New step forward for Barcelona to favor the attraction and arrival of international talent. The Barcelona International Welcome Desk has just been launched, an office that aims to function as a one-stop shop for various administrative procedures and that will facilitate the reception process for people from other countries who choose the city to work, invest, study, and live. This is a key service given that there is currently a strong need to recruit international talent due to the demand generated by local companies and startups and by the technological hubs that large multinationals have installed in Barcelona.
The Catalan capital thus becomes the first Spanish city to equip itself with a service of these characteristics and to offer foreigners personalized advice to make their landing phase more comfortable, putting itself on par with other European capitals such as Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Gothenburg, Brno, or Hamburg. "Barcelona's energy is talent and today is a great day to facilitate the arrival and the start of a new life for foreigners who choose us, since we are launching a one-stop shop that will make about twenty procedures easier," said this Monday the first deputy mayor for Economy, Labor, Competitiveness and Finance, Jaume Collboni, during the inauguration of the Welcome Desk. According to Collboni, the office "represents a turning point" that will help the city "to be a global pole of attraction for the best talent, the true economic wealth."
The new office is located in the Media TIC building, in the heart of the 22@ district, and is a response by the Barcelona City Council to a long-standing demand expressed by Barcelona Global and other entities whose priority is attracting talent: the need to simplify administrative procedures and bureaucracy. "The opening of this office is a very relevant event because it responds to a real need: we have a competitiveness deficit due to the issue of procedures," emphasized the president of Barcelona Global, Aurora Catà. "If we want to be a global digital hub and for people to come to live, work, or study in Barcelona, we need it to be easy. This office to streamline procedures was necessary to be able to play in the league of big cities and make Barcelona one of the best places in the world for talent and economic activity," Catà considered.
"This office to streamline procedures was necessary to be able to play in the league of big cities and make Barcelona one of the best places in the world for talent and economic activity," Aurora Catà, Barcelona GlobalBoth Barcelona Global and the Barcelona City Council have highlighted that the Barcelona International Welcome Deskis the result of public-private cooperation and collaboration and they have especially thanked the role assumed by the Government delegation in Barcelona, its sub-delegate, Carlos Prieto, and the National Police. "We are not, nor will we be, any obstacle to the establishment of talent in the city of Barcelona," stressed the Government delegate, Teresa Cunillera, who highlighted "the commitment of the General State Administration to provide the maximum facilities, within the framework of our competencies, to facilitate the arrival of this international talent."
For his part, the president of 22@ Network, Enric Urreta, thanked the Barcelona City Council's willingness to have "a facilitating role for the arrival of professionals" and recalled that there are 10,000 unfilled TIC sector jobs in the city. In the last two years, the demand for digital talent has increased by 80%, while the supply has only done so by 23%, hence the need to launch this type of instrument.
The international community in Barcelona has not stopped growing, even during the pandemic ---2.9% in the last year---, and the latest census data indicate that the foreign population represents 22.4% of the total, with 179 different nationalities represented. The technological ecosystem that has consolidated in the city acts as a driver for attracting talent and demands highly qualified profiles, prepared people who will now have a new municipal service at their disposal that also targets investors who settle in the city, university students, entrepreneurs and researchers or scientists who work in research and innovation centers. It is estimated that 40% of the founders of startups in Barcelona are people born outside the country.
The Barcelona International Welcome Desk aims to be a personalized support service on a triple level:
- Basic and practical general information about life in the city. Such as the functioning of the educational or healthcare system, as examples of those most demanded by this profile.
- Processing of priority administrative procedures. A portfolio of more than a dozen specific municipal procedures and other administrations will be offered, such as the processing of the census or the residence certificate, mobility procedures or obtaining the digital certificate, among others.
- Expert advice on key issues, such as immigration, taxation and labor regulations.
For the launch of this service, the Barcelona City Council has involved the teams from Barcelona Activa, the Directorate of Information and Citizen Services, and the Directorate of City Promotion, which leads a 360-degree international talent program, including recruitment, reception, dynamization, and retention activities, with activities throughout the year and a large annual meeting: the Barcelona International Community Day fair.
The launch of the Barcelona International Welcome Desk is key within the Barcelona Fácil Plan strategy, the roadmap to facilitate economic activity in the city. The office aims to promote the link between companies and talent in the city, as well as facilitate the landing and connect international talent with the business ecosystem. Barcelona also has a Government Measure dedicated to Talent that, in addition to promoting policies for generation, attraction, reception and retention, has specific actions aimed at digital, female, young and senior talent.