Barcelona goes out to attract investments and intercontinental routes to leave the pandemic behind

The Barcelona City Council has just set a new international promotion strategy for the city, framed in the post-pandemic era and in the changing context caused by the war in Ukraine. The first deputy mayor, Jaume Collboni, presented it this Friday at an event at the Cercle d'Economia, attended by 150 representatives from the political and economic world and civil society of Barcelona.

Accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, Collboni defended that the city "will be up to the task" of the new global landscape and that it faces this new stage with optimism and confidence. "It is time to project Barcelona again," he stressed.

The new strategy, with a budget of 7.5 million euros, has several axes and begins by focusing on attracting and retaining talent and strengthening the city's reputation and international positioning. This leg includes actions such as advertising campaigns and the dissemination of its business successes, as well as the creation of tools to measure the good health of the Barcelona brand, focusing on mentions in social networks or international media.

Strengthening intercontinental air connectivity, especially affected by the pandemic, is one of the main objectives of this new international promotion strategy. Before covid, Barcelona Airport had 47 long-haul routes, a figure that has decreased to the current 32 after the impact of the pandemic.

In this section, Collboni pointed out the airport expansion project as an indispensable element to maintain leadership. "I'm not throwing in the towel," he remarked. For this reason, he announced the creation of a discussion group led by the Cercle d'Economia to discuss this issue in a calm manner and with the representation of all involved agents, with the aim of generating the necessary consensus for when Aena proposes the investment again.

The consistory will also focus on promotion and economic diplomacy to attract new investments, after the recent arrival of companies such as AstraZeneca or Bayer, and international fairs, with the upcoming debut of Seafood and Integrated Systems Europe (ISE). To achieve more, it will organize economic and business missions aimed at strategic markets such as New York, London, Paris or Shanghai, or promote the city's culture, art and sport with actions linked to major events held in other cities such as Sónar or Barça matches. Some of the opportunities Collboni has outlined in this field have been the America's Cup of Sailing and the Winter Olympic Games.

Retaining the companies and events already in the city is another line of work of the new strategy. In this regard, the City Council wants to improve the city's positioning as a digital capital and a hub for emerging technology companies and pave the way to retain the Mobile World Congress (MWC) beyond 2024. It also wants to boost the Catalan capital as a benchmark in the debate on technological humanism through Digital Future Society and consolidate sectors such as logistics, science and creative industries and design.