Air quality
Air quality in Barcelona today
Updated
Moderate (US AQI 51) Acceptable for most people. Unusually sensitive people should consider shortening long or heavy exertion outdoors. Model estimate for Mon, Oct 26, 3:00 am (02:00 UTC).
Live AQI, PM2.5, PM10 and ozone for Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, with a 48-hour forecast and the best time to be outside.
- US AQI now
- 51 Moderate
- PM2.5
- 15 µg/m³ 1× WHO 24-h guideline
- PM10
- 20 µg/m³
- Ozone
- 16 µg/m³
- Dominant pollutant
- PM2.5 sub-index 51
- Best hour today
- 6:00 am AQI 52
- European AQI
- 49
Air quality in Barcelona right now
Right now the modelled US Air Quality Index for Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain is 51, which falls in the "Moderate" band (up to 100). Acceptable for most people. Unusually sensitive people should consider shortening long or heavy exertion outdoors.
The index is driven mainly by PM2.5, whose own sub-index is 51. Fine and coarse particles come from traffic, heating, industry, dust and smoke; they build up on calm nights and clear when wind or rain arrives.
PM2.5 is 15 µg/m³, within the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; PM10 is 20 µg/m³ against a guideline of 45; ozone is 16 µg/m³ (below the WHO 8-hour level of 100); nitrogen dioxide is 41 µg/m³ (above the 24-hour guideline of 25).
Also this hour: carbon monoxide 184 µg/m³.
NASA FIRMS shows 8 fire hotspots within 300 km in the last day (nearest about 81 km), but particle levels are not elevated enough to point to smoke right now.
Barcelona AQI forecast: next 48 hours
Over the next 24 hours the AQI is forecast to range from 51 around Mon 3:00 am to 56 around Mon 8:00 pm, staying "Moderate" throughout.
The following day looks similar, averaging about 58.
| Local time (Europe/Madrid) | US AQI | Category | PM2.5 µg/m³ | PM10 µg/m³ | Ozone µg/m³ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 3:00 am | 51 | Moderate | 14.5 | 20 | 16 |
| Mon 6:00 am | 52 | Moderate | 11.6 | 17 | 16 |
| Mon 9:00 am | 53 | Moderate | 15.3 | 23 | 15 |
| Mon 12:00 pm | 55 | Moderate | 8.6 | 13 | 52 |
| Mon 3:00 pm | 55 | Moderate | 6 | 11 | 61 |
| Mon 6:00 pm | 55 | Moderate | 10 | 17 | 40 |
| Mon 9:00 pm | 56 | Moderate | 13.2 | 20 | 9 |
| Tue 12:00 am | 55 | Moderate | 14.4 | 21 | 4 |
| Tue 3:00 am | 55 | Moderate | 19.1 | 23 | 16 |
| Tue 6:00 am | 57 | Moderate | 17.8 | 21 | 17 |
| Tue 9:00 am | 58 | Moderate | 18.7 | 22 | 12 |
| Tue 12:00 pm | 58 | Moderate | 6.5 | 10 | 62 |
| Tue 3:00 pm | 58 | Moderate | 5.4 | 12 | 81 |
| Tue 6:00 pm | 58 | Moderate | 8.3 | 16 | 57 |
| Tue 9:00 pm | 58 | Moderate | 17 | 22 | 16 |
| Wed 12:00 am | 58 | Moderate | 12.8 | 17 | 35 |
| Wed 3:00 am | 57 | Moderate | 14.3 | 18 | 37 |
Every third hour of the CAMS forecast via Open-Meteo. US AQI uses rolling averages (24 h for particles, 8 h for ozone), so it moves more slowly than the hourly concentrations.
Best time to be outside in Barcelona today
Between 6 am and 9 pm local time, the cleanest air today is forecast around 6:00 am (AQI 52, Moderate) and the worst around 8:00 pm (AQI 56). The difference across the day is small, so timing matters little.
Barcelona vs the rest of Spain
Across 33 Spain cities we track, the average US AQI right now is 33 (Good). Barcelona at 51 is 18 points worse than average.
It ranks 29 of 33 from cleanest to most polluted; the cleanest is Gijón (18) and the most polluted Telde (53).
For context, the median across 3,909 cities worldwide is 57.
Air quality in cities near Barcelona
| City | Distance | US AQI | Category | PM2.5 µg/m³ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Coloma de Gramenet | 8 km | 51 | Moderate | 14.5 |
| Badalona | 10 km | 51 | Moderate | 14.5 |
| Tarragona | 82 km | 26 | Good | 2.8 |
| Salt | 84 km | 30 | Good | 5.6 |
| Girona | 86 km | 30 | Good | 5.6 |
| Salou | 92 km | 26 | Good | 2.8 |
| Palma | 207 km | 27 | Good | 4.6 |
| Toulouse | 253 km | 21 | Good | 4.9 |
Model vs measured
The nearest measured PM2.5 reading is 1.7 µg/m³ from Sensor.Community (median of 21 sensors), centred about 24 km from the city centre. That is 12.8 µg/m³ below the model estimate of 15 µg/m³. Low-cost sensors can read high in humid air; reference monitors are more accurate but sparser.
Advice for sensitive groups
At 51, most people are fine outdoors. If you are unusually sensitive to PM2.5, keep long or intense workouts to the cleaner hours shown above.
What the US AQI numbers mean
| US AQI | Category | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 0-50 | Good | Air quality is satisfactory and poses little or no risk; a good time for outdoor activity. |
| 51-100 | Moderate | Acceptable for most people. Unusually sensitive people should consider shortening long or heavy exertion outdoors. |
| 101-150 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | People with heart or lung disease, older adults, children and teens should cut back on prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors. |
| 151-200 | Unhealthy | Everyone should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors; sensitive groups should avoid it and keep windows closed. |
| 201-300 | Very Unhealthy | Health alert: everyone should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors, and sensitive groups should stay indoors. |
| 301-500 | Hazardous | Emergency conditions: everyone should avoid all outdoor physical activity and stay indoors with filtered air if possible. The scale tops out at 500; heavier dust or smoke is shown as 500. |
Values on this page are modelled by CAMS (Copernicus) and served by Open-Meteo; they are estimates for the area around the city centre, not readings from an official monitor.
Nearby cities
More for Barcelona
Air quality elsewhere
Data: Open-Meteo Air Quality API, Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), Sensor.Community, NASA FIRMS.