Tarragona · Cataluña
Tortosa
A peaceful town crossed by the Ebro with a rich monumental heritage, the front line for months during the Civil War, costing 35,000 lives.
Why people fall for Tortosa
Portrait drawn from the Michelin Green Guide & The Rough Guide.
Slightly inland astride the Ríu Ebre, at the edge of the Ebro Delta.
Worth the trip
- A Gothic episcopal palace and magnificent cathedral, housing a 1351 polychrome altarpiece
- The Suda, an ancient castle atop the town now a parador
- The Ebro Delta Park, a paradise for birdwatchers with 300+ bird species
Fiestas
- Festa del Renaixement, late July, celebrating the city's history in period costume
A little history
In the Civil War the front was outside Tortosa for several months until the Nationalists eventually took the town in April 1938; the battle cost 35,000 lives.
Who it suits: Birdwatchers · Civil War history travellers
Who Tortosa 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 Tortosa lands.
Good for
- Retiring couples 96th percentile of 8,132 towns a hospital in town · a health centre close by
- American retirees 96th percentile of 8,132 towns a hospital in town · a health centre close by
- Families with school-age kids 93rd percentile of 8,132 towns homes around €1,085/m² · 30 km from the sea
- Remote-working couples 92nd percentile of 8,132 towns low housing cost (~€1,085/m²) · 36,258 people
- Budget-first coastal settlers 91st percentile of 8,132 towns homes around €1,085/m² · 36,258 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
- 11.7°C top 14% of 8,131 towns 3.9°C above the Spanish average (7.8°C)
- Summer high (Jul–Aug)
- 33°C bottom 22% of 8,131 towns 2.8°C above the Spanish average (30.2°C)
- Rainy days a year
- 49 days top 16% of 8,088 towns 29% less than the Spanish average (69 days)
- Sunshine
- 7.6 h/day top 38% of 3,829 towns 4% more than the Spanish average (7.2 h/day)
- Summer water stress (WEI+) regional estimate
- 24 top 28% of 8,033 towns 32 below the Spanish average (56)
Cost & economy
- Home price
- €1,085/m² top 11% of 306 towns 51% less than the Spanish average (€2,208/m²)
- Net income per person
- €13,896 bottom 44% of 8,059 towns 4% less than the Spanish average (€14,495)
- Income growth ’18–’23
- 20.2% bottom 19% of 6,605 towns
Schools
- Schools in town
- 23 top 2% of 7,042 towns
- Nearest international school
- 60 km bottom 36% of 8,132 towns
- PISA maths (region) regional estimate
- 469 #12 of 17 regions, −10 vs national 12 below the Spanish average (481)
Healthcare
- Drive to a hospital
- 0 min top 1% of 8,132 towns
- Nearest health centre
- 1.4 km top 6% of 7,025 towns
- Surgical wait (region) regional estimate
- 142 days #16 of 17 regions, +39 days vs national 32% more than the Spanish average (108 days)
Getting around
- Drive to nearest airport
- 78 min bottom 46% of 8,132 towns
- Fibre-to-home coverage
- 86% bottom 40% of 8,132 towns 7% above the Spanish average (79%)
- 100 Mbps+ coverage
- 92% bottom 46% of 8,132 towns 9% above the Spanish average (83%)
Who lives here
- Population
- 36,258
- Born in Spain
- 72% 16.8% below the Spanish average (88.8%)
- Born elsewhere in EU/UK
- 3.7% 0.2% below the Spanish average (3.8%)
- U.S.-born residents
- 0.72 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 Tortosa 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 Tortosa against every one of Spain's 8,132 municipalities on your priorities. It sits about 69 min from Reus, if that's your anchor.
Take the quiz — rank Tortosa for you →Nearby towns
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