RECENT research has revealed the Top 25 coastal destinations in the world for permanent relocation – and two are in Spain.
With the top five located in middle-eastern desert areas, Valencia and Barcelona still manage healthy places in the league table, 10th and 24th respectively.
A number of key factors were taken into consideration, when money.co.uk commissioned the research.
The important aspects of life in a particular destination were average air and sea temperatures, annual rainfall, property prices, annual salaries, cost of living, number of restaurants and life expectancy.
Doha in Qatar is highest with a Coastal Relocation score of 7.53/10
With average sea temperatures of almost 25°C, only 62mm of rainfall every year and a decent average salary of €37,765, the 2022 World Cup venue city leads the way.
All of the Top 5 destinations are in similarly-affluent and hot desert locations, with Abu Dhabi and Dubai, both in the United Arab Emirates, in second and third.
Fourth and fifth places belong to Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) and Manama (Bahrain).
Valencia in South East Spain comes a respectable 10th in the listing.
With annual salaries averaging €45,404 and having almost 4,000 restaurants, the city is only let down by cooler air and sea temperatures of between 17 and 18°C and annual rainfall of 427mm (almost 16 inches).
Despite this, out of the Top 5 non-desert locations, Valencia is by far the driest and with a longer life expectancy, too.
The Catalan city of Barcelona comes a respectable 24th in the table of coastal relocation destinations, still ahead of Australia’s Melbourne, France’s Marseilles and Italy’s Naples.
Renowned for its architecture and cuisine, Barcelona is wetter and cooler than its Spanish neighbour, but still has an incredible 9,689 restaurants to choose from.
Below is the full Top 50 list with a link to the methodology and further findings underneath.
Rank | City | Country | Air Temp ‘C | Rain mm | Life Exp | Score |
1 | Doha | Qatar | 27.5 | 62 | 80 | 7.53 |
2 | Abu Dhabi | UAE | 27.9 | 42 | 77 | 7.43 |
3 | Dubai | UAE | 28.2 | 68 | 77 | 7.42 |
4 | Jeddah | Saudi Arabia | 28.1 | 79 | 75 | 7.12 |
5 | Manama | Bahrain | 26.2 | 68 | 77 | 6.99 |
6 | Daytona Beach | USA | 22.2 | 1,050 | 79 | 6.8 |
7 | Miami | USA | 24.6 | 1,113 | 79 | 6.76 |
8 | Havana | Cuba | 25.7 | 821 | 79 | 6.73 |
9 | Tampa | USA | 22.5 | 1,113 | 79 | 6.66 |
10 | Valencia | Spain | 17.6 | 427 | 83 | 6.61 |
11 | Perth | Australia | 18.6 | 558 | 83 | 6.6 |
12 | Gold Coast | Australia | 20.4 | 1,138 | 83 | 6.5 |
13 | Palermo | Italy | 17 | 647 | 83 | 6.47 |
14 | Tokyo | Japan | 15.2 | 1,482 | 84 | 6.43 |
15 | San Diego | USA | 16.7 | 272 | 79 | 6.42 |
16 | Cagliari | Italy | 17.5 | 448 | 83 | 6.41 |
17 | Faro | Portugal | 18 | 499 | 81 | 6.38 |
18 | Alexandria | Egypt | 20.8 | 181 | 71 | 6.38 |
19 | Athens | Greece | 17.5 | 378 | 82 | 6.38 |
20 | Heraklion | Greece | 17.8 | 464 | 82 | 6.36 |
21 | Rio de Janeiro | Brazil | 23.6 | 1,252 | 75 | 6.34 |
22 | Charleston | USA | 19.3 | 1,216 | 79 | 6.32 |
23 | Los Angeles | USA | 17.6 | 357 | 79 | 6.22 |
24 | Barcelona | Spain | 15.5 | 614 | 83 | 6.21 |
25 | Casablanca | Morocco | 18 | 324 | 76 | 6.18 |
26 | Antalya | Turkey | 17.8 | 1,081 | 77 | 6.17 |
27 | Lisbon | Portugal | 16.7 | 591 | 81 | 6.16 |
28 | Rabat | Morocco | 18.1 | 442 | 76 | 6.14 |
29 | Melbourne | Australia | 14.8 | 645 | 83 | 6.12 |
30 | Nha Trang | Vietnam | 26.5 | 1,768 | 75 | 6.11 |
31 | Algiers | Algeria | 18.2 | 615 | 76 | 6.11 |
32 | Sydney | Australia | 18 | 912 | 83 | 6.11 |
33 | Marseille | France | 15 | 602 | 82 | 6.1 |
34 | Naples | Italy | 16.5 | 1,080 | 83 | 6.07 |
35 | Tel Aviv | Israel | 20.5 | 413 | 82 | 6.04 |
36 | Colombo | Sri Lanka | 26.5 | 2,387 | 76 | 6.04 |
37 | Gibraltar | Gibraltar | 17.6 | 686 | 79 | 6.03 |
38 | Tangier | Morocco | 17.4 | 574 | 76 | 6.01 |
39 | Nassau | Bahamas | 25.1 | 994 | 73 | 6 |
40 | Kingston | Jamaica | 23.6 | 948 | 74 | 5.97 |
41 | Valletta | Malta | 19.2 | 427 | 82 | 5.93 |
42 | Manila | Philippines | 26.6 | 1,666 | 71 | 5.89 |
43 | Santander | Spain | 13.8 | 1,198 | 83 | 5.87 |
44 | Mumbai | India | 26.4 | 2,012 | 69 | 5.81 |
45 | Buenos Aires | Argentina | 17.3 | 1,112 | 76 | 5.8 |
46 | Porto | Portugal | 15.1 | 1,285 | 81 | 5.77 |
47 | Cork | Ireland | 10.3 | 917 | 81 | 5.77 |
48 | Bournemouth | UK | 11.4 | 798 | 81 | 5.75 |
49 | Christchurch | New Zealand | 11.5 | 635 | 82 | 5.72 |
50 | Helsinki | Finland | 27.3 | 941 | 81 | 5.71 |
Rank | City | Country | Air Temp | Rain | Life Exp | Score |
Full results and methodology clickable here
The highest ranked UK coastal destination is Bournemouth, at Number 48, just behind Santander – the third Spanish coastal destination to feature in the Top 50.
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