Huelva · Andalucía
Huelva
Andalucía's best-kept secret for seafood lovers, named Spain's gastronomic capital in 2017 — surprisingly off the beaten track for a provincial capital.
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Why people fall for Huelva
Portrait drawn from Lonely Planet.
Near Spain's border with Portugal.
On the table. Named Spain's gastronomic capital in 2017; locals are known as choqueros, for their penchant for grilled or deep-fried chocos (cuttlefish).
Worth the trip
- Barrio Obrero, with a distinctly British feel, built by the Rio Tinto mining company
- Full-size replicas of Columbus's ships at nearby Palos de la Frontera
- Comparatively quiet Costa de la Luz beaches
- Parque Nacional de Doñana and the El Rocío pilgrimage nearby
Fiestas
- El Rocío, one of Spain's most exuberant religious pilgrimages, at the edge of Doñana
A little history
Recorded history here begins with the Phoenicians, 3000 years ago; the industrial periphery is far newer, buoyed mainly by industrialisation under Franco.
Who it suits: Seafood lovers · Travellers wanting off-the-radar Andalucía
Who Huelva 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 Huelva lands.
Good for
- American retirees 97th percentile of 8,132 towns a hospital in town · a health centre close by
- Retiring couples 96th percentile of 8,132 towns a hospital in town · a health centre close by
- Families with school-age kids 96th percentile of 8,132 towns 17 km from the sea · a hospital in town
- Remote-working couples 96th percentile of 8,132 towns 17 km from the sea · 143,774 people
- Budget-first coastal settlers 95th percentile of 8,132 towns 17 km from the sea · 143,774 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
- 12.8°C top 6% of 8,131 towns 5°C above the Spanish average (7.8°C)
- Summer high (Jul–Aug)
- 32.8°C bottom 23% of 8,131 towns 2.6°C above the Spanish average (30.2°C)
- Rainy days a year
- 50 days top 16% of 8,088 towns 28% less than the Spanish average (69 days)
- Sunshine
- 8.6 h/day top 1% of 3,829 towns 19% more than the Spanish average (7.2 h/day)
- Summer water stress (WEI+) regional estimate
- 15 top 15% of 8,033 towns 41 below the Spanish average (56)
Cost & economy
- Home price
- €1,576/m² top 30% of 306 towns 29% less than the Spanish average (€2,208/m²)
- Net income per person
- €13,215 bottom 33% of 8,059 towns 9% less than the Spanish average (€14,495)
- Income growth ’18–’23
- 24% bottom 38% of 6,605 towns
Schools
- Schools in town
- 121 top 1% of 7,042 towns
- Nearest international school
- 7 km top 4% of 8,132 towns
- PISA maths (region) regional estimate
- 457 #16 of 17 regions, −22 vs national 24 below the Spanish average (481)
Healthcare
- Drive to a hospital
- 0 min top 1% of 8,132 towns
- Nearest health centre
- 0.5 km top 2% of 7,025 towns
- Surgical wait (region) regional estimate
- 173 days #17 of 17 regions, +70 days vs national 60% more than the Spanish average (108 days)
Getting around
- Drive to nearest airport
- 80 min bottom 44% of 8,132 towns
- Fibre-to-home coverage
- 100% top 3% of 8,132 towns 21% 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
- 143,774
- Born in Spain
- 89.8% 1% above the Spanish average (88.8%)
- Born elsewhere in EU/UK
- 1.8% 2% below the Spanish average (3.8%)
- U.S.-born residents
- 0.35 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 Huelva 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 Huelva against every one of Spain's 8,132 municipalities on your priorities. It sits about 67 min from Sevilla, if that's your anchor.
Take the quiz — rank Huelva for you →Nearby towns
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