Aurora Catà: "The America's Cup has helped us recover our self-esteem"

"What is not a solution is immobility. We must assume that Barcelona is a global city." This is one of the maxims of Aurora Catà, current vice president of the America's Cup Barcelona (ACE). Catà, who led Barcelona Global from 2020 to 2022, has a privileged view of the city. Of its initiatives and its people. Her business experience is extensive. She began her career as financial director of Nissan Motor Ibérica, was general director of RTVE and CEO of Planeta. She is the founder of the startup Content Arena and has been a partner at Seeliger y Conde. Currently, she is an independent director of Repsol, Banco Sabadell and Atrys Health.

--- You, who have a global perspective: how do you see Barcelona?

--- It seems we are regaining confidence in ourselves. If Barcelona wants to, Barcelona can. We have all the potential to get wherever we want. We just have to want to get there. Many things have happened in recent years. Among them, some Kiwis have come to Barcelona and have chosen it as the city for the next edition of the America's Cup. This has helped us to believe more in ourselves and change our mood. If Barcelona wants to, Barcelona can. We must manage to want to.

--- And how is this done?

--- Self-esteem. Believing that this is, truly, one of the best cities in the world. And not only from a location point of view, which is indisputable, but also because of its people and its historical capacity to undertake and create. We have always been nonconformists. Barcelona is a fantastic city to live, undertake and create.

--- You have always defended this ambition through public-private collaboration.

--- Precisely, when I spoke to you about this uniqueness of Barcelona, public-private collaboration is a great example. Barcelona would not be understood without this collaboration between the public and private sectors. And we must claim it, we must value it and we must recognize it. It is one of the great assets we have.

"Barcelona would not be understood without the collaboration between the public and private sectors. We must claim it and recognize it"

--- Exactly. It is one of the differentiating facts. Historically, Barcelona has been built from that perspective. It has been our way of making the city grow. Hence, Barcelona's civil society is so powerful. It has always organized itself and always collaborated.

--- And the America's Cup is one of its results. Where are we now?

--- The America's Cup is, at this moment, full steam ahead. We are very happy after Vilanova, honestly. Vilanova has been the first preliminary regatta. I believe that, despite the elements you cannot control, like the weather, it went frankly well and is a good taste of what is to come in Barcelona. We have a very focused, very well-aligned work team, working in full harmony, precisely, with the public administrations, ranging from the central administration to the Barcelona City Council, passing through the rest of the institutions such as the Diputació, the Chamber, and the Generalitat. Everyone is very excited. It is a project where we are all putting our best for a common goal.

--- Do you have the feeling that the America's Cup has been a catalyzing element?

--- The America's Cup has helped to bring about this change. To recover self-esteem. That pride of being from Barcelona. It's sad that they have to come from outside to tell us. But when they come from outside, they make it clear to us: you have the best city in the world.

"When they come from outside, they make it clear to us: you have the best city in the world"

--- And the best thing is that we all help each other. In fact, Mike Blackman and John Hoffman, when we prepared the America's Cup bid, I asked them to write a letter explaining the reasons why they had chosen Barcelona as the venue for ISE and Mobile. Because let's not forget that Barcelona was not the bid with the highest economic offer. It was the third. Therefore, we had to, so to speak, make ourselves more attractive. And they helped us a lot with these two letters.

--- Do you remember what the letters said?

--- I don't remember them precisely, but one of the things Mike Blackman said is that here he had found an institutional involvement that had made everything very easy for him. And it is that this city, again, when it wants to, it can. Mike, John, and now, Grant Dalton are delighted to be here.

--- Lately, they seem to be Barcelona's triumvirate.

--- True. And on the international scene, they put us back in the first division. They are three events that place us in the world. But, besides, the America's Cup has millionaire audiences. We are talking about the last edition registering an accumulated audience of almost one billion. But it is convenient to have historical perspective: Barcelona is the only city in the world that will have hosted an Olympic Games, a World Athletics Championship, a Football World Cup, and an America's Cup.

"Barcelona is the only city in the world that will have hosted an Olympic Games, a World Athletics Championship, a Football World Cup, and an America's Cup"

--- It's not a coincidence. However, now we must know how to seize the opportunity that these great events represent. We are a global showcase. In the end, the most important thing we must do is attract talent. This is our opportunity for the future: Barcelona, city of talent.

