spanish average (481)
Healthcare
- Drive to a hospital
- 16 min top 14% of 8,132 towns
- Nearest health centre
- 0.5 km top 2% of 7,025 towns
- Surgical wait (region) regional estimate
- 142 days #16 of 17 regions, +39 days vs national 32% more than the Spanish average (108 days)
Getting around
- Drive to nearest airport
- 46 min top 20% of 8,132 towns
- Fibre-to-home coverage
- 98% top 10% of 8,132 towns 19% above the Spanish average (79%)
- 100 Mbps+ coverage
- 98% top 25% of 8,132 towns 15% above the Spanish average (83%)
Who lives here
- Population
- 2,591
- Born in Spain
- 82.3% 6.5% below the Spanish average (88.8%)
- Born elsewhere in EU/UK
- 3.4% 0.5% below the Spanish average (3.8%)
- U.S.-born residents
- 1.54 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 Besalú 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 Besalú against every one of Spain's 8,132 municipalities on your priorities. It sits about 37 min from Girona, if that's your anchor.
Take the quiz — rank Besalú for you →Nearby towns
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