The general population struggles to meet physical activity recommendations, risking mental and physical health. Validated, culturally adapted tools are essential for identifying barriers and implementing effective, context-specific strategies to promote exercise participation. Despite its wide use, the cross-cultural equivalence, and psychometric properties of the Barriers to Being Active Quiz (BBAQ) have not been confirmed. The purpose of this study was to validate the BBAQ cross-culturally into European Spanish (BBAQ-ES). Following international guidelines, the BBAQ underwent a systematic four-step process involving a multidisciplinary translation, synthesis, reconciliation, review, and a population-based comprehensibility test. Measurement properties—including structural and construct validity, and internal consistency, measurement error and test-retest reliability—were assessed following COSMIN guidelines on a sample of 589 Spanish University students. The IPAQ-SF was used as comparator instrument during hypothesis testing for construct validity (i.e. convergent, and discriminative validity). The BBAQ-ES demonstrates strong cross-cultural equivalence and good measurement properties (RMSEA = 0.0485, CFI = 0.946; Cronbach’s alpha = 0.875; ICC = 0.724 –0.878; confirmed hypotheses testing >75%). The BBAQ-ES is a cross-culturally adapted, reliable and valid measure to assess multidimensional obstacles to physical activity. This study provides valuable new insights for international research and clinical practice.
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