Málaga residents among most satisfied in the EU

A new EU study ranking the wellness and satisfaction of the continent’s city dwellers has found that residents of Málaga are the fourth-most satisfied citizens in Europe.

The EU study asked 40,000 residents from 79 EU cities for their opinion on everything from healthcare, environment, safety and leisure facilities, giving each city a score out of 100. Málaga achieved a respectable score of 96, placing fourth behind Aalborg in Denmark (which scored 99), Hamburg in Germany (98) and Copenhagen, Groningen, Oslo and Zurich, all tied on 97…

Málaga was the top-ranked Spanish city, coming ahead of Oviedo, which scored 94, and Barcelona, which achieved a ranking of 90. Madrid was the lowest-ranked of the four Spanish cities polled, scoring 86.

However, there were some aspects of the survey where Málaga residents displayed their dissatisfaction, namely with the provision of healthcare – a sector that polled just 63 points out of 100. Education, too, was ranked as below par in Málaga by its citizens, while 94 per cent of those polled also said that finding a job in Málaga is difficult.

But despite concerns over cleanliness, Málaga’s citizens said they were very happy with the safety of the city, its leisure facilities, its transport and the cost of living.

Across the EU, the least-satisfied citizens are to be found in Naples, Palermo and Istanbul – three of only a handful of cities to rank below 80 points.