A Barcelona full of unicorns

Peret used to sing that Barcelona was powerful: "She has power, she has power. Barcelona is powerful, Barcelona has power." Power of attraction, at least, it still has. This, if we consider the criteria of experts such as the professionals of Barcelona Global, who work (with promising results) in attracting impact talent to the Catalan capital. One of its vice-presidents, Joe Sanfeliu, and its general director, Mercè Conesa, told us about it this week.

Mariano Rajoy's Minister of Labor, Fátima Báñez, wanted to sell the brain drain with a euphemism that makes one doubt that many politicians, too often, are not taking us all for fools: "External mobility," she said. When a country invests in the training of new generations who, once trained, must leave because they do not find opportunities at home, what should move (and be stirred up) are above all the rulers in power.

But here, in Catalonia, there is quite a tradition that where politicians do not reach, dynamic sectors of society try to do so. There is a tradition of pulling rulers, from outside, towards more ambitious positions or directly trying to create the conditions that public administrations do not promote. This is the case of Barcelona Global, which is not an employers' association and does take the hybrid form between a lobby and a think tank, whose entity model has had references in cities such as London, Amsterdam, Sydney or Berlin, all outside the Spanish State. It is normal, therefore, that ordinary mortals do not quite know how to label and where to place on the map this private association with a vocation for public-private incidence.

They have played a key role in attracting the America's Cup, with all the impetus that this event usually brings in terms of sustainability. They have been a prominent actor in making a startup law possible, which will provide key tools for Barcelona to compete for the attraction and retention of talent with other cities. This, within the framework of an action that also wants to claim and consolidate Barcelona as the capital of the digital ecosystem of southern Europe.

They want talent to be attracted, therefore, investment; therefore, business; therefore, a positive impact for the city's inhabitants. It is not unambitious, but it seems they know what they are doing and, very especially, why they are doing it. That they want a city full of unicorns is not, in their case, synonymous with an unreal and naive discourse, but rather refers to the establishment of companies that reach a value of over 1 billion dollars in their initial stage. No joke, for the part of this that may affect us all (never better said).

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7uhYLLfP2m9EU2Q9bOeRnK?si=qLu6om2kSumEQgzRpqSqDQ