Best Places to Retire in Spain 2026: Cost and Climate Compared

Of the five cities this site tracks, Alicante is the cheapest for a retired couple (€2,766 a month), Málaga has the most sunshine and the mildest January, and Madrid and Barcelona cost the most. The table below puts cost and climate side by side so you can see what you give up for each.

Monthly budget for a couple

The budget is an 80 m² flat at the city’s asking rent per m² (idealista, September 2026) plus two people’s average annual spending in the region (INE, Encuesta de Presupuestos Familiares 2025) divided by 12. Spending includes food, transport, utilities, leisure, health and other non-housing costs. INE has no city-level data, so Valencia and Alicante share the Comunitat Valenciana average. See how cost of living is calculated.

City	Rent: 80 m² × €/m²	Spending: 2 × annual ÷ 12	Monthly total
Alicante	80 × €13.9 = €1,112	2 × €9,927 ÷ 12 = €1,654	€2,766
Málaga	80 × €16.5 = €1,320	2 × €8,880 ÷ 12 = €1,480	€2,800
Valencia	80 × €16.3 = €1,304	2 × €9,927 ÷ 12 = €1,654	€2,958
Barcelona	80 × €20.1 = €1,608	2 × €10,424 ÷ 12 = €1,737	€3,345
Madrid	80 × €23.4 = €1,872	2 × €10,924 ÷ 12 = €1,821	€3,693

The non-lucrative visa asks a couple for €3,000 a month in 2026 (see the visa guide). Alicante, Málaga and Valencia come out below that on average spending. Barcelona and Madrid come out above it, so a couple at the legal minimum would be tight there.

Climate: AEMET normals

AEMET, Spain’s state meteorological agency, publishes “valores climatológicos normales” for each station. The pages we opened show the 1981–2010 reference period; we did not find a 1991–2020 table on them. The figures are for one station per city, shown below.

City (station)	Mean January	Mean July	Sunshine hours a year
Madrid (Aeropuerto)	5.5 °C	25.2 °C	2,749*
Barcelona (Fabra)	8.2 °C	23.8 °C	2,506*
Valencia (València)	11.8 °C	25.6 °C	2,696
Málaga (Aeropuerto)	12.1 °C	25.5 °C	2,905
Alicante (Alacant/Alicante)	11.7 °C	25.5 °C	2,851

*AEMET prints monthly sunshine hours for these two stations but leaves the annual cell blank. The annual figure is our sum of the twelve monthly values, not an AEMET number. Madrid: 144 + 168 + 224 + 226 + 258 + 310 + 354 + 329 + 258 + 199 + 151 + 128 = 2,749. Barcelona: 166 + 175 + 188 + 211 + 248 + 270 + 304 + 262 + 190 + 178 + 158 + 156 = 2,506.

Stations sit at airports or in specific districts, so a neighborhood a few miles away can differ. Altitude matters in Madrid: the airport is far from the coast and its mean January temperature is 5.5 °C.

Which city leads on what

• Lowest budget: Alicante, €2,766. Málaga is €34 above it.
• Most sunshine: Málaga, 2,905 hours, then Alicante at 2,851.
• Warmest January: Málaga at 12.1 °C, with Valencia (11.8) and Alicante (11.7) close behind.
• Coolest July: Barcelona at 23.8 °C. The other four are within 0.4 °C of each other at 25.2 to 25.6 °C.
• Lowest rent per m²: Alicante at €13.9; lowest spending per couple: Málaga at €1,480 a month, because the Andalucía average is lower than the Valencian one.
• Highest cost: Madrid on both rent and spending.

Trade-offs to weigh

Cost against sun. Málaga and Alicante pair the most sunshine with budgets under €2,800. Valencia costs about €190 more than Alicante and has fewer sunshine hours than either (2,696). You get a larger city for that difference.

Winter. Madrid’s January mean is 5.5 °C against around 12 °C in Málaga, Valencia and Alicante. Barcelona sits in between at 8.2 °C. If you want to walk outside in winter, the south and east coast lead the table.

Travel home. Each of the five has an international airport: Madrid-Barajas, Barcelona-El Prat, Valencia, Málaga-Costa del Sol and Alicante-Elche. Nonstop options to the US vary by season and airline, so check them for your home airport before choosing.

Healthcare. Spain’s public healthcare is organized by region, and the visa requires private insurance with no copayments during the first permit. Healthcare in Spain for expats covers how public access works after you are resident. Madrid and Barcelona are large metropolitan areas; availability of English-speaking providers in the others is something to check city by city.

Taxes. Where you live in Spain does not change the national tax rules in the Spanish tax residency guide, though regions set some taxes themselves. For the visa itself, see how to retire in Spain.

Limits of these numbers

Rent is the city asking price per m², not what you pay on a long lease, and an 80 m² flat is an assumption. Spending is a regional average per person, not a retiree’s pattern. Valencia and Alicante use the same spending figure, so their gap comes only from rent. Use the table as a comparison, not a quote.