The way to your own places
Add your office, a school or your parents' home. You will see how long each takes on foot, by metro, by car and by bicycle.
Where to live in Spain as an expat: the street decides more than the city
Choosing where to live in Spain as an expat starts with the walk to a market, a school, a park and the metro. Living Score gives it a figure from 0 to 100.
Free, no sign-up. Sample report
Most errands on foot Gran Vía 28, Madrid
- Dia Market3 min
- Gran Víaunder 1 min
- Parque Infantil Paseo del prado10 min
How it works
What lies within a walk of a real address, place by place.
You type an address, we find it on the map.
Gran Vía 28, Madrid
Found on the map40.4202, -3.7020
- Score Each part of daily life gets 0 to 100, and together they make one score.
- Nearby The markers are real places, the nearest of each kind. The tint shows how far you get on foot.
- List Tap a place and the map shows the way there.
Most errands on foot
What lowers it here Noise −3.3 Air −1.4
Strongest: Groceries and Public transport. Weakest: Parks and sport.
The markers are real places, the nearest of each kind. The tint shows how far you get on foot.
- 5 minutes on foot421 places
- 10 minutes on foot1,768 places
- 15 minutes on foot3,300 places
Tap a place and the map shows the way there.
No place is selected.
Gran Vía 28, Madrid
Nearest places 88
Groceries
Services nearby
Public transport
Education and children
Health
Parks and sport
Cafes and culture
Bikes and shared cars
Remote work
Pets
What a map alone will not tell you
A map shows what is nearby. The report tells you whether it works for you.
What matters to you weighs more
Give more weight to what matters and mark what you cannot do without. The score changes at once, and the link keeps your settings.
92.3what is in reach−4.7what lowers it=87.6score
What takes points away
A main road under the window or dirty air costs points. The report names each cause and shows it on the map.
How minutes turn into points
We count minutes along real streets. A hill, a long wait at a crossing and a walk beside a highway make the way longer.
How far the door really reaches
The areas you can walk to from Gran Vía 28, Madrid in 5, 10 and 15 minutes, along its streets. The dashed circle is what a ruler on the map would promise.
- 5 minutes on foot
- 10 minutes on foot
- 15 minutes on foot
- 15 minutes as the crow flies
Five minutes is full value
A grocery within 5 minutes of the door counts in full. Further out its value falls, slowly at first, and at 20 minutes it counts for nothing.
A railway doubles a short walk
Around Gran Vía 28, Madrid a walk is on average 1.21 times the straight line. Where tracks or a six-lane road lie between you and the shop, you walk to the crossing first.
- 2.2 km of major roads
- 892 m of stairs
- 84 closed passages
What the score is made of
Each part has its own 0 to 100: the fewer minutes on foot, the higher. The percentages are its weight in the General profile.
Public transport
The lines you can reach on foot. A metro line counts for three bus lines, a frequent line for more than a rare one.
18% of the score
Parks and sport
A park, a forest, a sports ground, benches. A beach or the sea within a walk counts like a park; a lake or a river bank adds points.
14% of the score
Street network
How direct the streets are, and what the walks lose to slopes, waits at wide roads and traffic alongside.
14% of the score
Services nearby
A pharmacy, a bank or a cash machine, the post and parcel lockers, a hairdresser or a repair shop, a shopping centre.
13% of the score
Education and children
Kindergartens, schools, playgrounds, classes. With a child it is a walk made twice a day.
10% of the score
Groceries
A supermarket or a grocery shop, a bakery, a greengrocer, a market. What you buy every few days.
9% of the score
Health
A clinic, a dentist, a hospital. Rarely needed, badly missed when far.
9% of the score
Cafes and culture
Cafes, restaurants, a cinema, a museum, a library. Places you go to for no errand at all.
8% of the score
Bikes and shared cars
Cycle lanes and tracks nearby, the ride to the city centre, bike share and parking, chargers and shared cars.
3% of the score
Remote work
A coworking space, or a cafe and a library where you can sit with a laptop.
1% of the score
Pets
A dog park, a vet, a pet shop.
1% of the score
What lowers the score
Noise, dirty air and industry nearby take up to 20 points
Shown, but kept out of the score
These are mapped unevenly from country to country, or modelled too coarsely for one street. So the report states them as facts.
- Greenery
- The share of the surroundings covered by parks, forest and grass.
- Step-free access
- Step-free places, lowered kerbs, tactile paving and stairs on the way.
- Lighting and night
- Lit streets and places open through the night.
- Climate
- Hot days, frost and rain over the last full year.
- Relief
- Height above sea level and how steep the streets are.
What lowers the score
Noise, dirty air and industry next door take up to 20 points. Here is what they cost Gran Vía 28, Madrid.
92.3what is in reach−4.7what lowers it=87.6score
Gran Vía: about 62 dB at the building
Línea Madrid Atocha-Pinar de las Rozas: about 37 dB at the building
The level at the address is worked out from the roads, railways and runways around it. Each decibel above 55 dB costs 0.5 of a point, up to 10 points.
The noise is worked out for the spot the building stands on. Inside a flat it depends on which way the windows face and on the glazing: a flat facing the courtyard can be much quieter.
The yearly average of fine particles and nitrogen dioxide against the WHO guideline, up to 8 points. The worse of the two counts.
Noise 3.3 + Air 1.4 = 4.7. Together they never take more than 20 points.
