Empuriabrava is not a town. It is a settlement inside the municipality of Castelló d'Empúries, on the Alt Empordà coast of Girona province, built as a residential marina around twenty three kilometres of navigable canals under a plan approved in 1967. The property market treats the relationship backwards: Idealista gives Empuriabrava a full municipality-level page with seventeen districts of its own, while the page for Castelló d'Empúries, the actual municipality, lists no districts at all.
IDESCAT publishes the settlement's own population, just under eight thousand at the start of 2025, from the padron register. Every other figure on this page is the municipality's, drawn from the annual census, a different statistical operation that must never be combined with the padron. On that census Castelló d'Empúries counts about twelve thousand three hundred residents, and around nine in twenty hold foreign nationality, a higher share than Roses or Lloret de Mar. Moroccan, French and German nationals lead.
Empuriabrava's own asking price stood at its recorded peak in July 2026, close to twice the municipal figure, so the two names are not interchangeable on a portal. Idealista changed its methodology that month and says comparability was preserved where historical series required it, without naming Spain. Watch the housing stock too: on the 2021 census fewer than three in ten municipal homes were main residences.
The verdict
The upside is real. So is the downside. Both matter more than any brochure will admit.
Sixteen priced districts, unusual detail for a settlement
Idealista gives Empuriabrava its own page with seventeen districts listed and sixteen priced, more than Lloret de Mar or Sitges carry. The breakdown itself shows how the marina is organised.
A residential marina with documented planning history
The municipality publishes twenty three kilometres of navigable canals and the plan's approval on 26 June 1967, with full municipal transfer approved in 1980. The town hall describes it as a residential marina alongside the historic centre.
Asking prices at their recorded peak
Idealista's July 2026 figure for Empuriabrava is the highest in its series for the settlement, up by less than a tenth over the year, with quarterly and monthly rises behind it.
A strongly international municipality on census figures
Around nine in twenty residents of Castelló d'Empúries hold foreign nationality on the 2025 census, a higher share than Roses or Lloret de Mar. French and German nationals are among the largest groups.
Cheaper property exists within the same municipality
Idealista's municipal row for Castelló d'Empúries sits close to half Empuriabrava's own figure, so a buyer priced out of the canals can look at the historic town without changing municipality.
Most municipal homes are not main residences
On the 2021 census fewer than three in ten of Castelló d'Empúries' family dwellings were principal residences, which points to a strongly seasonal, second-home economy.
No railway station serves the settlement or municipality
Adif's own station finder returns zero stations for Empuriabrava and for Castelló d'Empúries bounded to Girona province, against a passing control. A bus corridor appears only on third-party journey planners, so we record no service.
No published hospital assignment for residents
The municipality sits in ABS 189 Roses, in the Girona Nord sector of the Girona health region, but no reference hospital is published for it, and even the health area is named for another town.
No climate normals for the municipality
No AEMET station in the municipality publishes climate normals, so this page carries an empty climate block rather than borrowing an airport series from somewhere else.
The statistics mostly describe another place
Population aside, every figure here is Castelló d'Empúries', from foreign residents to schools. Nobody publishes a foreign-nationality breakdown, school roll or health count for Empuriabrava itself, and we cannot invent one.
Editor's note
Empuriabrava is a specialist purchase, and the honest summary is that you are buying into a marina, not a town. The statistics that describe a place, foreign residents, schools, health cover, all belong to Castelló d'Empúries; fewer than three in ten municipal homes are main residences; there is no railway station, no published hospital assignment, and the basic health area is named for Roses. If you want a municipality that answers for itself, look at Roses: a town of some twenty thousand people with six priced districts, its own named health area and a marina of 561 berths. If you want a larger year-round town, Lloret de Mar counts about forty two thousand census residents and twelve priced districts, though its hospital position is a chain of two published facts rather than a single assignment. If rail matters, Sitges and Salou both have stations verified on the operator's own boards, Salou's newly opened in June 2025, and Sitges also has a published reference hospital for its comarca. Empuriabrava suits the buyer for whom the canal mooring is the point.
Updated 2026-08-31
Where to live and what to expect at each price point.
Much the dearest of the sixteen priced districts, at above half again the settlement figure per square metre. Its rise over the year to July 2026 was close to Empuriabrava's own pace.
Second dearest of the sixteen priced districts, about a quarter above the settlement figure per square metre, and its rise over the year to July 2026 matched Empuriabrava's own almost exactly.
Third of the sixteen priced districts, a quarter above the settlement figure per square metre, and among the fastest risers over the year to July 2026, at more than two and a half times Empuriabrava's pace.
Fourth of the sixteen priced districts, close to a quarter above the settlement figure per square metre, but a slower riser over the year to July 2026, at not much over half Empuriabrava's pace.
Fifth of the sixteen priced districts and a little above the settlement figure per square metre. It was all but flat over the year to July 2026 while Empuriabrava as a whole rose.
Sixth of the sixteen priced districts and a shade above the settlement figure per square metre. It rose over the year to July 2026 at rather more than Empuriabrava's own pace.
Seventh of the sixteen priced districts, at almost exactly the settlement figure per square metre, and it rose over the year to July 2026 at almost exactly Empuriabrava's own pace.
Eighth of the sixteen priced districts, at effectively the settlement figure per square metre, but a faster riser over the year to July 2026, at around half as much again as Empuriabrava's pace.
Ninth of the sixteen priced districts and level with the settlement figure per square metre. It rose over the year to July 2026 at well above Empuriabrava's own pace.
Tenth of the sixteen priced districts, a little below the settlement figure per square metre, and the steepest faller of them over the year to July 2026, against a settlement that rose.
Eleventh of the sixteen priced districts, a little under the settlement figure per square metre, and much the fastest riser of them over the year to July 2026, at close to four times Empuriabrava's pace.
Twelfth of the sixteen priced districts, at about nine tenths of the settlement figure per square metre, and one of two districts here that fell over the year to July 2026 while Empuriabrava rose.
Thirteenth of the sixteen priced districts, at close to nine tenths of the settlement figure per square metre. It carries a price, but Idealista publishes no year on year change for it, so no annual comparison is possible here.
Fourteenth of the sixteen priced districts, at about four fifths of the settlement figure per square metre. Its published annual change is exactly nil, which is a figure and not a gap; it is the quarterly cell that goes unpublished.
Fifteenth of the sixteen priced districts, at three quarters of the settlement figure per square metre. It barely moved over the year to July 2026 while Empuriabrava as a whole rose.
Cheapest of the sixteen priced districts, at around seven tenths of the settlement figure per square metre, yet a faster riser than Empuriabrava over the year to July 2026, at well above its pace.
Honest answers to the questions buyers actually ask.
Transfer tax rates as of August 2026. Rates are set per autonomous community and do change. Confirm the current figures with a Spanish lawyer or tax adviser before you budget.
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