The cleanest and dirtiest cities in Spain according to the locals

La Organización de Consumidores y Usuarios (OCU), Spain's consumer watchdog, has published the results of a new survey on urban cleaning and revealed the cleanest and dirtiest cities in Spain, according to the people who live there. 

The study, which you can read here, surveyed the opinions of 6,863 people across 69 Spanish cities, the broad strokes conclusion of which is that most Spaniards are less than satisfied with the level of cleanliness in their cities.

While there were some pretty standout cities in terms of cleanliness, many received pretty mediocre, middle of the road results, and around a third received pretty damning judgements from local residents. 

Across the study, the average score was 52 points out of 100, one point less than in the last study carried out in 2019.

READ ALSO: Why do some Spanish homes have bottles of water outside their door?

Cleanest cities in Spain

So, who came out on top?

Oviedo, in Asturias, was named as the cleanest city in Spain (according to its locals, remember), with an overall satisfaction of 83/100, an improvement of 4 points on the 2019 survey.

In second was Bilbao (77 points), third Vigo (76), then Pamplona (71), Albacete (71), Getxo (69), Soria (68), Salamanca (68), Huesca (67) and Alcorcón (67).

In view of these results, and the fact that many of these cities are located in northern Spain, it seems that rainfall could play a role in the perceived cleanliness of a city among its locals.

The beautiful city of Oviedo in northern Spain has been voted the cleanest in the country. Photo: Simon Burchell/Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The dirtiest cities in Spain

Whereas many of the so-called cleanest cities in Spain are mostly clustered in the northern, wetter half of the peninsula, the cities that did the worst in the OCU survey were largely on the Mediterranean coast and in the province capitals across southern Spain, all areas with little rain and a large influx of tourists throughout the year.

Last place in the rankings, and therefore the dirtiest city in Spain, was Palma de Mallorca with a score of 35/100 points.

Second last was Alicante (37), third last Sevilla (38) and then San Sebastián de los Reyes in Madrid (36), Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (39), Barcelona (40), Madrid (40), Leganés (41), Jerez (41) and Málaga (41).

You can see the full rankings below (you can read OCU's study in Spanish here):

6,863 people across 69 Spanish cities were surveyed on the cleanliness of their cities. Table: OCU

 

Graffiti and dog poo

The survey also delved deeper into city cleanliness, and analysed several factors and the extent to which respondents thought their municipal government was taking care of them effectively. 

Of these evaluated by survey respondents, dog poo and graffiti ranked highly as concerns across the country, as well as rubbish left around public bins and a general lack of cleaning in the suburban areas away from city centres.

READ ALSO: Does Spain have a dog poo problem?

Improving cities

Though the results were a mixed bag overall, several Spanish cities significantly improved their scores since the 2019 survey, notably Guadalajara, which saw a jump of 25 points; Jaén and Lugo, who both improved by 18 points; Ávila has went up the rankings by 16 points; and Alcalá de Henares, in northern Madrid region, increased by 15 points on the 2019 survey.

More money, or more cleaning?

Another interesting conclusion of the survey found that spending public money on urban cleaning doesn't necessarily translate into cleaner streets. At least not how they're perceived by residents, anyway.

Pamplona and Albacete, for example, two of the cleanest cities in Spain who both ranked in the top 10, spend just €46 per annum, per resident on urban cleaning, whereas that figure is almost double (€80) in Seville, Barcelona and Madrid - all cities that ranked drastically worse.

What does seem to have an impact is the frequency and form of cleaning used. The OCU recommends that many municipalities can improve their cleanliness rating simply by using jet water streams and sweeping more, without the need for expensive machinery, and to clean more frequently overall.