Castile-La Mancha strengthens its position as one of the communities with the best quality of life in the country, despite the general decline in well-being in Spain. The new Quality of life and social happiness in figures 2025 report, presented today on the Campus of … Ciudad Real, during the Cabida National Symposium, places the regional indicator of social happiness at 7.48 points out of 10. This figure exceeds the national average by thirteen hundredths.
The study, prepared by the Observatory of Intangible Goods and Quality of Life of the University of Castile-La Mancha, confirms that Well-being declined across the country for the second year in a row up to 7.35 points against 7.45 in 2024 and 7.72 in 2023. However, Castilla-La Mancha remains in high positions, placing itself – as the coordinator of the observatory, researcher Víctor Raúl López – “in the fifth or sixth position in the table in quality of life, depending on the variable taken into account. Within the region, Cuenca appears to be the province with the best results.
López explained that, generally speaking, The highest levels of quality of life are recorded among those who live in municipalities with less than 100,000 inhabitants.have completed higher education and work in sectors such as education, finance or energy. This profile is repeated with particular force in Castile-La Manchawhich partly explains their resistance in the face of the national setback.
Family, a determining factor
The report highlights that family remains the main determining factor associated with well-being. However, he there is growing concern about the economic and labor situation. In addition, among the most discussed social problems are housing, corruption, digital ageismunwanted loneliness and social integration.
The observatory project, financed by European funds, the UCLM and the Communities Board, this year includes a updated panel of social indicatorsand includes vulnerability analysis, improvement factors, situation of elderly people and regional tool to detect and act against unwanted loneliness. Likewise, it includes six years of research on social perceptions of well-being in Spain and delves into the behavior of the greatest users of social services in Castile-La Mancha.
Its methodology generates a subjective multidimensional indicator which directly reflects the way in which citizens value their quality of life, their happiness and their social well-being, explaining social factors, on average, 64% of their happiness in 2025.
Based on a questionnaire with approximately 5,200 validated responsesThe report applies advanced synthetic indicator and modeling techniques to measure the impact of factors such as working conditions, family and social environment, digital divide, discrimination, unwanted loneliness, services received and active aging policies. The results highlight the need for inclusive policies and show a particularly high valuation of life in rural areas.
The Quality of life and social happiness in figures 2025 report has been published. carried out by researchers from UCLM Victor Raul Lopez Ruiz, Domingo Nevado Peña, José Luis Alfaro Navarro and Nuria Huete Alcocer.
The vice-rector of the teaching staff, María Antonia Herrero, also participated in the presentation of the report, carried out within the framework of the Cabida national symposium; the general director of Mayors, Alba Rodríguez; the mayor of Ciudad Real, Francisco Cañizares; and the dean of the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences, Fernando Callejas. The meeting also brought together international experts in subjective well-being and municipal representatives from the highest-rated territories in Castile-La Mancha, including the mayors of Poblete (Ciudad Real), Villagarcía del Llano (Cuenca) and Ciudad Real.
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