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🎓 Top Research Universities in Spain

Universities and colleges in Spain ranked by the total citations their research has received (OpenAlex).

📅 2026📏 citations50 entries🇪🇸 See all of this country’s rankings →
Every dot is one entry, placed by its value (citations); the vertical bar marks each row’s median.
1
Universitat de Barcelona203,616 papers
18,557,786
2
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona171,286 papers
13,200,341
3
Universitat de València137,227 papers
12,179,974
4
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid123,539 papers
9,510,504
5
Universidad Complutense de Madrid178,539 papers
9,037,150
6
Universidad de Granada125,171 papers
7,213,454
7
Universidade de Santiago de Compostela77,330 papers
5,776,543
8
University of the Basque Country103,049 papers
5,666,986
9
Universidad de Sevilla116,195 papers
5,367,072
10
Universitat Pompeu Fabra52,498 papers
5,106,841
11
Universidad de Zaragoza87,516 papers
4,913,402
12
Universidad de Cantabria34,090 papers
4,747,416
13
Universitat Politècnica de València80,013 papers
4,668,185
14
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya92,193 papers
4,323,196
15
Universidad de Oviedo59,960 papers
4,187,670
16
Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology16,153 papers
3,729,123
17
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid79,488 papers
3,424,869
18
Universidad de Navarra48,886 papers
3,402,156
19
Universidad de Salamanca66,299 papers
3,042,737
20
Universidad de Murcia61,295 papers
2,911,688
21
Universitat Rovira i Virgili40,438 papers
2,860,346
22
University of Córdoba47,245 papers
2,808,799
23
Universidade de Vigo47,513 papers
2,764,072
24
Universidad de La Laguna43,748 papers
2,674,286
25
Universidad de Málaga59,309 papers
2,580,680
26
Universitat de les Illes Balears31,099 papers
2,511,278
27
University of Castilla-La Mancha47,275 papers
2,362,228
28
University of Alicante50,367 papers
2,235,527
29
Universidad de Alcalá46,510 papers
2,063,847
30
Universidad de Valladolid47,891 papers
1,924,366
31
Universidad de Extremadura36,961 papers
1,816,891
32
Universitat de Girona28,489 papers
1,732,906
33
Universitat Jaume I30,654 papers
1,665,165
34
Institut de Ciències del Cosmos5,250 papers
1,466,630
35
Universidade da Coruña31,967 papers
1,432,620
36
Universidad Rey Juan Carlos37,384 papers
1,429,148
37
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid46,455 papers
1,401,917
38
Universitat de Lleida21,228 papers
1,396,814
39
Universitat de Miguel Hernández d'Elx23,540 papers
1,358,496
40
Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria25,448 papers
1,342,066
41
Universidad de Cádiz31,447 papers
1,291,734
42
University of Almería23,913 papers
1,244,497
43
Universidad de Jaén25,892 papers
1,107,194
44
Universidad Pública de Navarra (UPNA)20,036 papers
1,071,593
45
Universidad de León23,481 papers
1,045,525
46
Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia35,772 papers
840,332
47
Universidad Pablo de Olavide21,059 papers
831,816
48
Navarre Institute of Health Research7,567 papers
783,850
49
Universidad de Huelva17,630 papers
657,778
50
Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena13,122 papers
570,181

Highlights

Within Spain, Universitat de Barcelona ranks first in 2026 with 18,557,786, followed by Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (13,200,341) and Universitat de València (12,179,974).

Across 50 entries, values run from 18,557,786 (Universitat de Barcelona) to 570,181 (Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena), with a median of 2,545,979.

Source: OpenAlex, citations received by each institution's papers, 2026. Unit: citations.

Source: OpenAlex, citations received by each institution's papers · CC0 1.0 (OpenAlex) · fetched Oct 13, 2026 — Counts every citation to papers by authors affiliated with the institution, so large and old universities score high. It measures research impact, not teaching quality.