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Why Navarre is the region with the best quality of life in Spain

Whether it be education, health or overall happiness, this little-known autonomous community of Spain consistently ranks as the region with the best quality of life in the entire country.

Published: 4 September 2024 14:14 CEST
Updated: 7 September 2024 08:06 CEST
Why Navarre is the region with the best quality of life in Spain
Plaza del Castillo in Pamplona, Navarra's capital. Photo: David Vives/Unsplash

Navarra, or Navarre in English, is a relatively unknown and region of Spain, often overlooked by international holidaymakers.

Sandwiched between Aragón and the Basque Country, it has only around 660,000 inhabitants according to the latest population figures from Spain’s national statistics institute (INE).

It’s of course mostly known for its capital Pamplona and the famous San Fermín festival bull runs, but the wider region itself is something of a hidden gem with picturesque landscapes, excellent local gastronomy and its rich historical and cultural heritage, something recognised both nationally and internationally.

This is especially true when you consider that it’s officially the region of Spain with the highest quality of living in the entire country.

And this isn’t just a one off; since 2008 Navarre has consistently ranked as one of (if not) the best place to live in all of Spain, and it regularly takes first or second place in many of the metrics that make up the quality of life index. 

READ ALSO: What are the pros and cons of life in Spain’s Navarre region?

In recent years Navarra has ranked highest among all regions of Spain for quality of life and around 4 points higher than the national average.

This is further backed up by the INE’s latest Quality of Life Indicator survey that ranks regions along various socioeconomic criteria.

The nine areas analysed are overall living conditions (where Navarre ranked 3rd), work and professional life (6th), health (2nd), education (2nd), leisure and social relations (1st), physical and personal security (9th), governance and basic rights (8th), surroundings and environment (1st) and general life experience (1st). 

After Navarra, La Rioja and Aragón were found to have the highest levels of quality of life overall. Navarre particularly stood out as it was the region that most often ranked in the top three in the different criteria – something it did on six occasions.

Education

Navarra ranked second overall in terms of education quality, behind only the neighbouring Basque Country. It’s the region with the most people aged 25 to 64 who have received some sort of training or education in the last month, has the second highest percentage of young people (18-24 years old) with higher levels of studies and the lowest early drop-out rate.

It also came third in terms of the adult population with a higher level of studies.

Work 

Navarra ranked sixth among the 17 regions of Spain for overall work and professional life and stands out as one of the regions with the lowest percentage of low salaries among its workers. Navarra came second overall in terms of the highest median income and the highest satisfaction with individual household economic situation.

It also has low rates of unemployment and long-term unemployment compared to other regions of Spain. Of the eight job criteria analysed by the INE, Navarra was above the national average in six of them.

According to INE figures, Navarre has one of the lowest unemployment rates in Spain (9.6 percent per 2023 figures).

Crime and security

Navarra is also generally very safe. There were only 3 murders in the region in 2022 (the last year the INE took data for) however the overall crime rate did rise taking it to 50 crimes per 1,000 inhabitants, the 5th highest in Spain.

In terms of physical and personal safety, Navarra was about average for Spain, coming in 9th position.

The picturesque village of Eugui in Navarra. Photo: Iñigo Goyache/Unsplash
 

Health

People in Navarra are healthier than your average Spaniard.

As far as general life experience is concerned, Navarre leads the national ranking in terms of overall life satisfaction.

It also ranked as the second best region for self-perceived health, for having the second highest life expectancy and for having the lowest percentage of daily smokers.

Environment and leisure

Navarra is known for its lush and green landscapes, and in terms of environment and leisure options Navarra was unsurprisingly the region with the highest satisfaction with green areas and the surroundings.

It’s also clean and has the second lowest concentration of polluting particles in the air.

Housing and poverty

According to the INE report, Navarra is the region with the lowest percentage of its population at risk of relative poverty and the highest satisfaction with housing.

As it’s in northern Spain, however, rents and property prices are higher than elsewhere in the country on average.

READ ALSO: Are people from Navarre more Basque than Spanish? 

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How much should you pay in Spain for a ‘sworn translation’?

There are several types of documents you might need officially translated by a 'sworn translator' in Spain, and the language, length and type of document can all factor into the price.

Published: 12 September 2024 16:35 CEST
Updated: 12 September 2024 17:41 CEST
How much should you pay in Spain for a 'sworn translation'?

As you might’ve guessed, sworn translators (traductores jurados in Spanish) translate documents from one language into another. The difference is that sworn translations have an ‘official status’ that you’ll need for certain types of legal and administrative documents in Spain.

They are essentially approved specialists that can vouch for the veracity of your foreign document and that it’s been accurately translated.

Without this official translation certain documents in Spain can’t be presented to the authorities (think in the town hall, police station, foreign ministry) but with their stamp and signature, your documents are certified as official, accurately translated documents.

READ ALSO: Getting a medical certificate for Spanish residency: What you need to know

This could be for any number of documents, such as birth certificates, marriage certificates, death certificates, criminal record documents, university degree certificates or training diplomas.

Sworn translation professionals must be accredited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for which they must pass official exams. The Ministry keeps a database of all the approved sworn translators so you can find one there.

How much should I be paying?

There’s no one simple answer to this question. It depends on several factors and each sworn translator is free to set his or her own rates, however there are some very rough industry standards.

First off, sworn translations tend to be around 25-30 percent more expensive than ordinary, non-official translation services. If you want trusted high quality translation accepted by the authorities, you’ll need to pay for it.

Some sworn translators set their rates per number of words, while others may do it by page. 

In terms of per word rates, judging by some Google research this could be anywhere between €0.8 and €0.20 per word. So, for example, if you go with a translator who charges €0.15 per word and we assume there’s 450 words on a standard A4 page with normal margins, size 12 font, and 1.5 line spacing, a 10 page document would cost you €270.

Sometimes they also set prices per page. For some reason, the translation of the first page can sometimes costs more than the following pages.

However, for some documents sometimes sworn translators charge a minimum price per document. This is usually for single page documents like birth certificates and Spain has a whole host of sworn translators who offer flat rate services specifically targeted at foreigners needing documents translated for residency, citizenship, marriage or university purposes.

These are easy to find and all roughly charge the same going rate. According Gramae Translations, for English translations the usual minimum price per single document is around €30 (though research tells us it can vary from €25-€40) while in French it is around €35-€50 depending on the type of document.

Minimum pricing only tends to apply when the document is 300 words or less (ie. definitely a page or less). Many sworn translators also offer express services with quick turnaround times in 24, 48 or 72 hours, which will of course cost extra. 

The language from which the document needs to be translated can also increase the cost, as finding a sworn translator specialising in a particular language is not always as easy. English or French to Spanish translators, for example, should be simple enough to find, but finding an approved Vietnamese to Spanish sworn translator might be a little more difficult.

Cronoshare has a very useful tool that allows you to get an estimate for your translated documents with lots of language and document types available. 

Now you’ve got a ballpark idea of how much you should be paying for a sworn translation in Spain, before hiring a translator do your research, play around with the estimate tool a bit and get a few quotes so you’ve got an idea of what you should be paying.

READ ALSO: How to apply for a criminal record certificate in Spain

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