Burgos · Castilla Y Leon
Lerma
An extraordinary piece of vanity building — an entire upper town built almost overnight (1606-1617) for a court favourite duke, now centred on a magnificent parador.
Why people fall for Lerma
Portrait drawn from The Rough Guide.
High above the Río Arlanza.
Worth the trip
- The former ducal palace, now a magnificent parador, fronted by a sweeping arcaded plaza
- Six monasteries and convents built by the pious Duke of Lerma
- A weekly Wednesday market filling the main square
A little history
Built almost entirely between 1606 and 1617 at the behest of the Duke of Lerma, court favourite of the weak Felipe III.
Who it suits: Parador seekers · Architecture/history day-trippers
Who Lerma 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 Lerma lands.
Probably not for
- American retirees 19th percentile of 8,132 towns weakest factor: mild winters
- Retiring couples 23rd percentile of 8,132 towns weakest factor: mild winters
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
- 4.7°C bottom 8% of 8,131 towns 3.1°C below the Spanish average (7.8°C)
- Summer high (Jul–Aug)
- 28°C top 18% of 8,131 towns 2.2°C below the Spanish average (30.2°C)
- Rainy days a year
- 85 days bottom 20% of 8,088 towns 24% more than the Spanish average (69 days)
- Sunshine estimated
- 6.3 h/day bottom 17% of 3,829 towns 13% less than the Spanish average (7.2 h/day)
- Summer water stress (WEI+) regional estimate
- 95 bottom 22% of 8,033 towns 39 above the Spanish average (56)
Cost & economy
- Home price
- no local data
- Net income per person
- €14,145 bottom 48% of 8,059 towns about the Spanish average (€14,495)
- Income growth ’18–’23
- 22.1% bottom 27% of 6,605 towns
Schools
- Schools in town
- 3 top 19% of 7,042 towns
- Nearest international school
- 38 km top 41% of 8,132 towns
- PISA maths (region) regional estimate
- 499 #1 of 17 regions, +20 vs national 18 above the Spanish average (481)
Healthcare
- Drive to a hospital
- 36 min bottom 46% of 8,132 towns
- Nearest health centre
- 5.8 km top 29% of 7,025 towns
- Surgical wait (region) regional estimate
- 87 days #5 of 17 regions, −16 days vs national 19% less than the Spanish average (108 days)
Getting around
- Drive to nearest airport
- 104 min bottom 23% of 8,132 towns
- Fibre-to-home coverage
- 71% bottom 20% of 8,132 towns 8% below the Spanish average (79%)
- 100 Mbps+ coverage
- 71% bottom 15% of 8,132 towns 13% below the Spanish average (83%)
Who lives here
- Population
- 2,648
- Born in Spain
- 82.1% 6.7% below the Spanish average (88.8%)
- Born elsewhere in EU/UK
- 5.4% 1.6% above the Spanish average (3.8%)
- U.S.-born residents
- 0 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 Lerma 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 Lerma against every one of Spain's 8,132 municipalities on your priorities. It sits about 39 min from Burgos, if that's your anchor.
Take the quiz — rank Lerma for you →Nearby towns
Other places we profile within easy reach.