How many people live in the city of Barcelona?

How to get close to this number

Anchor on the national capital and adjust. A country's second city typically holds around half to two thirds of the largest one's population, and this country's capital is a little over three million. Two thirds of that gives something under two million, which is right.

The density is what makes this city unusual rather than the population. As the explanation notes, well over a million and a half people live in roughly a hundred square kilometres, which puts it among the densest cities in Europe. The constraint is geographic — mountains on one side and sea on the other — so the city built upward and inward rather than outward.

The tourism ratio is the figure with the most consequences: roughly seven visitors a year for every resident. Tourist pressure at that ratio reshapes housing markets, retail and public transport, and it is the reason this city has become a reference case in European debates about tourism management. A population figure is only half the story of who is actually in a city.