Murcia · Murcia
Cartagena
An ancient port with a sublime position at the end of a deep natural harbour — Carthaginian rulers' principal base on the Iberian Peninsula, so important the city was named after Carthage itself.
What Cartagena is like
Portrait drawn from Lonely Planet, the Michelin Green Guide & The Rough Guide.
At the end of a deep natural harbour, surrounded by hills.
Worth the trip
- A grand Roman theatre from Cartagena's time as a key Roman port
- Restored Modernista mansions next to hollow, crumbling facades
- Castillo de la Concepción, with panoramic views
- National Museum of Underwater Archaeology (ARQUA)
Fiestas
- Mar de Músicas festival, July, world music
- Fiestas de Carthagineses y Romanos, September, mock Second Punic War battle
- A nationally famous jazz festival and International Festival of Cinema, November
A little history
Cartagena was Hannibal's capital city on the Iberian Peninsula, named after his Carthage in North Africa, and a strategic port and administrative centre for the Romans.
Who it suits: Roman/Punic-history travellers · Modernista architecture fans
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
- 14°C 6.3°C above the Spanish average (7.8°C)
- Summer high (Jul–Aug)
- 30.1°C 0.1°C below the Spanish average (30.2°C)
- Rainy days a year
- 30 days 57% less than the Spanish average (69 days)
- Sunshine
- no local data
- Summer water stress (WEI+) regional estimate
- 259 203 above the Spanish average (56)
Cost & economy
- Home price
- €1,496/m² 32% less than the Spanish average (€2,208/m²)
- Net income per person
- €13,126 9% less than the Spanish average (€14,495)
- Income growth ’18–’23
- 24.9%
Safety
- Recorded crime
- 44.3 per 1,000 about the Spanish average (44 per 1,000)
Schools
- Schools in town
- 107
- Nearest international school
- 18 km
- PISA maths (region) regional estimate
- 463 18 below the Spanish average (481)
Healthcare
- Drive to a hospital
- 0 min
- Nearest health centre
- 1 km
- Surgical wait (region) regional estimate
- 103 days 4% less than the Spanish average (108 days)
Getting around
- Drive to nearest airport
- 24 min
- Fibre-to-home coverage
- 95% 16% above the Spanish average (79%)
- 100 Mbps+ coverage
- 98% 15% above the Spanish average (83%)
Who lives here
- Population
- 220,400
- Born in Spain
- 84.1% 4.7% below the Spanish average (88.8%)
- Born elsewhere in EU/UK
- 2.5% 1.4% below the Spanish average (3.8%)
- U.S.-born residents
- 0.68 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 Cartagena 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 Cartagena against every one of Spain's 8,132 municipalities on your priorities. It sits about 53 min from Murcia, if that's your anchor.
Take the quiz — rank Cartagena for you →Nearby towns
Other places we profile within easy reach.