The noise is worked out for the spot the building stands on. Inside a flat it depends on which way the windows face and on the glazing: a flat facing the courtyard can be much quieter.
One address, six ways of living at it
A family needs a school, life without a car needs the metro. Choose who it is for and the weights change.
What you get for an address
The report for Gran Vía 28, Madrid. Behind every number are the places it came from.
Gran Vía 28, Madrid
Most errands on foot
What is missing
- Park or garden−2.4
- Hospital−1.6
- Forest and open nature−1.3
- Kindergarten−0.7
Cities
One address in each city, scored the same way.
Madrid
Plaza de Olavide, Madrid · Chamberí
Everything on foot
Barcelona
Passeig de Gràcia 43, Barcelona · Eixample
Most errands on foot
Valencia
Calle de Sueca, Valencia · Ruzafa
Everything on foot
Malaga
Plaza de la Merced 15, Málaga · Centro
Everything on foot
Seville
Calle San Jacinto, Seville · Triana
Most errands on foot
Alicante
Explanada de España 1, Alicante · Centro
Most errands on foot
Questions
Where do most expats live in Spain?
In Madrid and Barcelona, along the Mediterranean coast around Valencia, Alicante and Malaga, and on the islands. Within the cities they gather in central districts where life works without a car. Those districts are often also the most expensive and the noisiest.
Which part of Spain is best to live in?
It depends on what you are willing to give up. The Mediterranean coast has mild winters and humid summers. The interior, Madrid included, is drier, with hotter summers and colder winters. The north is green, cool and rainy. Decide on climate and work first, then compare specific addresses.
Is Valencia a good place to live?
For many people, yes. It is flat, has a long park through its middle and a beach you can reach by tram or bus, and it is smaller than Madrid or Barcelona. The usual drawbacks are humid summers, festival noise in March and rents that have risen in the popular districts.
Is Malaga a good place to live?
It suits people who want the sea, mild winters and a compact center. The city is long and narrow, so outside the center distances grow and some districts depend on buses. Check what is within a walk of the exact address before you commit.
Is Seville a good place to live?
Seville is flat, walkable and easy to cycle, with a large historic center. The summer is very hot, and that shapes daily life for several months. If you can live with the heat, look for shaded streets and short walks to school, shops and transport.
Is Barcelona or Madrid more walkable?
Both are easy to live in without a car in their central districts. Barcelona is denser and has the sea, with traffic on most streets of the grid and slopes toward the hills. Madrid is more spread out and has the larger metro network. Score the addresses you are considering and compare them side by side.
More on choosing a place to live
Spanish cities at street level
Spanish cities are dense. Most people live in apartment buildings with shops at street level, so a bakery, a pharmacy and a bar are rarely far away, and a car is optional in the middle of all six cities on this site.
The differences show up at a smaller scale. One street has a covered market and a metro entrance; the next is lined with bars that close at three. An apartment on the far side of the M-30 or the tracks into Sants can look central on the map and be a long detour on foot. When you are working out where to live in Spain as an expat, these are the things a rental listing leaves out.
Make the report about your own week
Add up to three places of your own: an international school in Chamartín, a coworking space in Poblenou, a friend's flat. The report shows the walk to each and, where walking is too far, whether a single metro or bus line connects the two ends.
Then choose who is moving. There are six profiles: general, family with a child, without a car, older person, remote worker and pet owner. If you are deciding where to live in Spain with family, the family profile makes a school, a playground and a park essential and slows the pace. If you are choosing where to live in Spain as a digital nomad, the remote-worker profile counts coworking spaces and laptop-friendly cafes. You can also drag the weights yourself and mark must-haves, and the link carries your settings to whoever you share it with.
A shortlist usually comes down to a handful of apartments. Put two to five addresses side by side and see where each gains or loses.
Trade-offs a newcomer does not see on a map
Old quarters are beautiful and short on some basics. Streets are narrow, large supermarkets are rare, many buildings have no elevator, and tourist rentals bring rolling suitcases and late nights. Newer districts on the edge have elevators, parking and playgrounds, along with wider roads and longer walks between things.
Noise catches many newcomers out. Festivals take over the streets: the Fallas across much of Valencia in March, the April Fair beside Los Remedios in Seville. The score takes points off for a busy road, a railway or an industrial estate near the building and for air worse than the WHO guideline, up to twenty in all. Bar terraces are not in any dataset, so visit the street at night as well as at noon.
For anyone weighing up living in Madrid vs Barcelona, the practical differences are language and layout. In Barcelona, public schools teach mainly in Catalan. Madrid has the larger metro network and no sea. In Seville, shade on the walk to school counts for more than distance.
What is inside the number
Walks are measured in minutes along real streets, with slopes and the wait at big crossings counted in. A place under five minutes away counts in full, and by fifteen to twenty minutes it counts for nothing. Ten categories go in: daily shopping, transport, schools and childcare, health, parks and sport, the street network, cafes and culture, bikes and shared cars, places to work, and pets.
The sea counts. A beach or a seafront promenade within a walk adds to the parks category, so an address in Barceloneta, La Malagueta or by the Postiguet in Alicante gets credit for it, measured by the real route to the sand. Madrid loses nothing for being inland.
If you came looking for a walk score in Spain and expected a single number, you get the number plus every place behind it with its walking time. The map data is OpenStreetMap. The full report opens straight away, without an account.