Girona · Cataluña
Ripoll
The cradle of Catalunya, where founding father Guifré el Pélos (Wilfred the Hairy) staked his claim to what became the Autonomous Community.
Living in Ripoll
Ripoll is a quiet mountain town of 10,800 in the Catalan Pyrenean foothills, known as the 'cradle of Catalonia' — it was here that Wilfred the Hairy laid the foundations of the future nation, and its great Romanesque monastery portal, the carved 'Stone Bible', is one of Spain's finest. It's a working town with a large Moroccan community, leaving about four in five residents Spanish-born. At around 1,050m the climate is upland: warm summers near 30°C and cold winters with frost. It has a hospital under fifteen minutes away and makes a good, well-serviced base for the Pyrenees, though the coast and airport are over an hour off.
Ripoll'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 Ripoll's percentile for that group — 87 means it beats 87% of the towns we could score. How scoring works.
Higher than 55% of the 8,088 Spanish municipalities we could score for American retirees.
The cradle of Catalunya, where founding father Guifré el Pélos (Wilfred the Hairy) staked his claim to what became the Autonomous Community. A strong pick for American retirees — 12 min to a hospital and a health centre close by.
- Winter average temp 5.4°C
- Drive to a hospital 12 min
- U.S.-born residents 0.65 per 1,000
- Registered long-let rent €5.58/m²·mo
Higher than 38% of the 2,555 Spanish municipalities we could score for heat-averse settlers.
The cradle of Catalunya, where founding father Guifré el Pélos (Wilfred the Hairy) staked his claim to what became the Autonomous Community. A strong pick if you can't stand hot summers — 12 min to a hospital and 74 km from the sea.
- Summer high (Jul–Aug) 29.6°C
- Rainy days a year 79 days
- Summer water stress (WEI+) 73
- Winter average temp 5.4°C
Higher than 38% of the 8,088 Spanish municipalities we could score for retiring couples.
The cradle of Catalunya, where founding father Guifré el Pélos (Wilfred the Hairy) staked his claim to what became the Autonomous Community. A strong pick for a retiring couple — 12 min to a hospital and a health centre close by.
- Winter average temp 5.4°C
- Drive to a hospital 12 min
- Surgical wait (region) 142 days
- Registered long-let rent €5.58/m²·mo
Higher than 38% of the 2,555 Spanish municipalities we could score for remote workers.
The cradle of Catalunya, where founding father Guifré el Pélos (Wilfred the Hairy) staked his claim to what became the Autonomous Community. A strong pick for a remote-working couple — 10,812 people and 12 min to a hospital.
- 100 Mbps+ coverage 97%
- Drive to nearest airport 74 min
- Registered long-let rent €5.58/m²·mo
- Summer high (Jul–Aug) 29.6°C
Higher than 37% of the 2,555 Spanish municipalities we could score for families.
The cradle of Catalunya, where founding father Guifré el Pélos (Wilfred the Hairy) staked his claim to what became the Autonomous Community. A strong pick for a family with school-age kids — 12 min to a hospital and 10,812 people.
- Schools in town 7
- PISA maths (region) 469
- Registered long-let rent €5.58/m²·mo
- Drive to a hospital 12 min
Higher than 22% of the 2,555 Spanish municipalities we could score for budget-first coastal settlers.
The cradle of Catalunya, where founding father Guifré el Pélos (Wilfred the Hairy) staked his claim to what became the Autonomous Community. A strong pick for coastal living on a budget — 10,812 people and 12 min to a hospital.
- Registered long-let rent €5.58/m²·mo
- Net income per person €15,621
- Summer high (Jul–Aug) 29.6°C
What is the climate like in Ripoll?
Ripoll's reported winter average is 5.4°C, while July–August highs reach 29.6°C.
Climate
- Winter average temp
- 5.4°C bottom 22% of 8,131 towns 2.3°C below the Spanish average (7.8°C)
- Summer high (Jul–Aug)
- 29.6°C top 36% of 8,131 towns 0.6°C below the Spanish average (30.2°C)
- Rainy days a year
- 79 days bottom 29% of 8,088 towns 14% more than the Spanish average (69 days)
- Sunshine
- no local data
- Summer water stress (WEI+) regional estimate
- 73 bottom 31% of 8,033 towns 16 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)
- 0.04 ha/km² top 43% of 8,132 towns 2.27 ha/km² below the Spanish average (2.31 ha/km²)
- Forest fires (2010–23)
- 1 top 39% of 8,132 towns 5 below the Spanish average (6)
- High fire-weather days (province) regional estimate
- 28.4% bottom 7% of 8,130 towns 5.5% above 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 Ripoll?
Ripoll's nearest health centre is 2.2 km away, and the reported hospital drive is 12 min.
Healthcare
- Drive to a hospital
- 12 min top 9% of 8,132 towns
- Nearest health centre
- 2.2 km top 11% of 8,132 towns
- Surgical wait (region) regional estimate
- 142 days #16 of 17 regions, +39 days vs national 32% more than the Spanish average (108 days)
What are schools like in Ripoll?
Ripoll has 7 schools in town; the nearest international school is 56 km away.
Schools
- Schools in town
- 7 top 9% of 7,042 towns
- Nearest international school
- 56 km bottom 37% of 8,132 towns
- PISA maths (region) regional estimate
- 469 #12 of 17 regions, −10 vs national 12 below the Spanish average (481)
How much does it cost to live in Ripoll?
Ripoll's reported registered long-let rent is €5.58/m²·mo.
Cost & economy
- Home price
- no local data
- Asking price
- no local data
- Registered long-let rent
- €5.58/m²·mo
- Registered rent p25
- €4.35/m²·mo
- Registered rent p75
- €6.68/m²·mo
- Registered-rent yield
- no reliable sale-price data — yield not imputed
- Net income per person
- €15,621 top 32% of 8,059 towns 8% more than the Spanish average (€14,495)
- Income growth ’18–’23
- 17.2% bottom 11% of 6,605 towns
Which languages are used in schools in Ripoll?
Catalonia has a co-official regional language, and public schools commonly use regional-language immersion or bilingual models rather than Spanish-only teaching. The exact classroom language depends on the school and programme, so confirm the current model before enrolling. See the Catalonia region guide for the wider regional context.
What is the community like in Ripoll?
Ripoll's reported population is 10,812.
Who lives here
- Population
- 10,812
- Born in Spain
- 80.4% 8.4% below the Spanish average (88.8%)
- Born elsewhere in EU/UK
- 1.1% 2.7% below the Spanish average (3.8%)
- U.S.-born residents
- 0.65 per 1,000
How easy is it to get around Ripoll?
Ripoll is a reported 74 min drive from the nearest airport, with 96% fibre-to-home coverage.
Getting around
- Drive to nearest airport
- 74 min bottom 49% of 8,132 towns
- Fibre-to-home coverage
- 96% top 23% of 8,132 towns 17% above the Spanish average (79%)
- 100 Mbps+ coverage
- 97% top 32% of 8,132 towns 14% 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 Ripoll 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 Ripoll against every one of Spain's 8,132 municipalities on your priorities. It sits about 39 min from Vic, if that's your anchor.
Take the quiz — rank Ripoll for you →Questions to verify locally
- Ask whether current long-let rents match the registered-contract figure.
- Request comparable sales; neither appraisal nor asking data is published.
- 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.