Bizkaia · País Vasco
Gernika-Lumo
A peaceful yet lively city seemingly dedicated to harmony — risen from the ashes of the Spanish Civil War's most infamous bombing.
Why people fall for Gernika-Lumo
Portrait drawn from the Michelin Green Guide.
Surrounded by the forested hills of the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve.
Worth the trip
- Museo de la Paz (Peace Museum), a moving three-part exhibit on peace and Guernica's history
- A ceramic copy of Picasso's painting Guernica, visible in town
A little history
On April 26, 1937, a Nazi squadron bombed Guernica, killing several hundred people — the first massive air raid on civilian populations, immortalized in Picasso's painting Guernica.
Who it suits: Peace/history pilgrims
Who Gernika-Lumo 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 Gernika-Lumo lands.
Good for
- Heat-averse settlers 98th percentile of 8,132 towns 4 km from the sea · mild 23.2°C summer highs
- Families with school-age kids 98th percentile of 8,132 towns 4 km from the sea · 17,081 people
- Budget-first coastal settlers 98th percentile of 8,132 towns 4 km from the sea · 17,081 people
- Remote-working couples 97th percentile of 8,132 towns 4 km from the sea · 17,081 people
- American retirees 94th percentile of 8,132 towns 4.5 US-born per 1,000 · direct flights to new york
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
- 10.5°C top 17% of 8,131 towns 2.8°C above the Spanish average (7.8°C)
- Summer high (Jul–Aug)
- 23.2°C top 4% of 8,131 towns 7°C below the Spanish average (30.2°C)
- Rainy days a year
- 105 days bottom 9% of 8,088 towns 53% more than the Spanish average (69 days)
- Sunshine
- no local data
- Summer water stress (WEI+) regional estimate
- 25 top 30% of 8,033 towns 32 below the Spanish average (56)
Cost & economy
- Home price
- no local data
- Net income per person
- €17,961 top 10% of 8,059 towns 24% more than the Spanish average (€14,495)
- Income growth ’18–’23
- 23.3% bottom 34% of 6,605 towns
Schools
- Schools in town
- 10 top 6% of 7,042 towns
- Nearest international school
- 24 km top 25% of 8,132 towns
- PISA maths (region) regional estimate
- 482 #9 of 17 regions, +3 vs national 1 above the Spanish average (481)
Healthcare
- Drive to a hospital
- 26 min top 34% of 8,132 towns
- Nearest health centre
- no local data
- Surgical wait (region) regional estimate
- 64 days #2 of 17 regions, −39 days vs national 41% less than the Spanish average (108 days)
Getting around
- Drive to nearest airport
- 35 min top 10% of 8,132 towns
- Fibre-to-home coverage
- 98% top 13% of 8,132 towns 19% above the Spanish average (79%)
- 100 Mbps+ coverage
- 99% top 14% of 8,132 towns 16% above the Spanish average (83%)
Who lives here
- Population
- 17,081
- Born in Spain
- 84.4% 4.4% below the Spanish average (88.8%)
- Born elsewhere in EU/UK
- 4.9% 1.1% above the Spanish average (3.8%)
- U.S.-born residents
- 4.45 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 Gernika-Lumo 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 Gernika-Lumo against every one of Spain's 8,132 municipalities on your priorities. It sits about 36 min from Bilbao, if that's your anchor.
Take the quiz — rank Gernika-Lumo for you →Nearby towns
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