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Madrid and Barcelona are the cities in Spain with the best quality of life, although smaller ones such as Ibiza and Toledo surpass them in some aspects

Presentation of the report on Functional Urban Areas in Spain (“Las Áreas Urbanas Funcionales en España: economía y calidad de vida”)

The Ivie and the BBVA Foundation have presented the report on Functional Urban Areas in Spain (Las Áreas Urbanas Funcionales en España: economía y calidad de vida), which analyzes the impact of the concentration of population in urban agglomerations. The report, directed by Ivie researchers, Ernest Reig and Francisco J. Goerlich, considers 73 Functional Urban Areas (FUA) in Spain. FUA refers to a city and its commuting zone with a minimum of 1,500 inhabitants per km2 and a minimum threshold population of 50,000.

According to the monograph, the concentration of population has a double effect. While it has a positive impact on the labor market, innovation capacity, productivity and the attraction of highly qualified human capital, it has a negative effect on crime rates. The study also analyses the quality of life offered by the 73 FUAs not only financially (income or employment), but also in terms of other aspects such as well-being (healthcare, safety, climate, etc.). In total, the report analyzes 35 variables that are classified into three groups: socio-economic, general and health conditions.

Ibiza, Barcelona, San Sebastián, Madrid, Girona and Palma de Mallorca top the list of the first group. In the second group, Barcelona and Madrid, obtain good results, along with other larger cities such as San Sebastián, Seville, Bilbao and Valencia, and two important tourist destinations (Benidorm and Palma de Mallorca). Finally, the cities with higher marks for healthcare are Vitória, Toledo, Guadalajara, Madrid, Murcia and Albacete.

The report also includes a synthetic index of innovation that presents Madrid and Barcelona as the FUAs with greater innovation capacity, followed by Santiago de Compostela, Girona, Pamplona and Zaragoza.