Barcelona leads academic excellence: the UAB, best university in Spain according to the CWUR

The latest ranking by the Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) has placed the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) as Spain’s best university, placing it 126th globally and 42nd in Europe.

With a score of 81 out of 100, the UAB surpasses prestigious institutions in countries such as China, Japan and the United Kingdom, consolidating its reputation as one of the leading centres for teaching and research. But it is not the only Catalan representative in this global top tier: the Universitat de Barcelona (UB) has also made it among the best, occupying 136th place in the global ranking and 48th in Europe.

The two universities are the only Spanish institutions in the global top 150, a fact that reaffirms the Catalan capital as a university benchmark in southern Europe. By comparison, the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, the third-highest-ranked Spanish university, appears in 253rd place.

This new international recognition reinforces Barcelona’s commitment to quality public education, capable of competing with historic universities such as Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge, which lead the ranking.