How we build and rank the directory
Short version: every list comes from Google Maps, every business is placed in its official Barcelona district by its coordinates, and lists are sorted by Google rating adjusted for the number of reviews. Nobody pays to appear or to rank higher. The data was last checked on 2026-10-17.
1. Finding the businesses
For each of the 18 categories we run several Google Maps searches in English and Spanish (for example "real estate agency" and "inmobiliaria"), over the whole city and, for estate agents, district by district. A result is kept only when its own Google category matches the trade, so a law firm doesn't end up among the estate agents. Permanently or temporarily closed businesses are removed.
2. Placing them on the map
Each business is placed in one of Barcelona's 10 districts and 73 neighbourhoods (barris) by testing its Google Maps coordinates against the official boundaries published by the Ajuntament de Barcelona. Businesses in Sitges, Sant Cugat, Castelldefels and Badalona are listed under their town.
3. The ranking formula
A plain average would put a 5.0 from 3 reviews above a 4.8 from 400. So the score is a Bayesian average: each business's rating is blended with a neutral 4.3 as if it had 20 extra reviews at that value.
score = (rating × reviews + 4.3 × 20) ÷ (reviews + 20)
With few reviews the score stays close to 4.3; with hundreds it is almost exactly the business's own rating.
| Google rating | Reviews | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 5.0 | 3 | 4.39 |
| 4.9 | 40 | 4.70 |
| 4.8 | 400 | 4.78 |
4. What a profile shows
Profiles show only facts from the business's public Google Maps listing: address, district, Google categories, opening hours, rating, review count and the breakdown of reviews by stars, plus the business's own description. Profiles with fewer than 10 reviews are kept for visitors but not offered to search engines.
5. Other data on the pages
Every figure outside the business listings cites its source on the page and in a sources list at the bottom:
- Neighbourhood and district numbers (population, foreign residents, household income, home size and age, home sales at notaries, licensed tourist flats): Ajuntament de Barcelona, Open Data BCN (CC BY 4.0).
- Average rents on new leases: Generalitat de Catalunya, INCASÒL deposits register, via Dades obertes de Catalunya.
- Euribor: European Central Bank, ECB Data Portal.
- Nearest metro, train and tram stops: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL); walking time = straight-line distance at 80 m per minute.
- Website languages: a check of each business's own homepage (language tags and language links).
- Calculators: official rates only (Agència Tributària de Catalunya, BOE). They don't estimate notary, registry or professional fees: you type in your own quotes.
6. Corrections
If you run one of the 3,067 listed businesses and something is wrong or out of date, use the contact form and we'll fix it. Ratings and review counts change every day on Google; the date on each page says when they were checked.