Girona enjoys a privileged location in the same region as Barcelona, Catalonia. It is barely one hour north of Barcelona and an hour south of the French border.
Girona is a good place to live, with life-expectancy figures showing the population of Catalonia to be among the longest-living on earth. This may well be due to the successful combination of favourable climatic conditions, the Mediterranean diet, quality public health services and a lifestyle in which work and leisure successfully coexist. With its population of around 87,000 inhabitants, Girona is a small city that still preserves the quality of life that has been lost in many larger ones. It is also a focal point of commercial and cultural activities and, according to surveys, has the highest standard of living in Catalonia and possibly the whole of Spain .
Girona is accustomed to receiving people from elsewhere with different cultural and socio-economic backgrounds and has a solid reputation for being a diverse and tolerant society. Furthermore, Catalans have always been known as hard-working, creative and innovative people with an outstanding work ethic that rewards endeavour and initiative.