Merco Ciudad is an annual survey wherein has been tried to rank 81 major Spanish cities with respect to housing, work, study, tourism, entertainment, etc. In the recently published version of 2010, per city over 250 parameters have been measured, 9,100 persons have been surveyed and 95 urban planners were interviewed.

The result shows some big surprises. Madrid can be found at nº 7 in the ranking of "best city to live" and Barcelona does not even appear in the top 10. Logroño is number 1, followed by Bilbao. All lists show big increases for the Basque cities of Bilbao, Vitoria and San Sebastián in comparison with the previous year.

A very brief summary (the entire study can be found at Ciudad Merco ):

Best city to live:

1. Logroño (3)
2. Bilbao (19)
3. Zaragoza (7)
4. Vitoria (11)
5. San Sebastián (5)

Best city for business:

1. Madrid (1)
2. Barcelona (2)
3. Bilbao (4)
4. Zaragoza (7)
5. Málaga (8)