What is bigger: Madrid or Barcelona? To answer this question adequately, we must first clarify what magnitude we mean. Because It is not the same to do it to the number of inhabitants than to the surface. Likewise, it is different to take as a reference the respective cities to include all its metropolitan area in computing.
In any case, Madrid y Barcelona consist of the two most important towns in Spain. Each of them has great infrastructures for tourism and wonderful monuments. For all this, we are going to explain which is bigger: Madrid or Barcelona according to all the mentioned parameters. But, since what interests you the most are its tourist attractions, we will also talk about beautiful locations of their respective metropolitan areas.
Extension and number of inhabitants of Madrid
The Plaza Mayor, one of the symbols of Madrid
The first thing we should point out is that the city of Madrid is bigger than Barcelona both by extension and by number of inhabitants. The first has an area of 605,77 square kilometers. As for its population, it amounts to 3,31 million citizens.
However, these data, which belong to the 2022 census, refer only to the city of Madrid. I mean, not your Metropolitan area. In fact, the latter is the fourth most inhabited in Europe after the Paris, London y Istanbul. However, it is not easy to delimit it, since there is no legal definition of the municipalities that are part of it.
Unofficially, the closest municipalities such as Alcorcón, Leganés, Móstoles, Alcobendas or Pozuelo de Alarcón. But also others that are between twenty and forty kilometers from the big city. Between these, Pinto, Parla, Valdemoro, Alcalá de Henares or San Sebastián de los Reyes.
This is how the metropolitan area understands the Ministry of Economy of the Madrid government itself. in your post Atlas of the Community of Madrid on the threshold of the XNUMXst century includes a total of 27 municipalities and more than five and a half million inhabitants. Some even go further and introduce the nearby cities of Guadalajara, Segovia o Toledo. In such a case, the total population would go up to more than six million. But this is taking things too far.
Extension and number of inhabitants of Barcelona
The famous Ramblas of Barcelona
For its part, Barcelona is smaller both in one parameter and in the other. Has a surface of 102,16 square kilometers, that is, 503,61 less than Madrid. Likewise, its population in the year 2022 reaches up to 1,64 million people. Therefore, also much less than those of the Castilian city.
However, there is a parameter in which Barcelona beats Madrid. It's about the population density, which is obtained by dividing the number of inhabitants by the area. If we do, we get as a result that Barcelona is much more densified than Madrid, since it yields a figure of just over sixteen thousand inhabitants per square kilometer. On the other hand, the Castilian city hardly reaches XNUMX.
On the other hand, Barcelona also has an important metropolitan area. And, likewise, it does not have clear data because, if we look at the European Union, would have a population of more than 5,5 million peopleBeing the seventh largest urban agglomeration in Europe. Similar data gives the Ministerio de Fomento, with 5,1 million.
But perhaps the most reliable data is the one offered by the Metropolitan Administration of Barcelona, created in 2011 based on a law of the Catalan Parliament. It includes within it a total of 36 municipalities with an area of 636 square kilometers and a population of 3,23 million.
In short, all this data that we have provided answers the question which is bigger: Madrid or Barcelona. As you have seen, the great Castilian city has more extension and number of inhabitants than the Ciudad Condal. And this is so both delimiting the locality itself and if we take the metropolitan area of both cities. Precisely, with respect to its metropolitan areas, we are going to talk to you about some of its most beautiful villas so you do not forget to visit them if you are in Madrid or Barcelona.
Nice towns near Madrid
The impressive monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial
If the capital of Spain is full of extraordinary monuments, there are no less in the towns of its metropolitan area. Although they do not belong to this, we have to mention the beautiful villa of San Lorenzo del Escorial, with its famous monastery and other monuments. We must tell you the same about the Royal Site of Aranjuez, with its imposing Royal Palace. And all this not to mention small typical villas as Chinchón, Patones de Arriba o Buitrago de Lozoya.
Moreover, Alcorcón is church of Santa Maria la Blanca and the singular castles of Valderas. In Getafe are the Hermitage of Our Lady of the Angels, located on the homonymous hill, and the Madeleine Cathedral. Leganés offers you the Church of San Salvador, which houses a baroque altarpiece by José de Churriguera. In San Fernando de Henares is the set of Royal Site, with various buildings and the Huerta Grande promenade. And in Villaviciosa de Odon you can see its spectacular castle Built in the XNUMXth century, although it was restored first by Juan de Herrera in the XNUMXth century and then by Ventura Rodríguez in the XNUMXth century. But, among so many wonderful locations, we want to stop at Alcalá de Henares.
