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A Coruña, ‘best quality of life’: what the ranking left out

A Coruña was called Spain's best city for quality of life. What does that ranking actually measure, and how does A Coruña do on everything else?

In September 2026 headlines called A Coruña the Spanish city with the best quality of life. The source is the Oxford Economics Global Cities Index 2026, which ranks 1,000 cities. In its quality of life category A Coruña came 68th, the highest of any Spanish city (Vigo was 83rd). Overall, across economy, human capital, environment and governance too, it ranked 278th. The Spanish site ViveDonde also puts it in its top five (5th).

What the ranking measured

The quality-of-life category combines six things: income equality, income per head, housing cost, life expectancy, crime, culture and leisure. Those are good things to measure. But look at what is not on the list: the weather, the sunshine, healthcare waiting times, flights home, or what the climate will be like in thirty years.

A Coruña on the things the ranking left out

We scored A Coruña against the other 332 Spanish towns on 19 topics, where 100 means best in Spain and 50 typical. It is strong on everyday essentials on foot, public hospital close, cool summers around 2055, cool summers, reservoirs held up in droughts, lively centre, mild winters, airport close, short surgery wait, and weak on sunshine, few rainy days, year-round flight to Amsterdam.

A Coruña compared with 332 other Spanish towns (0 = worst, 100 = best)

Everyday essentials on footEveryday essentials on foot: 100100Public hospital closePublic hospital close: 100100Cool summers around 2055Cool summers around 2055: 100100Cool summersCool summers: 9999Reservoirs held up in droughtsReservoirs held up in droughts: 9191Lively centreLively centre: 8888Mild wintersMild winters: 8888Airport closeAirport close: 8787Short surgery waitShort surgery wait: 8686Dry summer airDry summer air: 6464Year-round flight to the USYear-round flight to the US: 5858Low rentLow rent: 5050Few holiday letsFew holiday lets: 5050Low crimeLow crime: 4141Low purchase priceLow purchase price: 2727Fast train to MadridFast train to Madrid: 2727SunshineSunshine: 1515Few rainy daysFew rainy days: 55Year-round flight to AmsterdamYear-round flight to Amsterdam: 22
Score = share of the other places that do not do better on that topic. Line = 50, a typical town. Darker bars = 70 or more.

In numbers: an August average high of 23.4°C (and 24.0°C projected around 2055), 2 warm nights a year, but 127 rainy days and 5.9 hours of sunshine a day on average (3.2 in December). Homes cost 2,652 €/m² at the official appraisal, and the surgery wait in Galicia is 73 days against 121 for Spain.

So is it the best place to live?

For someone who loves the sea, cool summers and a lively, walkable city, and does not mind grey, wet winters, it may well be. For someone who wants winter sun, it is one of the worst choices in Spain. A ranking can only weigh what it measures, with its own weights. Try yours: on the compare page, say what matters to you under “Rank by what matters to you” and see where A Coruña ends up.

How we did this

Ranking positions as reported by El Español (Oxford Economics Global Cities Index 2026); we cite positions only and do not copy the index's data. Our scores use the same official sources as the rest of this site (AEMET, Ministry of Housing, Ministry of Health, INE, Interior Ministry, OpenStreetMap, Escenarios-PNACC). Built 2026-10-18.

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