Madrid · Madrid
Alcalá de Henares
One of Europe's most ancient university towns and the birthplace of Miguel de Cervantes, though today virtually a suburb of Madrid.
Living in Alcalá de Henares
Alcalá de Henares is a historic university city of 200,000 that has effectively become an eastern satellite of Madrid, a little over 30km from the capital. Its old core — birthplace of Cervantes and one of Europe's oldest university towns — sits within easy commuting reach: Madrid's airport is under half an hour away, and the city has its own hospital and health centres. The weather is Madrid's own: hot, dry summers with highs around 34°C, and cold winters averaging 7°C. With roughly three-quarters of residents Spanish-born and a large Romanian and Latin American population, it feels like a working Madrid suburb rather than a tourist town.
Alcalá de Henares's Spainability Scores — by who's moving
Not our opinion: we ran the same scoring engine behind the quiz for six settler profiles across all 8,132 municipalities. Each score is Alcalá de Henares's percentile for that group — 87 means it beats 87% of the towns we could score. How scoring works.
Higher than 86% of the 8,088 Spanish municipalities we could score for American retirees.
One of Europe's most ancient university towns and the birthplace of Miguel de Cervantes, though today virtually a suburb of Madrid. A strong pick for American retirees — a hospital in town and a health centre close by.
- Winter average temp 7.2°C
- Drive to a hospital 0 min
- U.S.-born residents 1.68 per 1,000
- Registered long-let rent €9.42/m²·mo
Higher than 68% of the 8,088 Spanish municipalities we could score for retiring couples.
One of Europe's most ancient university towns and the birthplace of Miguel de Cervantes, though today virtually a suburb of Madrid. A strong pick for a retiring couple — a hospital in town and a health centre close by.
- Winter average temp 7.2°C
- Drive to a hospital 0 min
- Surgical wait (region) 50 days
- Registered long-let rent €9.42/m²·mo
Higher than 12% of the 2,555 Spanish municipalities we could score for remote workers.
One of Europe's most ancient university towns and the birthplace of Miguel de Cervantes, though today virtually a suburb of Madrid. A strong pick for a remote-working couple — 202,549 people and a hospital in town.
- 100 Mbps+ coverage 100%
- Drive to nearest airport 29 min
- Registered long-let rent €9.42/m²·mo
- Summer high (Jul–Aug) 33.6°C
Higher than 11% of the 2,555 Spanish municipalities we could score for families.
One of Europe's most ancient university towns and the birthplace of Miguel de Cervantes, though today virtually a suburb of Madrid. A strong pick for a family with school-age kids — a hospital in town and 104 schools in town.
- Schools in town 104
- PISA maths (region) 494
- Registered long-let rent €9.42/m²·mo
- Drive to a hospital 0 min
Higher than 6% of the 2,555 Spanish municipalities we could score for budget-first coastal settlers.
One of Europe's most ancient university towns and the birthplace of Miguel de Cervantes, though today virtually a suburb of Madrid. A strong pick for coastal living on a budget — a hospital in town and 202,549 people.
- Registered long-let rent €9.42/m²·mo
- Net income per person €15,598
- Summer high (Jul–Aug) 33.6°C
Higher than 5% of the 2,555 Spanish municipalities we could score for heat-averse settlers.
One of Europe's most ancient university towns and the birthplace of Miguel de Cervantes, though today virtually a suburb of Madrid. A strong pick if you can't stand hot summers — a hospital in town and a real food scene.
- Summer high (Jul–Aug) 33.6°C
- Rainy days a year 56 days
- Summer water stress (WEI+) 117
- Winter average temp 7.2°C
What is the climate like in Alcalá de Henares?
Alcalá de Henares's reported winter average is 7.2°C, while July–August highs reach 33.6°C.
