Region · Spain
Living in Cantabria
Cantabria is Atlantic Spain: winters average 9.7°C and summers stay comparatively mild — 24.1°C highs against a hotter national norm — across roughly 116 rainy days a year. The trade is grey, wet spells rather than reliable sun, but summer water stress runs low (WEI+ 9 vs a national 56). As Spain's south dries out, that green-and-watered profile is a genuine climate-refuge trait.
Overview
On the wallet: homes run about €2,332/m² (15% above the national average (€2,024/m²)); median net income is about €13,917 per person (3% below the national average (€14,279)).
Public healthcare here means a mean surgical wait around 137 days (33% above the national average (103 days)), with 26.2% of the surgical list waiting over six months — a real, published number, not a brochure claim.
We publish 8 of Cantabria's 102 municipalities in depth so far — the ones with a full guide portrait to sit alongside the numbers, weighted toward the milder-summer north. Every figure below is shown against the national reference, gaps included.
The numbers for Cantabria
Region-level data, each figure against the national reference. Where a figure is a comunidad-autónoma reading rather than a town measurement, we say so under the card.
Climate
- Winter average
- 9.7°C 1.9 °C above the national average (7.8°C)
- Summer high
- 24.1°C 6 °C below the national average (30.2°C)
- Rainy days a year
- 116 days 69% above the national average (69 days)
- Sunshine
- 4.9 h/day 32% below the national average (7.2 h/day)
- Summer water stress (WEI+)
- 9 48 points below the national average (56)
Aggregated from the region's municipalities (AEMET/derived); summer water stress is a river-basin (WEI+) reading.
Schools
- PISA maths
- 495 16 points above the national average (479)
- PISA reading
- 494 16 points above the national average (478)
- PISA science
- 504 15 points above the national average (489)
PISA 2022, reported per comunidad autónoma (INEE). National reference = the mean across the 17 comunidades.
Healthcare
- Surgical wait
- 137 days 33% above the national average (103 days)
- Waiting over 6 months
- 26.2% 9.6 pts above the national average (16.6%)
- Specialist consult wait
- 61 days 36% below the national average (95 days)
Public waiting lists, SISLE-SNS Dic 2025 (2025-12-31), per comunidad autónoma.
Cost & economy
- Median net income / person
- €13,917 3% below the national average (€14,279)
- Median home price
- €2,332/m² 15% above the national average (€2,024/m²)
Median across the region's municipalities (INE net income; Catastro-derived sale price).
Who lives here
- Born in Spain
- 91.8% 3 pts above the national average (88.8%)
- Born elsewhere in EU/UK
- 2.0% 1.8 pts below the national average (3.8%)
Share of residents by place of birth, averaged across the region's municipalities (INE).
Town profiles in Cantabria
We profile 8 of Cantabria's 102 municipalities in depth — numbers plus an honest portrait. More as we cover them.
Is Cantabria right for you?
These are Cantabria's regional numbers. Whether it fits you depends on your priorities — winter sun or mild summers, short medical waits, a city or a village, an easy flight home. The 3-minute quiz scores every one of Spain's 8,132 municipalities on what you care about, Cantabria included.
Take the quiz — rank Cantabria for you →