SpainScore comparison · Updated July 2026
Asturias vs Galicia for settling in Spain (2026)
Asturias or Galicia? Two Atlantic regions that are easy to confuse. Below, every settler number side by side — a winner called only where the gap is real, "similar" where it isn't — plus the tax split that can be worth five figures a year.
How we compare
Every figure below is pulled from the same SpainScore dataset behind the region briefs and the quiz. We put the two regions' numbers side by side and call a "winner" on a row only when the gap is big enough to matter — otherwise it reads "similar". Nothing here is hand-picked or editorialised.
- Data AEMET climate normals, regional PISA (INEE), the Health Ministry's SISLE waiting lists, INE income & Catastro home prices, and AEAT-joined regional tax postures — each against the Spanish average.
- Winners Called only on a meaningful gap (e.g. a home-price row needs a 15% difference, a surgical-wait row 20 days). Smaller gaps say "similar". A missing number on either side says "no data" and never picks a winner.
- Persona ranks From our region roll-up: each region's towns scored for six settler profiles and ranked 1–17 among Spain's comunidades. Lower rank = the better place to look.
The verdict, by who you are
For each of the six settler profiles we score, which region its towns rank better for — straight from the region roll-up (1–17 among Spain's comunidades, lower is better).
| If you're… | Asturias | Galicia | Better bet |
|---|---|---|---|
| year_round_mild | #9 of 17 | #3 of 17 | Galicia |
| investor | #7 of 17 | #12 of 17 | Asturias |
| budget_inland | #1 of 17 | #3 of 17 | Asturias, narrowly |
| Heat-averse settlers | #3 of 17 | #1 of 17 | Galicia, narrowly |
| Families with school-age kids | #2 of 17 | #1 of 17 | Galicia, narrowly |
| Remote-working couples | #2 of 17 | #1 of 17 | Galicia, narrowly |
| Budget-first coastal settlers | #2 of 17 | #1 of 17 | Galicia, narrowly |
| winter_sun | #9 of 17 | #10 of 17 | Asturias, narrowly |
| Retiring couples | #11 of 17 | #12 of 17 | Asturias, narrowly |
| American retirees | #11 of 17 | #10 of 17 | Galicia, narrowly |
Ranked 1–17 by the median national percentile of each region's municipalities for that profile. Ties read "similar".
The numbers, side by side
Each region's figure with its rank chip where we have one. A "winner" only where the gap is real.
Climate
| Metric | Asturias | Galicia | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summer high (Jul–Aug avg) | 22.9°C | 26.0°C | similar |
| Winter average | 9.1°C | 8.9°C | similar |
| Rainy days a year | 124 days | 121 days | similar |
| Sunshine | 4.9 h/day | 5.7 h/day | similar |
| Summer water stress (WEI+) | 6 #2 of 16 regions · −50 vs national | 6 #1 of 16 regions · −51 vs national | similar |
Aggregated from each region's municipalities (AEMET/derived); summer water stress is a river-basin (WEI+) reading. Chips rank the region among Spain's comunidades.
Schools (PISA)
| Metric | Asturias | Galicia | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| PISA science | 503 #4 of 17 regions · +14 vs national | 506 #1 of 17 regions · +17 vs national | similar |
| PISA maths | 495 #2 of 17 regions · +16 vs national | 486 #8 of 17 regions · +7 vs national | similar |
| PISA reading | 497 #2 of 17 regions · +19 vs national | 485 #7 of 17 regions · +7 vs national | Asturias |
PISA 2022, reported per comunidad autónoma (INEE). Chips rank among the 17 regions.
Public healthcare
| Metric | Asturias | Galicia | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mean surgical wait | 91 days #7 of 17 regions · −12 days vs national | 73 days #3 of 17 regions · −30 days vs national | similar |
| Waiting over 6 months | 10.4% | 5.7% | similar |
| Specialist consult wait | 103 days | 63 days | Galicia |
Public waiting lists — SISLE-SNS Dic 2025, per comunidad autónoma. Lower is better.
Cost & economy
| Metric | Asturias | Galicia | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median home price | €1,492/m² | €1,650/m² | similar |
| Median net income / person | €14,812 | €13,641 | Asturias |
Median across each region's municipalities (INE net income; Catastro-derived sale price).
Tax face-off (2025)
Wealth and inheritance/gift posture for each region — often the single five-figure difference between two otherwise similar places.
Galicia is the lighter-taxed of the two on wealth tax (light vs standard) and inheritance & gifts (none vs light).
Asturias
- Wealth tax standard
- Own scale (top ~3.0%) with no general bonificación — a real annual wealth tax above the €700k exemption.
- Inheritance & gifts light
- Spouse/children (Grupo I & II) exempt up to €300,000, then taxed on the excess under the regional scale.
State ITSGF above ~€3M net worth; wealth tax paid is credited against it. Source: primary source.
Galicia
- Wealth tax light
- 50% bonificación — halves the state-scale wealth-tax bill (a real, if reduced, annual cost).
- Inheritance & gifts none
- €1,000,000 reduction per heir for spouse/children (Grupo I & II) — effectively no inheritance tax below €1M, taxed on the excess above.
With only a 50% wealth-tax bonificación, high net worth can face combined wealth tax plus state ITSGF above ~€3M net worth. Source: primary source.
General posture, not personal tax advice — thresholds and reliefs change and depend on your circumstances.
Choose Asturias, or Galicia?
Built straight from the winners above — the reasons each region actually pulls ahead on the data.
Choose Asturias if you…
- put school (PISA) results first
- want a more prosperous local economy
- are investor (it ranks #7 of 17 here vs #12 there)
Choose Galicia if you…
- want shorter public-health waits
- are year_round_mild (it ranks #3 of 17 here vs #9 there)
- have significant assets or an estate to pass on and want the lighter wealth/inheritance regime
Best towns in each, to start from
The same engine as the quiz, run over each region's towns and filtered to the ones we profile in depth. Top of each list, in the engine's order — not hand-picked.
Best towns in Asturias for families
schools, coast and cost, scored for remote-working parents
Best towns in Galicia for families
schools, coast and cost, scored for remote-working parents
- Vigo 3 km from the sea · a hospital in town
- Cangas 3 km from the sea · 26,698 people
- Pontevedra 14 km from the sea · a hospital in town
- Coruña, A 3 km from the sea · a hospital in town
- Santiago de Compostela 41 km from the sea · a hospital in town
Questions
Is Asturias or Galicia better for settling in Spain?
Neither is "better" outright — it depends on what you weigh. On our data Asturias takes 2 of the head-to-head measures, Galicia takes 1, and 10 come out similar. See the row-by-row table and the "choose X if…" summary above.
How do taxes compare between Asturias and Galicia?
Galicia is the lighter-taxed of the two on wealth tax (light vs standard) and inheritance & gifts (none vs light).
Which is better for year_round_mild?
Galicia. Across Spain's 17 comunidades, Asturias ranks #9 of 17 for that profile and Galicia ranks #3 of 17 — so Galicia is the stronger place to look.
Go deeper on either region
This compares two regions, not your priorities
Get your ranking across both →
Answer a dozen honest questions and we score all 8,132 municipalities — in Asturias, Galicia and everywhere else — against what you care about, tradeoffs shown as plainly as the wins.
Take the 3-minute quiz →Updated July 2026. Re-generated from the SpainScore dataset on each data release — the comparison is reproducible, not editorial.