Barcelona, the best city in the world, according to 'Telegraph Travel'

Which is the best city in the world? According to a ranking compiled by Telegraph Travel there is no doubt that it is Barcelona, which has won 588 out of a possible 810 points in categories such as cultural agenda, history, architecture, food and safety. This score places the Catalan capital 32 points above the second best-ranked city, which is Sydney. "There is no other place like it," the magazine concludes in reference to Barcelona, and stresses that it combines "everything that is most charming about a Mediterranean city."

The deputy mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, has celebrated the choice of Barcelona as "great news for the city" and has highlighted that the ranking recognises a mix of categories, among them connectivity or social life and also security.

In third place on the ranking is Cape Town, in fourth place is Lisbon and in fifth place is Venice. To make the list, 50 cities were selected from a combination of those chosen by readers in recent surveys and cities selected by the magazine's travel writers. From there, data was collected from different categories (the number of Michelin stars, the distance between the city and the airport, the number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites...) and, once the results were analysed, a score was established that placed Barcelona at the top of the ranking.

"We could talk for hours about the wonders of Barcelona, but the figures speak for themselves ", the magazine summarises, which praises aspects such as the works of Antoni Gaudi or the historic site of Sant Pau, the 19 Michelin-starred restaurants or the 39 five-star hotels in the city. It also praises "the inclusive LGTBI scene", "low-emission credentials" and a "wide beach". The recognition comes after an Easter Week in which the Catalan capital has seen tourists flood back to the city (with hotel occupancy at 85%), rekindling the debate on mass tourism.

In the ranking of the magazine there are two Spanish cities, Seville and Madrid, which came thirteenth and seventeenth, respectively.