Air quality comparison · Spain, 828 km apart
Barcelona vs Sevilla Air quality index (AQI) today
Barcelona has cleaner air than Sevilla right now: AQI 31 (Good) against 56 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Sevilla averaged AQI 43 against 69, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. Sevilla has lost more forest since 2001. Sevilla has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Barcelona31Sevilla56
Head to head
Barcelona vs Sevilla at a glance
Barcelona and Sevilla are level, each ahead on 3 of 6 measures. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Barcelona | Sevilla | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 31 (better) | 56 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 5.6 (better) | 11.6 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 69 | 43 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 48 ha (better) | 72 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 9.6% | 14.4% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 64.1K | 48.8K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Barcelona and Sevilla right now?
Barcelona has cleaner air than Sevilla right now: AQI 31 (Good) against 56 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Barcelona is read from a nearby ground station and Sevilla is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
BarcelonaSevilla
Concentrations at the same moment as the index above, for the pollutants both places report. Lower is better. The dark marks on the PM2.5 and PM10 rows show the WHO's 24-hour guidelines (15 and 45 µg/m³).
Barcelona: Ground station · Barcelona - Camp d'en Grassot, 1.6 km away · median of 13 stations. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, EEA, Elías P., Timea Kiss, gonsalwy, J.BCN.
Sevilla: Estimate · model corrected with 3 station cities within 165 km, e.g. Algeciras and Gibraltar. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 3 ground-station cities within 165 km, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Sevilla averaged AQI 43 against 69, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. A single reading can catch a city on a bad afternoon; the week says whether it was the weather or the place.
- Cleaner days
- Barcelona0Sevilla6
- Average AQI
- Barcelona69Sevilla43
- Worst day, AQI
- Barcelona78Sevilla56
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Barcelona | Sevilla |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 67 | 49 |
| Nov 6 | 61 | 56 |
| Nov 7 | 78 | 49 |
| Nov 8 | 77 | 41 |
| Nov 9 | 66 | 30 |
| Nov 10 | 64 | 33 |
Daily averages from the CAMS atmospheric model for both places, so the week compares like with like. They can differ from today's reading at the top of the page wherever that comes from a ground station.
What it means today
Is it safe to go outside in Barcelona and Sevilla today?
Barcelona (AQI 31, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Sevilla (AQI 56, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Exercise outdoors
- Barcelona
- A good day to be active outside.
- Sevilla
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
- Barcelona
- Open them to air the house.
- Sevilla
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
- Barcelona
- Not needed.
- Sevilla
- Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
- Barcelona
- Not needed.
- Sevilla
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Barcelona and Sevilla compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Barcelona's air is cleaner than 78% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Sevilla's is cleaner than 52%. Within Spain, that is 38% and 13% of its 57 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Barcelona
- Beats 78%
- Sevilla
- Beats 52%
More tree cover than…
- Barcelona
- Beats 20%
- Sevilla
- Beats 33%
Includes model estimates as well as station readings, so it can differ from our most polluted and cleanest air rankings, which use station readings only.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
Which has lost more forest, Barcelona or Sevilla?
Sevilla has lost more: about 72 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 48 ha around Barcelona. 68 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Measured within 10 km of each center, from the yearly satellite maps of forest loss: a wider circle than the one for tree cover, because forest is usually lost at a city's edges.
Worst year: 2023, with 6 ha lost.
Worst year: 2016, with 18 ha lost.
| Barcelona | Sevilla | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 48 ha (better) | 72 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 1.1% (better) | 11% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 26 ha (better) | 68 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (53%) | Farms, pasture and plantations (81%) |
Satellite timelapses
Watch both change, year by year
A clear satellite photo a year of the land around each city. Press play, turn on the forest cleared since the first year, or drag the before and after.
Barcelona
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Sevilla
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Barcelona or Sevilla?
Sevilla has more tree cover: 14.4% of the land within 2 km of its center against 9.6% around Barcelona, or about 45,013 trees against 30,159.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Barcelona | Sevilla | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 30.2K | 45.0K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 64.1K | 48.8K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 663K kg | 990K kg (better) |
Tree cover on the satellite image
The same 2 km radius around each center, with the tree cover the satellite found marked on it.
Reading these numbers
How this comparison is made
Air quality index
The US EPA index, computed from current pollutant concentrations: ground stations where a place has them nearby, and the CAMS atmospheric model everywhere else. It moves hour to hour, so it is a snapshot rather than a verdict on either place. The guideline marks are from the WHO's 2021 air quality guidelines.
Trees and forest
Tree cover is the share of ground under canopy within 2 km of each center, read from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail. It measures that circle, not the whole municipality, which is what makes the two comparable. Forest loss comes from the University of Maryland's Global Forest Change maps.
More on the method on the About Airleaf page.
Frequently asked
Barcelona vs Sevilla: your questions answered
Is Barcelona cleaner than Sevilla?
On air quality, yes, right now: Barcelona reads AQI 31 against 56, a gap of 25 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Sevilla averaged AQI 43 against 69, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Barcelona and Sevilla today?
In Barcelona, at AQI 31: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. In Sevilla, at AQI 56: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Which has lost more forest, Barcelona or Sevilla?
Sevilla has lost more: about 72 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 48 ha around Barcelona. 68 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Barcelona or Sevilla?
Sevilla has more tree cover: 14.4% of the land within 2 km of its center against 9.6% around Barcelona, or about 45,013 trees against 30,159. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Barcelona and Sevilla need?
Barcelona needs about 64,088 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Sevilla about 48,764 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Barcelona and Sevilla measured the same way?
The method is the same: the US EPA index for air, and Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail over an identical radius for trees. Barcelona is read from a nearby ground station and Sevilla is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Barcelona vs Sevilla comparison update?
The air readings refresh about once an hour, and each reading's local time is shown at the top of the page. Tree cover comes from the latest clear satellite image of each area (Sep 15, 2026 and Sep 17, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
Keep going
Compare them with somewhere else
Build your own
Compare Barcelona with somewhere else
This place
Barcelona