Top Universities in Spain

79 universities in Spain with a measured position, 15 of them ranked worldwide.

#UniversityCityWorld rankIn-countryCitations
1 Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona #149 (2024) #1 13,376,825
2 University of Barcelona #160 (2026) #2 17,247,207
3 Complutense University of Madrid #187 (2026) #3 8,193,328
4 Autonomous University of Madrid Madrid #206 (2026) #5 10,083,001
5 Universidad Carlos III de Madrid #301 (2026) #7 1,421,771
6 Universidad Politécnica de Madrid #334 (2026) #8 3,267,923
7 Universidad Politécnica de Cataluna #392 (2026) #9 5,250,546
8 Universidad de Granada #401 (2026) #10 6,978,069
9 Universidad Politécnica de Valencia #422 (2026) #11 4,468,446
10 Universidad de Valencia #430 (2026) #12 11,697,275
11 IE University #438 (2026) #13 142,835
12 Universidad de Sevilla #469 (2026) #14 5,170,643
13 Universidad de Alcalá de Henares #538 (2024) #15 2,054,855
14 Universidad de Salamanca #539 (2025) #16 2,849,683
15 Universidad de Zaragoza #544 (2025) #17 4,779,123
16 Universidad de Navarra not ranked #24 3,338,314
17 Universidad de Murcia not ranked #25 2,939,525
18 Universidad de La Laguna not ranked #27 2,676,619
19 Universidad de Valladolid not ranked #33 1,925,968
20 Universidad de Extremadura not ranked #34 1,771,623
21 Universitat Jaume I de Castellón not ranked #35 1,633,305
22 Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche not ranked #40 1,420,696
23 Universidad Rey Juan Carlos not ranked #39 1,418,747
24 Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria not ranked #44 1,148,435
25 Universidad Pablo de Olavide not ranked #49 787,059
26 Universidad de La Rioja not ranked #53 492,717
27 Universidad Europea de Madrid not ranked #55 394,948
28 Universidad de Deusto not ranked #56 306,989
29 Universitat Oberta de Catalunya not ranked #57 305,004
30 Universitat Internacional de Catalunya not ranked #58 287,796
31 Universidad Católica San Antonio not ranked #59 271,398
32 IESE Business School not ranked #61 211,756
33 Barcelona Graduate School of Economics not ranked #63 192,752
34 Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU not ranked #64 183,232
35 Universidad Católica de Valencia not ranked #65 149,957
36 Universidad Francisco de Vitoria not ranked #66 123,018
37 Universidad Católica de Ávila not ranked #69 55,838
38 Universidad San Jorge not ranked #70 54,801
39 Universidad Alfonso X El Sabio not ranked #71 48,377
40 Universidad Europea del Atlántico not ranked #72 46,580
41 Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca not ranked #74 31,635
42 Universidad Internacional de Valencia not ranked #75 28,131
43 Universidad Internacional Isabel I not ranked #76 23,308
44 Eada Business School Barcelona not ranked #77 17,698
45 ESADE Business & Law School not ranked #78 3,141
46 Bircham International University not ranked #80 319
47 Universidad CEU Fernando III not ranked — 45
48 Universitat de Barcelona not ranked #18 17,247,207
49 Universidade de Santiago de Compostela not ranked #19 5,774,833
50 Universidad del País Vasco not ranked #20 5,358,030
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What the two columns mean

In-country is the position the ranking record gives the university among those in its own country, and it is often the more useful number: a university ranked 480th in the world may still be third at home. It is carried over as published, so it does not always follow the order of the other two columns. World rank is the university's QS World University Rankings position. Citations are the number of times work published by the university has been cited, as recorded in OpenAlex; it is the measure used to order universities that QS does not rank at all.

The two do not always agree. A large research university can out-cite a smaller one that sits above it in QS, because QS weighs reputation surveys and staff ratios as well as research.

Rankings in other countries

USA 138 ranked UK 55 ranked Germany 40 ranked China 37 ranked Australia 31 ranked Canada 26 ranked France 19 ranked Italy 18 ranked South Korea 17 ranked Japan 16 ranked Switzerland 13 ranked Malaysia 11 ranked