A Wider and Deeper Look at the Municipal Quality of Life in Spain. A New Synthetic Index Proposal

This article proposes a multidimensional framework to objectively measure quality of life across Spanish municipalities. Based on a comprehensive set of indicators covering key life domains, the study develops and estimates a Spanish Municipal Quality of Life Synthetic Index (MQoLSI) for municipalities with over 100 inhabitants, offering a high level of territorial detail. The construction of the index involves selecting and weighting relevant variables and evaluating their individual contribution to local well-being. The system of indicators proposed in this study is designed to fill two key gaps in the literature: (1) the exclusion of small municipalities, which are often the most vulnerable to demographic ageing and depopulation; and (2) the limited coverage of existing systems, which rarely exceed 30 indicators and often omit environmental and social cohesion dimension. Hence, our proposal provides a quality of life indicator with a deeper scale and a wider scope. The analysis of the MQoLSI results indicates marked territorial variations in municipal well-being, with the highest values concentrated in metropolitan and coastal areas, while sparsely populated inland regions consistently demonstrate lower levels. These findings highlight the structural nature of spatial inequality and emphasise the usefulness of the MQoLSI for identifying local vulnerabilities and developing evidence-based territorial policies.