Health Geography of COVID-19: An Exploratory Analysis of the Pandemic during its First Phase in the Compact Cities of Barcelona and Madrid, Spain

COVID-19 has affected every aspect of life around the globe. To understand the spread of disease it is essential to record location and place, space and population. This chapter is based in history and the epidemiologist literature reporting the relevant variables. The objective is to determine which variable affects contagion in compact cities such as Barcelona and Madrid. Are both cities affected by the same variables? Are there differences between the cities? Why? The set of variables involves the socioeconomic conditions of the population, aging populations and neighborhood conditions. The Global and Local Moran’s I tools for spatial autocorrelation are used as well as spatial autoregressive models (SAR). Population movements within compact territories might produce a distortion in research results if not accounted for. In the planning strategy, inequalities, society and health treated as a system might improve the foundations for living conditions and health.