Where you live

Barcelona

Spain

8.23of 10

⇄

Comparing with

Madrid

Spain

8.36of 10

+ 3rd place

atlas.rikezas.com.br/en/comparar/barcelona-x-madriCopy link· Change weights

Result

Madrid wins 2 of 5

The biggest gap is in financial environment.

FinancialMadrid+0.36.8 × 7.2

Safety—+0.08.8 × 8.8

Currency—+0.08.8 × 8.8

QualityMadrid+0.29.3 × 9.5

Integration—+0.08.4 × 8.4

Criterion by criterion

The 15 sub-criteria. The stronger bar belongs to the winner.

BarcelonaMadrid

Financial environmentweight 30%

8.0

Tax burden

8.0

6.0

Cost of living

7.0

Ease of doing business

7.0

6.0

Investment returns

6.0

Stability and safetyweight 25%

8.0

Entry and residence

8.0

9.0

Political and social stability

9.0

10.0

Personal and property safety

10.0

Currency strengthweight 20%

9.0

Currency stability

9.0

8.0

Strength against the dollar

8.0

9.0

Purchasing power

9.0

Quality of lifeweight 15%

10.0

Infrastructure and services

10.0

9.0

Culture and lifestyle

9.0

8.0

Environmental quality

9.0

Cultural integrationweight 10%

8.0

Language and communication

8.0

9.0

Communities and support networks

9.0

Your money in both places

1 person, including rent

Your monthly income US$ if you kept the same income (remote work or retirement)

Barcelona

your income

US$ 2,421

Madrid

US$ 2,243

RentGroceriesTransportHealthUtilitiesLeisure

In Barcelona, shortUS$ 968a month

In Madrid, shortUS$ 791a month

How much of your work each thing costs

In hours of work, with your income and 40 hours a week.

BarcelonaMadrid

Taxes

For an income of US$ 1,453 a month

Days of the year working for taxes

Barcelona

105 days

Madrid

100 days

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Both take about the same share of your income in taxes.

What the State costs you

	Barcelona	Madrid
Income tax and social security	20%	19%
Tax on purchases	9%	8%
Paid twice (health insurance)	2%	2%
Total cost of the State	31%	30%

Paid twice: the health insurance you pay on top of taxes. Tax on purchases: the consumption tax rate applied to groceries, transport, utilities and leisure in the cost-of-living basket. Computed without deductions, with each place's official table and the Central Bank of Brazil exchange rate. In Rikezas it uses your real spending.

Sources: taxdown.es (pesquisa conferida) ↗ · asepeyo.es (pesquisa conferida) ↗ · sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es (pesquisa conferida) ↗ · polizadesalud.es (pesquisa conferida) ↗

Everyday life

What matters day to day

Language

BarcelonaSpanish

MadridSpanish

Currency

BarcelonaEUR

MadridEUR

Time zone

BarcelonaUTC+1

MadridUTC+1

Population

Barcelona1,731,649 (2025)

Madrid3,506,730 (2025)

Compare with YOUR real life

Connect Rikezas: your real spending, your real taxes and the year you reach financial independence in each place.

Connect Rikezas