Breathe cleaner air, helping to lower the ambient temperature in the warmer months, giving us shade, protecting us from the rain and reducing the force of the wind are some of the advantages of living in a green environment that has trees. But you know Which is the city with the most green areas in Spain in relation to its surface and inhabitants? Today we tell you.
The city with the most green areas
Vitoria-Gasteiz (Basque Country)
When you talk about Spanish green citiesVitoria-Gasteiz, also known simply as Victoria, is always at the top of all reports, lists and rankings. In fact, it is the leader of all of them if we take into account exclusively the amount of green surface per inhabitant.
Vitoria-Gasteiz also stands out in the study prepared by the INTERFASE group of the Department of Geography of the Autonomous University of Barcelona and Space4Environment. He carried out an investigation to determine what they called the Spanish forest cities. This term was founded to refer to the cities that are most similar to the Scandinavian ones in terms of natural spaces and urban parks.
The research was carried out on European cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants, and among them there were no shortage of Spanish ones. In conclusion, it was determined that Vitoria is one of the forest cities in Europe, along with Santiago de Compostela, Palma de Mallorca and Terrassa.
European Green Capital
The Vitoria situation is such with respect to its relationship with the environment and urban natural spaces which was the first Spanish city that has been declared European Green Capital. This award given each year by the European Commission was received by the Basque city in 2012, and since then it has served as an example to many other towns in our country that have tried to emulate it. In fact, during this 2024, it is Valencia the one that wears this award and has become another of the largest green cities in our country.
But in addition to this, Vitoria can also boast of having the Biosphere Responsible Tourism certificationwhich proves that it is a sustainable tourist destination. And, in 2019, he obtained the Global Green City awardan award given by the organization Global Forum on Human Settlements.
Green areas in Vitoria
But what makes Vitoria so special when we talk about Natural spaces? The figures do not lie. Exceeds the 42 square meters of green areas per person, in addition to the fact that everyone has a green area within a maximum of two and a half minutes walk. In addition, more than 100,000 trees stand in its parks and streets, and it has wonderful places to walk or run like the Path Walkhe Prado Park and the Florida Parkamong many others.
Likewise, the famous Green Ring of Vitoria-Gasteiz, which occupies a total of 833 hectares, with about 30 kilometers in length, has become a symbol of the city. Consisting of the set of peri-urban parks, that is, those that surround the city. Between 2012 and 2016, a total of 250,000 specimens of trees and shrubs. Different habitats follow one another when touring the Green Belt, such as wetlands, forests, rivers and meadows. Thus, we do not forget to highlight the Salburua Park and Ataria, like the Secret Water Gardenwith 3,100 square meters of extension.
In addition to all this, Vitoria stands out for being the pioneer in establishing a wonderful bike lane network in Spain, which currently has around 180 kilometers, making it one of the largest in the country. It should be noted that year after year it continues to increase.
European Green Leaf
Since 2015, in addition to the European Green Capital award, the European Green Leafin this case, intended for the towns with between 20,000 and 100,000 inhabitants. In order to compete for this European award, they must have green spaces and appropriate policies aimed at caring for the environment and raising public awareness. And Spanish towns have also been praised for these awards.
In fact, the first city awarded the European Green Leaf It was Spanish: Mollet del Valles (Barcelona), which was followed Cornellá de Llobegrat (Barcelona) in 2019. In 2025 there is another that will wear that distinction: Viladecans (Barcelona), who will receive €600,000 as a prize.
