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MAP: Where are Spain’s richest and poorest towns?

A map charting the average income of people by municipality in Spain reveals a startling north-south divide.

Published: 7 June 2019 09:12 CEST

MAP: Where are Spain's richest and poorest towns?

Farm workers in the 'Casa Vieja' shantytown in Nijar, Almeria province, registered as the poorest in Spain. Photo: AFP

While all almost all of the wealthiest towns located in Madrid, Barcelona and the Basque Country, at the other end of the scale, the poorest towns can be found along the coast from Andalusia to Alicante.

The data comes from the National Statistics Office (INE) records from 2016 on municipalities with a population of at least 20,000 people and reveals the average salary per capita.

The data is based on tax returns for 2016 divided over the entire community officially registered as residents on the padron – including children, students, the elderly and unemployed.

Madrid province overwhelmingly dominates the wealthiest zones with 11 municipalities – including the city of Madrid itself – appearing in the top 20. The other towns are all suburbs in the north and northwest of the city.

Barcelona province has three municipalities in the top twenty – Barcelona city, Sant Cugat del Vallés, a suburb to the northeast and the coastal resort of Sitges.

The Basque Country has five in the top twenty; Getxo, San Sebastian, Mondragon, Zarautz and Vitoria-Gasteiz while Galicia has one; Oleiros, a commuter town outside A Coruña.

The interactive map below shows the location of the 20 richest towns in blue and 20 poorest towns in red.

Meanwhile Níjar in Almeria province takes the title of poorest town (above 20,000 population) in the whole of Spain with an average annual salary of €6,253 per head of the population.

But it is joined in the bottom 20 by 13 other towns in Andalusia; three others in Almeria province, two each in Huelva, Seville and Malaga, a further three in Cadiz and one in Granada.

The Canary Islands have two towns among Spain’s poorest; Arona on Tenerife and and La Oliva on the island of Las Palmas.

Four towns in Alicante are included among the poorest; Almoradi, Mazarrón, Torrevieja and Calpe. The latter two are popular with retired Brits whose presence there certainly brings down the average income.

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Five signs you've settled into life in Switzerland

No lint: Following laundry room rules is a sign of integration in Switzerland. Photo by Sara Chai from Pexels

Much has been said about Switzerland’s quirkiness, but when you think about it, this country’s idiosyncrasies are not more or less weird than any other nation’s — except for the fact that they are expressed in at least three languages which, admittedly, can complicate matters a bit.

However, once you master the intricacies and nuances of Swiss life, you will feel like you belong here.

This is when you know you’ve “made it”.

You speak one of the national languages, even if badly

It irritates the Swiss to no end when a foreigner, and particularly an English-speaking foreigner, doesn’t make an effort to learn the language of a region in which he or she lives, insisting instead that everyone communicates to them in their language.

So speaking the local language will go a long way to being accepted and making you feel settled in your new home.

You get a Swiss watch and live by it

Punctuality is a virtue here, while tardiness is a definite no-no.

If you want to ingratiate yourself to the Swiss, be on time. Being even a minute late may cause you to miss your bus, but also fail in the cultural integration.

‘The pleasure of punctuality’: Why are the Swiss so obsessed with being on time?

Using an excuse like “my train was late” may be valid in other countries, but not in Switzerland.

The only exception to this rule is if a herd of cows or goats blocks your path, causing you to be late.

A close-up of a Rolex watch in Switzerland.

Owning a Rolex is a sure sign you’re rich enough to live in Switzerland. Photo by Adam Bignell on Unsplash

You sort and recycle your trash

The Swiss are meticulous when it comes to waste disposal and, not surprisingly, they have strict regulations on how to throw away trash in an environmentally correct manner.

Throwing away all your waste in a trash bag without separating it first — for instance, mixing PET bottles with tin cans or paper — is an offence in Switzerland which can result in heavy fines, the amount of which is determined by each individual commune.

In fact, the more assiduous residents separate every possible waste item — not just paper, cardboard, batteries and bottles (sorted by colour), but also coffee capsules, yogurt containers, scrap iron and steel, organic waste, carpets, and electronics.

In fact, with their well-organised communal dumpsters or recycling bins in neighbourhoods, the Swiss have taken the mundane act of throwing out one’s garbage to a whole new level of efficiency.

So one of the best ways to fit in is to be as trash-oriented as the Swiss.

READ MORE: Eight ways you might be annoying your neighbours (and not realising it) in Switzerland

You trim your hedges with a ruler

How your garden looks says a lot about you.

If it’s unkempt and overgrown with weeds, you are clearly a foreigner (though likely not German or Austrian).

But if your grass is cut neatly and your hedges trimmed with military-like precision (except on Sundays), and some of your bushes and shrubs are shaped like poodles, you will definitely fit in.

You follow the laundry room rules

If you live in an apartment building, chances are there is a communal laundry room in the basement that is shared by all the residents.

As everything else in Switzerland, these facilities are regulated by a …laundry list of “dos” and “don’ts” that you’d well to commit to memory and adhere to meticulously.

These rules relate to everything from adhering to the assigned time slot to removing lint from the dryer.

Following each rule to the letter, and not trying to wash your laundry in someone else’s time slot, is a sign of successful integration.

Voilà, the five signs you are “at home” in Switzerland.

READ MORE: French-speaking Switzerland: Seven life hacks that will make you feel like a local

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