Burgos · Castilla Y Leon
Burgos
The capital of Old Castile for almost five hundred years, home of El Cid, and a firm station on the Camino pilgrim route — a handsome, much-restored cathedral city that isn't as big as it feels.
What Burgos is like
Portrait drawn from Lonely Planet & The Rough Guide.
The Río Arlanzón bisects the city, with the casco histórico on the north bank; retains small-town intimacy from its 9th-century roots as a strategic fortress.
Worth the trip
- The 13th-century Gothic Catedral, one of the greatest in Spain, holding El Cid's tomb
- The mirador of Castillo de Burgos, with a huge 3-D bronze landmark map
- Two monasteries on the outskirts
- El Cid's legend — born in nearby Vivar in 1043
A little history
Capital of Old Castile for almost five hundred years; home of El Cid in the eleventh century; base of Fernando III, reconqueror of Córdoba and Seville; during the Civil War, Franco temporarily installed his Fascist government here.
Who it suits: Camino de Santiago pilgrims · Cathedral/history travellers
The numbers
The decision data — each figure against the Spanish average. Regional overlays and estimates are labelled, and where there's no local reading we say so plainly.
Climate
- Winter average temp
- 4.7°C 3.1°C below the Spanish average (7.8°C)
- Summer high (Jul–Aug)
- 28°C 2.2°C below the Spanish average (30.2°C)
- Rainy days a year
- 85 days 24% more than the Spanish average (69 days)
- Sunshine
- 6.3 h/day 13% less than the Spanish average (7.2 h/day)
- Summer water stress (WEI+) regional estimate
- 95 39 above the Spanish average (56)
Cost & economy
- Home price
- €1,959/m² 11% less than the Spanish average (€2,208/m²)
- Net income per person
- €16,707 15% more than the Spanish average (€14,495)
- Income growth ’18–’23
- 20%
Schools
- Schools in town
- 88
- Nearest international school
- 3 km
- PISA maths (region) regional estimate
- 499 18 above the Spanish average (481)
Healthcare
- Drive to a hospital
- 0 min
- Nearest health centre
- 0.2 km
- Surgical wait (region) regional estimate
- 87 days 19% less than the Spanish average (108 days)
Getting around
- Drive to nearest airport
- 87 min
- Fibre-to-home coverage
- 99% 20% above the Spanish average (79%)
- 100 Mbps+ coverage
- 100% 17% above the Spanish average (83%)
Who lives here
- Population
- 178,370
- Born in Spain
- 85.3% 3.5% below the Spanish average (88.8%)
- Born elsewhere in EU/UK
- 3% 0.8% below the Spanish average (3.8%)
- U.S.-born residents
- 0.67 per 1,000
Numbers: SettleSpain town dataset, derived from INE, AEMET, Mitma, Ministerio del Interior and the Catastro. National average = the unweighted mean across all 8,132 Spanish municipalities with data. A blank means no municipal-level figure is published — not a zero.
How does Burgos 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 Burgos against every one of Spain's 8,132 municipalities on your priorities. It sits about 73 min from Palencia, if that's your anchor.
Take the quiz — rank Burgos for you →Nearby towns
Other places we profile within easy reach.