Barcelona parking spaces too narrow

Barcelona has the narrowest parking places in Europe according to research by EuroTest, a group of 18 automobile clubs in 17 European countries.

Barcelona parking spaces are only 2.2 m wide and 4.5 m long. Those in Madrid are only slightly more spacious at 2.25 m wide. Both are below the 2.5 m wide and 5 m long recommended by EuroTest.

Although the width of parking spaces has remained the same over the years, cars are getting wider. A VW Golf was 1.61 m wide in 1974 and is 2.03 m today hence the increasing difficulty of getting out of a car once it is parked and the subsequent damage to bodywork.

In its report EuroTest examined 60 parking garages in 15 countries. None was rated very good, ten were good, 39 meagre, nine poor and two very poor. The best was a new car park in Zurich, the worst was a garage in Vienna dating back to the mid 1980s.

EuroTest has been checking the safety and quality of mobility throughout its member countries since it first started to operate in 2000, examining service areas, tunnels, ferries and railway stations.

See full report.