Barcelona is one of the most important European Capitals of Culture with more than one million inhabitants, behind Berlin, Milan or Paris.
It is known that Barcelona and culture go hand in hand. However, it is good the European Commission establishing an index to evaluate, objectively, to what extent it can compete with other cities on the continent. That is the Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor, which has positioned the Catalan capital among the most outstanding European capitals of culture.
Barcelona is the ninth European capital of culture with more than one million inhabitants. The coefficient established by the European Union analyzes 29 indicators such as the number of theaters, cinemas or concerts, the employment rate linked to art or entertainment or the number of visitors to museums. Paris holds the first place, with an overall score of 63.2. It is followed by  Munich (41.7), Prague (38.4), Milan (38.4), Vienna (35), Brussels (36), London (34.7), Berlin (34.6). ), Barcelona (33.2) and Budapest (30.1).
The Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor highlights that Barcelona is the capital of Catalan culture and the only city with nine World Heritage sites declared by UNESCO. It is also part of their Cities of Literature network. The European Commission applauds Barcelona using the street as a stage for cultural events (Llum Bcn, La Mercè Arts de Carrer) and their entrepreneurial and creative spirit. Nor does it forget the importance of museums such as the Picasso or the Joan Miró Foundation, in addition to its 170 festivals dedicated to music (such as Primavera Sound or Sónar), literature, theater or cinema. Finally, it includes the importance of the implementation of new technologies to bring the city closer to its inhabitants.
About the Cultural and creative cities monitor
The Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor is a coefficient established by the Joint Research Center of the European Commission. This is calculated among 168 cities based on the proportion of cultural life and the number of inhabitants. For this reason, a small city with three museums and ten festivals a year will receive a coefficient much higher than a large city with the same data.
In order to get realistic results, the European Commission recommends comparing cities with a similar number of inhabitants. Anyway, if takings into account smaller cities, Barcelona would fall to the nineteenth position and the classification would considerate Amsterdam (third position with a 45.5) or Lisbon (fourth with a 42.6).