Elevation of Ponferrada, Spain
1,781ft
above sea level · 543 m
Ponferrada is a city of 63,186 people in León province, Castile and León, the 2nd largest in the province. Of Spain’s 153 municipalities with more than 50,000 people, it’s the 44th highest.
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Key facts
- Coordinates
- 42.55° N · 6.59° W
- Degrees, minutes and seconds: 42° 32′ 44″ N · 6° 35′ 26″ W
- UTM coordinates
- 29T · 697,828 E · 4,713,159 N
- Zone 29 · ETRS89, the official datum on the mainland, the Balearic Islands, Ceuta and Melilla
- Municipality
- Ponferrada
- INE code 24115
- Time zone
- Central European Time
- UTC+1 · UTC+2 in summer
- Population (2025)
- 63,186 people
- 109 sq mi municipality · 578 people/sq mi
- Ground height (MDT05)
- 1,781 ft (543 m)
- What the IGN’s terrain model measures at this exact point. The official elevation is 1,781 ft.
Population
Ponferrada had 63,186 residents on January 1, 2025, according to Spain’s municipal register (Padrón), 5.5% fewer than in 2015, when it had 66,884. The municipality covers 109 sq mi, a density of 578 people/sq mi, against a Spanish average of 251 people/sq mi.
It’s the 2nd most populous of the 211 municipalities in León province, after León (123,446), home to 14% of its people.
Compared with Spain’s cities over 50,000
Ponferrada sits 1,781 ft (543 m) above sea level. Of the 153 Spanish municipalities with more than 50,000 people, the highest is Ávila, at 3,691 ft, and the lowest is Melilla, at 7 ft. The average is 919 ft, so Ponferrada is 863 ft above it.
The provincial capital, León, is 52 mi away in a straight line and 942 ft higher than Ponferrada.
According to the IGN’s summit table, the highest point in León province is Torre Cerredo, at 8,691 ft (2,649 m). It lies 99 mi away in a straight line, 6,909 ft above Ponferrada.
- 44 Ponferrada 1,781 ft
Each color band is 500 m (1,640 ft), the same colors as the map. See the full list
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Frequently asked questions
What people most often ask about the elevation of Ponferrada.
What is the elevation of Ponferrada, Spain?
Ponferrada sits at 1,781 feet (543 meters) above sea level. That’s the official figure from Spain’s National Geographic Institute (IGN), measured at the reference point of the town center.
What are the coordinates of Ponferrada?
Latitude 42.54550 and longitude -6.59065 in decimal degrees (42° 32′ 44″ N · 6° 35′ 26″ W). In UTM, zone 29: 697,828 E and 4,713,159 N, in the ETRS89 datum.
How does Ponferrada rank among Spain’s highest cities?
It’s the 44th highest of the 153 municipalities with more than 50,000 people. The highest is Ávila (3,691 ft) and the lowest, Melilla (7 ft).
Which is higher, Ponferrada or León?
León. Ponferrada sits at 1,781 ft and León at 2,723 ft: a difference of 942 ft, 52 mi apart in a straight line.
How is elevation measured?
Elevation is the height of a point above mean sea level. Mapping agencies such as Spain’s IGN measure it on the ground with leveling and survey-grade GPS. Maps read it from an elevation model, a grid with the ground height at every point, so the model can differ by a few meters from the official figure, especially on sharp summits.
Sources
- IGN · IGR Poblaciones (population centers) Official elevation and coordinates of the town center. CC BY 4.0 license.
- MDT05 Digital Terrain Model (IGN) Ground height at this exact point, to check the figure. 5 m grid, CC BY 4.0 license.
- Municipal register (INE), January 1, 2025 Population: our own work with data from the INE website (www.ine.es). Area: IGN (CC BY 4.0).
- Terrain Tiles (AWS Open Data) Hillshading on the map, from public data by USGS, NASA, Copernicus and others.
- OpenStreetMap and OpenFreeMap The base map, with OpenStreetMap data (ODbL).
Reviewed October 31, 2026 · Methodology and sources · Spotted a mistake? Let us know