The magnificent Alcalá de Henares
Building of the Rector's Office of the University of Alcalá de Henares
Perhaps this small town in the southeast of Madrid is the most beautiful of all the many you can find in its metropolitan area. In fact, all of it has been declared World Heritage City y One size fits all by UNESCO. To a large extent, this is due to monuments such as its impressive University, founded by the Cardinal Cisneros in 1499. Although modern constructions have been added, you should pay attention to the Rectorate building, the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters or the San Basilio Magno convent school.
But you have many other wonders to see in Alcalá. You can walk through the Main Street, whose origins date back to the ancient Roman Caesar Augusta road, which passed through the then town of Complutum. The archaeological site of Hippolytus House. For its part, the Birthplace of Miguel de Cervantes is a reconstruction that, however, is located on the site where the original was.
More value as a monument has the Santos Niños Justo y Pastor Cathedral. It is in the late Gothic or Elizabethan style, although its tower, the work of Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón, and its cloister are already Renaissance. It is not the only temple that you must see in Alcalá. You also have the hermitages of San Isidro, baroque, and Nuestra Señora del Val, rebuilt in the first half of the XNUMXth century combining neo-Gothic and neo-Mudéjar styles. Likewise, the Chapel of the Oidor and the tower of Santa María are vestiges of an old church.
Moreover, the Corral de Comedias was built in 1601 and the gate of madrid in 1788. The oldest is the tower that remains from the Alcalá la Vieja castle, an old Arab fortress of the X. As for the Antezana HospitalIt is from the XNUMXth century. But you should also know the spectacular palaces that the Madrid town has. Among them, stands out the Archbishop, whose construction began in the XNUMXth century. And, above all, the Laredo Mansion, a wonder from the XNUMXth century that mixes neo-Gothic architecture with neo-Mudejar elements.
Nice localities in the metropolitan area of Barcelona
The beautiful Romanesque monastery of San Cugat del Vallés
We have already shown you some of the wonders that the towns in the metropolitan area of Madrid offer you. Now we are going to do the same with those of Barcelona. In Santa Coloma de Cervello you have the Colonia Güell, whose iglesia was the work of Gaudí, who experimented with it many of the audacity that he would later apply to the Sagrada Família.
Also, in San Cugat del Valles you have an impressive romanesque monastery of the ninth century. Badalona stands out for the remains of the ancient Roman city of Baetulo. In Santa Coloma de Gramenet is the spectacular Main church, with its equally beautiful rectory building. Sardanola del Valles have the castle of san marcial. In Molins del Rey you will find the beautiful village of San Bartolome de la Cuadra, located on a hill in the Collserola mountain range. And in Cervelló you will find one romanesque church of the eleventh century. However, we want to stop and tell you about a small town that does not appear on tourist itineraries, but is wonderful: Corbera de Llobregat.
The beautiful town of Corbera de Llobregat
One of the traditional houses of Corbera de Llobregat
In the historic center of this town, called Corbera Alta, you have the remains of the old castle and, by his side, the parish church of Santa María, whose construction began around the fourteenth century. However, the current temple dates from the XNUMXth century. Also included in the complex is the parsonage. No less beautiful is the church of San Antonio AbadWhile that of San Cristóbal, from the XI, is in ruins.
However, the most beautiful of Corbera are the old houses in its historic center. Stand out among them that of the barons of Corbera, a building from the beginning of the XNUMXth century that draws attention for its buttresses and its voussoir door. A century older is the Pilgrims Hospital, currently dedicated to exhibitions. Finally, already on the outskirts is the Hermitage of San Cristòfol, Romanesque from the XNUMXth century. But, if you want to travel to this small town at Christmas, another surprise awaits you. Its inhabitants organize a living Belen every weekend of these dates around the Corb Rock, an impressive enclave.
In conclusion, we have given you all the information you need to know which is bigger: Madrid or Barcelona. But we also wanted to provide you with information about the places of interest that you can find in their respective metropolitan areas. Dare to discover them.