“THE best thing that can be said about a city is that it's the best in the world to live in – and Valencia, from today, is just that,” says Sandra Gómez, deputy mayor of Spain's third-largest metropolis.
“That's what I call 'putting oneself on the map'. We've got reasons to be proud.”
Valencia's Plaza de la Virgen with its cathedral and bell-tower, basilica and fountain (photos 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8-16 inclusive by the Comunidad Valenciana regional tourism board)
If you're not one of the 780,000 or so inhabitants in this Mediterranean city that sits approximately halfway down the east coast, then it's still easy enough to find out for yourself why it tops the ranking in Forbes magazine – Valencia is served by frequent budget airline connections from all over Europe, and the metro running to the centre starts right inside the terminal.
And it's not the only Spanish location in the 10 'most liveable city' standings – Madrid comes in at number five.
Only one other country has more than one entry in the 10 best – the United Arab Emirates, with Dubai second and Abu Dhabi ninth.
Valencia also beats México DF, which is third, and the capital of Spain's neighbouring country – Portugal – as Lisbon comes fourth.
Once the gateway to the world's most liveable city through its ancient boundary wall, the Serrano twin towers now mark the start of the Turia riverbed garden
Both Valencia and Madrid come ahead of Bangkok, Thailand (sixth), Basel, Switzerland (seventh), former winner Melbourne, south-eastern Australia (eighth), Abu Dhabi, and Singapore (10th).
Barcelona came 14th, beating Lausanne, Switzerland (18th), Copenhagen, Denmark (17th), New York, USA (16th) and Nairobi, Kenya (15th).
Ahead of Barcelona were Tallinn, Estonia (11th), Miami, USA (12th) and Sydney, Australia (13th).
Toronto, Canada and Zürich, Switzerland complete the top 20.
Expat City Ranking 2022
Full-time inhabitants of the 50 cities featured in Forbes were not the ones who gave their views, as the annual study seeks to discover how the planet's largest metropolitan zones compare with respondents' home towns, or others they have lived in.
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