Asturias Nomad Paradise
Connections
Asturian public transport currently has a pricing system called ConeCTA, which allows its users to enjoy an unlimited flat rate that enables them to move throughout the region for a fixed price of 30 euros per month.
Air connections
Asturias International Airport has the largest offer of international connections in its history. The list of international airports with a direct connection to the Principality has been provided below:Milan-Bergamo, Lisbon, Brussels, Düsseldorf-Weeze, Rome-Fiumicino, Dublin, London-Stansted, London-Gatwick, Paris-Orly, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Munich.
Train and High-Speed Train
The Asturias railway network is extensive, covering some 670 kilometres, which is equivalent to 63 kilometres of track for every thousand square kilometres of surface area, one of the highest ratios in the country.
The new Madrid-Asturias high-speed train has meant a significant improvements in the connectivity of the region with the rest of Spain.
- The journey between Madrid and Oviedo takes 3h and 18’, and between Madrid and Pola de Lena (gateway to the high-speed railway), 2 h and 49’.
- Frequency between Madrid y Oviedo/Gijón is 5 (4 Alvia trains and the Intercity on Fridays with a single stop in León).
- As for future prospects, Work is being done to extend the high-speed line to Gijón.
Roads
The main road axes are:
- A66 or Ruta de la Plata (the Silver Highway): a peninsular corridor from Gijón to Seville, which provides access to the centre of the country. In Asturias, the A66 joins the towns and cities that go to make up the central metropolis. In other words, it connects the main urban areas where the bulk of the population and economic activities are concentrated.
- A8: transversal transport infrastructure in Northern Spain, 468 kilometres long between Bilbao and Galicia, more than half of which goes through Asturias (230 kilometres).
Education 
The education system in Asturias is one of the highest ranking in Spain according to data obtained from the latest PISA report, whose data rank Asturias in second place in terms of overall competence performance levels, 15 and 28 points, respectively, above the average for Spain and OECD countries.
In addition, the tuition costs of the University of Oviedo are amongst the lowest nationwide.
The University of Oviedo, with more than 410 years of history, offers a wide range of degrees adapted to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) in all branches of knowledge, bilingual itineraries, double degrees with international universities, and interuniversity and Erasmus Mundus master’s degrees and in collaboration with more than 250 companies.
There are 14,000 technical and engineering degree students enrolled at the University of Oviedo and in Vocational Training. More than 600 university students benefit from an Erasmus grant every year and more than 1,000 international students are received annually.
Infant, primary and secondary education: In Asturias there are three educational systems: the public, the subsidised private and the wholly private systems. 79% of the educational centres that operate in Asturias are publicly owned, catering for 72% of general education students.
The broad educational offer includes international schools of recognised prestige.
Health 
15 Asturian cities belong to the Spanish Healthy Cities Network (WHO), including the main cities in the region, Gijón, Oviedo and Avilés.
In the case of Health, Asturias is the autonomous community which invests the most in health expenditure per inhabitant in comparison with other regional governments, the only region which exceeds 2,000 euros, standing out with respect to the average of the country.
In addition, it is worth noting the following unique infrastructures:
• Central Asturias University Hospital (HUCA).A prominent technologically pioneering centre in fields such as Nuclear Medicine.
• Fernández-Vega Ophthalmological Institute (Luis Fernández-Vega is one of the 100 best doctors in Spain according to Forbes 2021)
• Institute of Oncological and Molecular Medicine of Asturias (IMOMA). Specialised in high precision personalised medicine.
EU facilities 
Our membership of the EU facilitates mobility and integration into the health, social and economic network of the European territory for the digital nomad.
As an EU national, you are entitled to live and travel within the EU without being discriminated against on the grounds of nationality. You may also benefit from greater consumer protection than in your home country and, if you meet certain requirements, you can access healthcare anywhere in the EU.
Find out more …
Cost of Living 
Another aspect worth highlighting in Asturias is its competitive cost of living, in other words, the relationship between the average level of wages and the level of prices in the region.
Living in Asturias, in Gijón or in Oviedo, is 17% cheaper than living in Madrid and 15% cheaper than in Barcelona, according to a Bank of Spain report drawn up in 2021.
To draw up the report, besides the salary level, due consideration was given to the cost of housing, the shopping basket, household bills such as gas and electricity, the price of fuel and the number of times the vehicle has to be used to get around.
Housing cost
The average price of housing in Asturias in September 2022 was 1,340 euros per square metre, noticeably lower than the average for Spain (1,962 euros per square metre).
Regarding the rental market, in September 2022 Asturias was confirmed as the region in which the average rent decreased the most compared to the previous quarter, by -5.76%.
The average rental price in Asturias was 5.89 euros per square metre, well below the 10.20 euros per square metre which is the average in Spain.
Asturias has a wide range of accommodation for sale and rental for the arrival of new workers and families.
Safety
In 2021 the Principality of Asturias recorded the second lowest crime rate in the country according to the report on safety indicators for 2021 published by the Home Office.
What’s more, Gijón ranks as the second safest Spanish city according to the conclusions of the study carried out by the Organisation of Consumers and Users (OCU) in 2021 on the quality of life in Spanish cities.
Invest in Asturias is a programme created by the Economic Development Agency of the Principality of Asturias (IDEPA), a public entity dependent on the Regional Government.
The aim of Invest in Asturias is to create suitable business environment, delivering customised attention to each investment project. We maintain close links with companies, public administrations and business promotion entities, offering support throughout the different project phases, right from initial contact through to business development.