--- Let's put ourselves in context a bit: what awaits us next year with the America's Cup?

--- First: the America's Cup is the Formula 1 of the sea. Therefore, the first thing to expect is a lot of excitement. A lot of sporting emotion, a lot of competition, and the ability to surprise. But, in addition, there will be a big change in several areas of the city. The Moll de la Fusta, for example, will be an area where fans can experience the competition firsthand. The beaches will be open to everyone, and giant screens will be installed where you can follow the minute-by-minute action. There will also be a whole parallel offering that will be like a big party accompanying this entire sporting event.

"This is our opportunity for the future: Barcelona, city of talent"

--- It's just that, sometimes, Barcelonans tend to forget about the sea. Barcelona opened up to the sea during the Olympics, yes. But participating in what happens at sea is not so obvious. And the Barcelona coastline has a great advantage over other coasts: it gains depth very quickly. So the regatta courses can be located very close to the coast. Therefore, this visual contact you'll be able to have, apart from being able to follow the competition on large screens or on your mobile, gives it great appeal. And the fact that the bases are in Port Vell, which was a great contribution from the Port de Barcelona, gives the competition a very civic character.

--- And what new features will there be?

--- Many. Some I've already mentioned. But there's a very important one: in Barcelona, we will see the first women's races of the America's Cup. This, as surprising as it may seem, had never happened before. There are twelve teams that will compete in the youth competition, the Youth, and in the Puig Women America's Cup, which will be the women's competition.

--- Earlier you mentioned the one billion accumulated audience. Can we provide more figures?

--- The Fundació Barcelona Capital Nàutica, responsible for the entire legacy of the Cup, commissioned a study from Universitat Pompeu Fabra on the economic impact of the entire event. This study states that it will have a direct impact of 1.2 billion euros. This refers to what the organization, teams, administrations, etc., directly spend. Regarding jobs: there will be almost 19,000. And more than two and a half million visitors are expected. Visitors who, since the events run from Wednesday to Sunday, will not come for a few hours, but for several days. A fact that Turisme de Barcelona and the Agència Catalana de Turisme will take advantage of to create offers that go beyond the city itself. Therefore, from a numerical point of view, the impact will be positive and very important for Barcelona and for all of Catalonia.

"A direct impact of 1.2 billion euros, almost 19,000 jobs, and two and a half million visitors"

--- The legacy is very important. But it must be taken into account that Barcelona already had the main infrastructures in place. And it must also be taken into account that current events prioritize sustainability in the short, medium, and long term. That said: the America's Cup has been an accelerator. The projects that were planned in the Port of Barcelona and in the city are being accelerated thanks to the Cup. Second: there is a great legacy with regard to sustainable boats. In fact, this edition of the America's Cup will be a before and after in this type of technological advancement. Third: work is being done with schools to popularize sailing as a sport that can be easily practiced in the city. But there is also a legacy, very important for me, which is intangible. And this involves the return of self-esteem, the ability to explain to a millionaire audience what Barcelona is and, ultimately, as I said at the beginning, to attract talent.

--- Sometimes the model of large events has been questioned in Barcelona.

--- There are no golden rules. Large events help boost the city. Without a doubt. They help us accelerate many things and can be a motor for change. The ISE, the Mobile, La Vuelta or the America's Cup, to name a few, are very positive events for Barcelona. Now, are all large events positive? Not necessarily. But, a priori, anything that projects us to the world and helps us attract talent is good for Barcelona. But, obviously, all citizens must be taken into account. And we must see how to fit all the pieces together.

--- You talk a lot about attracting talent. What does this mean?

--- Barcelona's great commitment, like that of other major global cities, must be talent. Being able to attract and retain talent. Creative talent, research talent, cultural talent, etc. Talent is really what can make a difference, in the long term, in this city. And Barcelona is a good place to come to work, to come to study, to generate opportunities, invest, research, leisure, etc.

"Barcelona's great commitment, like that of other major global cities, must be talent"

--- We must have the capacity to manage it. Inaction leads us nowhere. We must know how to lead transformations and changes, bearing in mind that reality is global. If we want to be an open and welcoming city, this is one of our main challenges. What is not a solution is inaction. We must assume that we are a global city.