Alicante/Alacant · Comunidad Valenciana
Orihuela
A once-royal town rich in Baroque and Muslim-influenced heritage, capital of the Vega Baja district, retaining a provincial charm despite its coastal proximity.
Why people fall for Orihuela
Portrait drawn from the Michelin Green Guide & The Rough Guide.
At the foot of a mountain, roughly 50km southwest of Alicante, surrounded by a palm grove and huerta (irrigated farmland).
Worth the trip
- A Gothic cathedral (14th century) with a Mudéjar-influenced 14th-century Puerta de las Cadenas
- The Museo Diocesano de Arte Sacro, in the Baroque Palacio Episcopal, holding a Velázquez painting (The Temptation of St Thomas)
A little history
Los Reyes Católicos held court in Orihuela in 1488.
Who it suits: History and architecture travellers
Who Orihuela 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 Orihuela lands.
Good for
- Retiring couples 99th percentile of 8,132 towns a hospital in town · only 31 rainy days a year
- American retirees 96th percentile of 8,132 towns a hospital in town · only 31 rainy days a year
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
- 13.1°C top 4% of 8,131 towns 5.3°C above the Spanish average (7.8°C)
- Summer high (Jul–Aug)
- 30.8°C bottom 45% of 8,131 towns 0.6°C above the Spanish average (30.2°C)
- Rainy days a year
- 31 days top 1% of 8,088 towns 55% less than the Spanish average (69 days)
- Sunshine
- no local data
- Summer water stress (WEI+) regional estimate
- 259 bottom 1% of 8,033 towns 203 above the Spanish average (56)
Cost & economy
- Home price
- €2,166/m² bottom 44% of 306 towns about the Spanish average (€2,208/m²)
- Net income per person
- €11,512 bottom 13% of 8,059 towns 21% less than the Spanish average (€14,495)
- Income growth ’18–’23
- 26.9% top 44% of 6,605 towns
Schools
- Schools in town
- 36 top 2% of 7,042 towns
- Nearest international school
- 15 km top 14% of 8,132 towns
- PISA maths (region) regional estimate
- 473 #10 of 17 regions, −6 vs national 8 below the Spanish average (481)
Healthcare
- Drive to a hospital
- 0 min top 1% of 8,132 towns
- Nearest health centre
- no local data
- Surgical wait (region) regional estimate
- 88 days #6 of 17 regions, −15 days vs national 18% less than the Spanish average (108 days)
Getting around
- Drive to nearest airport
- 54 min top 29% of 8,132 towns
- Fibre-to-home coverage
- 91% top 44% of 8,132 towns 12% above the Spanish average (79%)
- 100 Mbps+ coverage
- 97% top 31% of 8,132 towns 14% above the Spanish average (83%)
Who lives here
- Population
- 84,279
- Born in Spain
- 61% 27.8% below the Spanish average (88.8%)
- Born elsewhere in EU/UK
- 20.2% 16.4% above the Spanish average (3.8%)
- U.S.-born residents
- 0.82 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 Orihuela 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 Orihuela against every one of Spain's 8,132 municipalities on your priorities. It sits about 34 min from Torrevieja, if that's your anchor.
Take the quiz — rank Orihuela for you →Nearby towns
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