Huelva · Andalucía
Huelva
Andalucía's best-kept secret for seafood lovers, named Spain's gastronomic capital in 2017 — surprisingly off the beaten track for a provincial capital.
What Huelva is like
Portrait drawn from Lonely Planet.
Near Spain's border with Portugal.
On the table. Named Spain's gastronomic capital in 2017; locals are known as choqueros, for their penchant for grilled or deep-fried chocos (cuttlefish).
Worth the trip
- Barrio Obrero, with a distinctly British feel, built by the Rio Tinto mining company
- Full-size replicas of Columbus's ships at nearby Palos de la Frontera
- Comparatively quiet Costa de la Luz beaches
- Parque Nacional de Doñana and the El Rocío pilgrimage nearby
Fiestas
- El Rocío, one of Spain's most exuberant religious pilgrimages, at the edge of Doñana
A little history
Recorded history here begins with the Phoenicians, 3000 years ago; the industrial periphery is far newer, buoyed mainly by industrialisation under Franco.
Who it suits: Seafood lovers · Travellers wanting off-the-radar Andalucía
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
- 12.8°C 5°C above the Spanish average (7.8°C)
- Summer high (Jul–Aug)
- 32.8°C 2.6°C above the Spanish average (30.2°C)
- Rainy days a year
- 50 days 28% less than the Spanish average (69 days)
- Sunshine
- 8.6 h/day 19% more than the Spanish average (7.2 h/day)
- Summer water stress (WEI+) regional estimate
- 15 41 below the Spanish average (56)
Cost & economy
- Home price
- €1,576/m² 29% less than the Spanish average (€2,208/m²)
- Net income per person
- €13,215 9% less than the Spanish average (€14,495)
- Income growth ’18–’23
- 24%
Schools
- Schools in town
- 121
- Nearest international school
- 7 km
- PISA maths (region) regional estimate
- 457 24 below the Spanish average (481)
Healthcare
- Drive to a hospital
- 0 min
- Nearest health centre
- 0.5 km
- Surgical wait (region) regional estimate
- 173 days 60% more than the Spanish average (108 days)
Getting around
- Drive to nearest airport
- 80 min
- Fibre-to-home coverage
- 100% 21% above the Spanish average (79%)
- 100 Mbps+ coverage
- 100% 17% above the Spanish average (83%)
Who lives here
- Population
- 143,774
- Born in Spain
- 89.8% 1% above the Spanish average (88.8%)
- Born elsewhere in EU/UK
- 1.8% 2% below the Spanish average (3.8%)
- U.S.-born residents
- 0.35 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 Huelva 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 Huelva against every one of Spain's 8,132 municipalities on your priorities. It sits about 67 min from Sevilla, if that's your anchor.
Take the quiz — rank Huelva for you →Nearby towns
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