Culture facilities satisfy most inhabitants in all but one EU capital

Most people expressed satisfaction with cultural facilities in all European Union (EU) capitals except in Malta's Valletta, official data showed Thursday, suggesting great disparities among the bloc's 28 member states.

Survey data showed a majority of citizens were "very or rather satisfied" with cultural facilities such as concert halls, theatres, museums, and libraries in capitals of 27 EU member states in 2015.

This was in notable contrast to the situation in Valletta where only 34 percent of inhabitants expressed satisfaction, said Eurostat, the bloc's statistic office.

It was not surprising the Austrian capital of Vienna, known as the city of music, won the highest rating with a 97-percent satisfaction rate, followed by Helsinki, Prague and Stockholm, where it was above 90 percent, according to Eurostat.

The statistical office added that Athens witnessed the greatest increase in positive trends between 2012 and 2015, from a 54-percent satisfaction rate in 2012 to 62 percent in 2015.

The data, published on the occasion of European Heritage Days on Thursday, was based on perception survey indicators produced by the European Commission, the bloc's executive arm, Eurostat noted. Endit