Spain’s large communities in economic terms have traditionally been Madrid, Catalonia and the Basque Country. Their developed industry and their high number of international exports lead us to think of them as Spain’s “richest” autonomies. And it is true that they are, but, for those who think that Galicia would be very far from them, none of this, because our community is no less.
It is important to underline that the distribution of wealth within such a large and diverse territory as Galicia or any other Spanish community is not fair, but that there are always cities and municipalities that are richer than others and, within them, there are districts with greater purchasing power. For this reason, the fact that Galicia is among those first communities does not mean that all of its territory is.
In particular, according to the statistics published this Monday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), ‘Urban Indicators 2022′ (with data corresponding to 2019), two Galician cities would be among the top twenty richest cities in Spain: Santiago de Compostela and A Coruña, where the average annual net income per inhabitant is 14,635.54 euros and 14,535.63 euros, respectively.
Figures that are not negligible, but which, obviously, are far from the top positions in the ranking, occupied by the Madrid city of Pozuelo de Alarcón (26,367.02 euros), by the Catalan San Cugat del Vallès (21,121 99 euros) and by Majadahonda, also it from Madrid (20,652.17).
Above 20,000 euros a year there would also be Las Rozas from Madrid and Getxo from the Basque Country. Between 15,000 and 20,000: Donostia (Basque Country), Alcobendas (Madrid), Barcelona (Catalonia), Bilbao (Basque Country), Castelldefels (Catalonia), San Sebastián (Basque Country), Cerdayola del Vallès (Catalonia), Vitoria-Gasteiz ( Basque Country) and Rivas-Vaciamadrid (Madrid). And also ahead of Santiago and A Coruña would be the cities of Girona (Catalonia) and Oviedo (Asturias).
But A Coruña and Santiago are not the only Galician cities that enjoy a high average income per inhabitant in Galicia, as Ferrol would also sneak into the top 50, precisely in that fifth position, where the inhabitants of Ferrol enjoy an average income of 13,108 , 93 euros per year.
Very close to Ferrol would be Vigo, Pontevedra and Ourense, which would occupy positions 55, 56 and 57 on the list, with respectively 12,932.54 euros, 12,921.67 euros and 12,912.1 euros. Lugo would be in sixty-first place, with an average annual income per inhabitant of 12,846.24 euros.
However, as has already been commented, within a city does not mean that all of its neighborhoods have that average income. Taking the example of Santiago, it is not the same to live in a neighborhood like Vite as in one like Santa Marta. Depending on the neighbourhood, there can be large differences in people’s salary levels and, therefore, in their average annual income.
THE MUNICIPALITY OF UNA CORUÑA OF THE DIRECTORS OF INDITEX, THE 23RD RICH. Likewise, it is important to take into account the fact that both Santiago and A Coruña creep into the first places of the ranking considering them large cities, but if we go to a more detailed breakdown of the data, analyzing the average annual net income per inhabitant according to the municipalities , both would drop into the top 50, remaining in positions 45 and 47, respectively.
But they wouldn’t be the best positions for Galicia, given that there is one municipality which, like every year, takes the cake: Oleiros, which remains in twenty-third place. It is known that in our community the textile industry, hand in hand with Inditex, generates great benefits and, precisely, its administrators and positions live mainly in this municipality of A Coruña, where the average income per inhabitant reaches 16,447 euros per year. (almost 2,000 euros more than in Santiago and A Coruña).
The first places in Spain would be for the Madrid municipalities of Pozuelo de Alarcón (26,367 euros, almost 10,000 euros more than the average income of Oleiros) and Boadilla del Monte (21,976), followed by Barcelona’s Sant Cugat del Vallès (21,122).
The last places, by way of curiosity, would be occupied by Níjar (Almería), with 7,097 euros; Vícar (Almería), with 7,634; and Los Palacios and Villafranca (Seville), with 8,054 euros. And note that no Galician city would be in any of the last fifty positions.
EVEN AMES, CAMBRE OR CULLEREDO EXCEED 12,000 EUROS OF INCOME. Instead, it is interesting to know which are the richest cities with more than 20,000 inhabitants in Galicia. Thus, beyond the comparison with Spain and those first positions that would occupy Oleiros, Santiago and A Coruña, undoubtedly and very distant, would be Ferrol, with an average income per inhabitant of 13,108.93 euros.
To follow, without surprises, the other four major cities: Vigo, with 12,932.54 euros; Pontevedra, with 12,921.67; Ourense, with 12,912.10 euros; and Lugo, with 12,846.24 euros. After them, Culleredo stands out among the minor municipalities, with an average income per inhabitant of 12,815.88 euros; Cambre, with 12,600.73; Ames, with 12,308.92; and Naron, with 12,032.48.
Already below the 12,000 euro average annual income there would be Redondela (11,735.92 euro), Arteixo (11,539.64), Cangas (11,527.89), O Porriño (10,918.63), A Estrada (10,868.99) , Ribeira (10,866.28), Carballo (10,853.82), Vilagarcía de Arousa (10,804.25) and Lalín (10,318.41). There may be other smaller municipalities that have higher incomes, but the INE does not consider them.
GROWING WITHOUT INTERRUPTION FOR AT LEAST SEVEN YEARS. Returning to the cases of the two cities in the top 20 richest Spanish cities, it should be noted that both Santiago and A Coruña have chained an upward trend in their income in recent years. Santiago has thus gone from an average annual income per inhabitant of 12,731.77 euros in 2015 to the current 14,635.54, i.e. an increase of over two thousand euros in seven years.
For its part, A Coruña has increased its per capita income from 12,803.65 euros in 2015 to the current 14,535.63, an even greater growth than Santiago, with an increase of almost 2,300 euros over the past seven years.
