Madrid

QS Best Student Cities ranking

Spain's capital and most populous city, Madrid has much to offer. It’s one of Europe's major financial, administrative and cultural centers, as well as being a tourist magnet with legendary nightlife and gastronomic traditions.

Home to the famous “galacticos” of Real Madrid, the city also boasts some of the world's most important art galleries, such as the Prado, as well as a chic fashion scene. International students may also be interested to know that the city is famed for its outgoing and sociable lifestyle: lengthy siestas, leisurely evenings socializing at the city's innumerable tapas bars, and late, late nights out at the weekends.

Madrid scores well in most of the indicators used to compile the QS Best Student Cities, getting its strongest score for student view. Students frequently cite the city’s nightlife, diversity, lifestyle and weather among its pros whilst answering our student survey.

The city also achieves a high score for desirability, a measure of the overall quality of living in the city, including factors such as safety and pollution. Madrid’s highest-ranked university is the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.

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Internationally ranked universities in Madrid

To find out how each of the above categories is calculated, view the methodology.