Barcelona rises to fifth place in World's Best Cities ranking

Barcelona is again listed among the world's top 100 cities, coming in at number five in the latest World’s Best Cities ranking by the global consulting firm, Resonance Consultancy.

The global advisor on tourism, real estate and economic development describes Barcelona as "an almost ideal European city," highlighting its climate, public spaces and architecture.

The Catalan capital has moved up three places since the firm's previous ranking, leapfrogging Moscow (fourth and now sixth) and Singapore (sixth and now eighth).

The ranking published at the end of last year again places London in top spot, followed by Paris, New York and Tokyo, in second, third and fourth positions.

However, Barcelona is placed ahead of many other world cities, such as Madrid (11th), Rome (14th), Toronto (17th), Hong Kong (20th) and Sydney (23rd).

Using surveys and feedback from online sites, such as TripAdvisor, the firm looked at the city's environment, the diversity of its communities, and the level and range of its activity.  

Barcelona scored highly in the 'Place' category evaluating "the perceived quality of a city's natural and built environments," and 'Programming' on "arts, culture, entertainment, shopping, and food."

Barcelona wears "its cultural identity proudly on its sleeve," says the report, which points out that tourism quickly recovered from "two terrorist attacks and the police clashing with mass protesters" during the 2017 independence bid.