Barcelona is the best city on Earth (Best city on Earth) according to the British daily the Telegraph after it performed a research study among experts from the travel sector and a survey of its readers who analysed different places in the world and made a shortlist of 50 cities that could claim the top spot.
After crunching the data, Barcelona was ranked the best in the world, obtaining a score of 588 out of a possible 810 points, 32 points ahead of Sydney, which came second, and 274 more than the lowest-ranking city.
The study, which was published in the supplement Telegraph Travel, which is issued with the United Kingdom’s most prestigious and renowned broadsheet, was obtained from data analysing different aspects of cities, such as connectivity and practicality, culture, history and space, luxury and safety. Other important aspects taken into account were architecture and the number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites; the number of Michelin-starred restaurants; the distance between the city centre and the airport; air quality and pollution levels; green spaces in its biggest park; the oldest building; the number of five-star hotels; and the number of museums and art galleries.
Barcelona is home to 9 UNESCO World Heritage Sites (Hospital de Sant Pau and Antoni Gaudí’s landmarks.); 19 Michelin-starred restaurants; an airport just 11km from the city centre; a 12th-century Jewish Quarter; 39 five-star hotels; a viewing platform 288 metres above the city (Collserola Tower); more than 100 museums; and 2,591 hours of sunlight.
The study concludes that “Barcelona combines everything that is most charming about Mediterranean cities – a relaxed pace, months of endless sunshine, unbeatable food - with the cultural and design clout of almost any city in the cold north.”
The study also recognises the city’s open and inclusive nature and LGBTIQ+ safety ranking, its improved credentials for low emissions and long, wide beaches. According to the newspaper, all the above “seal its position as the best of the best”. However, it takes away points for its green spaces. The Parc de la Ciutadella “the city’s biggest public park”, which covers just 17 hectares, and the high density of its population: 16,000 people per square kilometre, only exceeded by Paris and Bombay. In the other categories, Barcelona, which is just a two-hour flight from London, ranked among the top 20 cities.
