Air quality comparison · Spain, 390 km apart
Madrid vs Sevilla Air quality index (AQI) today
Madrid has cleaner air than Sevilla right now: AQI 33 (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 57, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. Madrid has lost more forest since 2001. Madrid has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Madrid33Sevilla56
Head to head
Madrid vs Sevilla at a glance
Madrid is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Sevilla on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Madrid | Sevilla | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 33 (better) | 56 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 6 (better) | 11.6 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 57 | 43 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 461 ha | 72 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 18.9% (better) | 14.4% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 34.8K (better) | 48.8K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Madrid and Sevilla right now?
Madrid has cleaner air than Sevilla right now: AQI 33 (Good) against 56 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Madrid is read from a nearby ground station and Sevilla is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
MadridSevilla
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).
Madrid: Ground station · ESCUELAS AGUIRRE, 1.8 km away · median of 19 stations. Data: OpenAQ · EEA.
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 57, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 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
- Madrid1Sevilla5
- Average AQI
- Madrid57Sevilla43
- Worst day, AQI
- Madrid80Sevilla56
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Madrid | Sevilla |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 59 | 49 |
| Nov 6 | 73 | 56 |
| Nov 7 | 80 | 49 |
| Nov 8 | 64 | 41 |
| Nov 9 | 40 | 30 |
| Nov 10 | 24 | 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 Madrid and Sevilla today?
Madrid (AQI 33, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Sevilla (AQI 56, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Exercise outdoors
- Madrid
- A good day to be active outside.
- Sevilla
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
- Madrid
- Open them to air the house.
- Sevilla
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
- Madrid
- Not needed.
- Sevilla
- Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
- Madrid
- Not needed.
- Sevilla
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Madrid and Sevilla compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Madrid's air is cleaner than 76% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Sevilla's is cleaner than 52%. Within Spain, that is 36% and 11% of its 57 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Madrid
- Beats 76%
- Sevilla
- Beats 52%
More tree cover than…
- Madrid
- Beats 44%
- 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, Madrid or Sevilla?
Madrid has lost more: about 461 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 72 ha around Sevilla. 108 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: 2021, with 346 ha lost.
Worst year: 2016, with 18 ha lost.
| Madrid | Sevilla | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 461 ha | 72 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 27% | 11% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 108 ha | 68 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Speeding up | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Logging (75%) | 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.
Madrid
2017: satellite photo from September 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 4 km west of 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, Madrid or Sevilla?
Madrid has more tree cover: 18.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 14.4% around Sevilla, or about 59,257 trees against 45,013.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Madrid | Sevilla | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 59.3K (better) | 45.0K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 34.8K (better) | 48.8K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.3M kg (better) | 990K kg |
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
Madrid vs Sevilla: your questions answered
Is Madrid cleaner than Sevilla?
On air quality, yes, right now: Madrid reads AQI 33 against 56, a gap of 23 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 57, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Madrid and Sevilla today?
In Madrid, at AQI 33: 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, Madrid or Sevilla?
Madrid has lost more: about 461 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 72 ha around Sevilla. 108 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Madrid or Sevilla?
Madrid has more tree cover: 18.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 14.4% around Sevilla, or about 59,257 trees against 45,013. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Madrid and Sevilla need?
Madrid needs about 34,802 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 Madrid 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. Madrid 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 Madrid 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 19, 2026 and Sep 17, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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