Climate
- Winter average temp
- 7.2°C top 48% of 8,131 towns 0.6°C below the Spanish average (7.8°C)
- Summer high (Jul–Aug)
- 33.6°C bottom 16% of 8,131 towns 3.4°C above the Spanish average (30.2°C)
- Rainy days a year
- 56 days top 32% of 8,088 towns 19% less than the Spanish average (69 days)
- Sunshine
- 7.8 h/day top 27% of 3,829 towns 7% more than the Spanish average (7.2 h/day)
- Summer water stress (WEI+) regional estimate
- 117 bottom 10% of 8,033 towns 60 above the Spanish average (56)
- River-flood depth (T=100, town centre) estimated
- 0 m top 1% of 8,129 towns 0.04 m below the Spanish average (0.04 m)
- River-flood risk score estimated
- 0 top 1% of 8,129 towns about the Spanish average (0)
- Wildfire burn rate (2010–23)
- 1.14 ha/km² bottom 16% of 8,132 towns 1.17 ha/km² below the Spanish average (2.31 ha/km²)
- Forest fires (2010–23)
- 15 bottom 7% of 8,132 towns 9 above the Spanish average (6)
- High fire-weather days (province) regional estimate
- 20.4% top 21% of 8,130 towns 2.4% below the Spanish average (22.9%)
The year, month by month
AEMET 30-year climate normals — what a January or an August actually feels like, not the annual average.
How good is healthcare in Alcalá de Henares?
Alcalá de Henares's nearest health centre is 0.7 km away, and the reported hospital drive is 0 min.
Healthcare
- Drive to a hospital
- 0 min top 1% of 8,132 towns
- Nearest health centre
- 0.7 km top 2% of 8,132 towns
- Surgical wait (region) regional estimate
- 50 days #1 of 17 regions, −53 days vs national 54% less than the Spanish average (108 days)
What are schools like in Alcalá de Henares?
Alcalá de Henares has 104 schools in town; the nearest international school is 21 km away.
Schools
- Schools in town
- 104 top 1% of 7,042 towns
- Nearest international school
- 21 km top 22% of 8,132 towns
- PISA maths (region) regional estimate
- 494 #4 of 17 regions, +15 vs national 13 above the Spanish average (481)
How much does it cost to live in Alcalá de Henares?
Alcalá de Henares's reported home price is €2,839/m², while registered long-let rent is €9.42/m²·mo.
Cost & economy
- Home price
- €2,839/m² appraisal (valor tasado) bottom 24% of 306 towns 29% more than the Spanish average (€2,208/m²)
- Asking price
- no local data
- Registered long-let rent
- €9.42/m²·mo
- Registered rent p25
- €7.9/m²·mo
- Registered rent p75
- €11.2/m²·mo
- Registered-rent yield
- 3.98% bottom 37% of 306 towns
- Net income per person
- €15,598 top 33% of 8,059 towns 8% more than the Spanish average (€14,495)
- Income growth ’18–’23
- 24% bottom 38% of 6,605 towns
Which languages are used in schools in Alcalá de Henares?
Spanish is the only region-wide official language in Madrid, and Spanish-medium teaching is the public-school default. Individual bilingual and international programmes can use other languages, so check the specific school. See the Madrid region guide for the wider regional context.
What is the community like in Alcalá de Henares?
Alcalá de Henares's reported population is 202,549.
Who lives here
- Population
- 202,549
- Born in Spain
- 77.2% 11.6% below the Spanish average (88.8%)
- Born elsewhere in EU/UK
- 6.2% 2.4% above the Spanish average (3.8%)
- U.S.-born residents
- 1.68 per 1,000
How easy is it to get around Alcalá de Henares?
Alcalá de Henares is a reported 29 min drive from the nearest airport, with 99% fibre-to-home coverage.
Getting around
- Drive to nearest airport
- 29 min top 7% of 8,132 towns
- Fibre-to-home coverage
- 99% top 8% of 8,132 towns 20% above the Spanish average (79%)
- 100 Mbps+ coverage
- 100% top 1% of 8,132 towns 17% above the Spanish average (83%)
Numbers: Spainability town dataset, derived from INE, AEMET, Mitma and the Catastro. Registered long-let rent is SERPAVI declared-contract data; its p25–p75 values show the observed band. Registered-rent yield is gross, excludes costs and is never imputed. 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.
How does Alcalá de Henares 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 Alcalá de Henares against every one of Spain's 8,132 municipalities on your priorities. It sits about 15 min from Torrejón de Ardoz, if that's your anchor.
Take the quiz — rank Alcalá de Henares for you →Questions to verify locally
- Ask whether current long-let rents match the registered-contract figure.
- Request recent comparable sales before relying on the appraisal figure.
- Test fibre speed at the exact address, not the town average.
- Visit local schools and confirm places for incoming families.
- Confirm health-centre registration and opening hours in person.
- Ask an insurer how the mapped flood or wildfire exposure affects cover.
Nearby towns
Other places we profile within easy reach.