Barcelona, Rotary capital: 20,000 people will attend the 2029 convention

Barcelona is starting to get used to being a global meeting point. Sometimes, it does so around technology; other times, around innovation, medicine, or food. In 2029, it will do so around volunteering in the face of humanitarian challenges. In June 2029, the city will host the world convention of Rotary International, an event that will bring some 20,000 participants from more than 140 countries to Barcelona, and will turn Fira Gran Via into a global forum for ideas, cooperation, and social projects.

From June 2 to 6, Rotarians, volunteers, professionals, and community leaders will gather to share projects, exchange ideas, and forge alliances with a common goal: to promote social and humanitarian initiatives worldwide, as defended by sources from the organization. The expected impact on the city will not be minor, also in the economic sphere: according to the organization's estimates, the event will generate some 68 million euros in the city.

Founded in 1905, Rotary brings together more than 1.2 million people in more than 45,000 clubs spread throughout the world, in projects ranging from food aid to emergency response or support for health and research initiatives. For five days, all these stories, big and small, will converge again in Barcelona.

And it is not the first time that Barcelona has become a Rotarian capital. It already was in 2002, when the convention brought together more than 16,800 participants and even had the presence of former Soviet leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mikhail Gorbachev. Since then, Rotary conventions have continued to bring together international figures, such as activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkol Karman or the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. This year, the international convention is held in Taipei, after being located in Calgary last year.

The choice of Barcelona has occurred in this international context. The city competed for 2029 with strong candidacies such as New Delhi, Cairo, or Dublin, and finally fell to the Catalan capital. The reasons? The attractiveness of the city, the role of Fira, its hotel infrastructure, and also "the support of the institutions."

For those who are part of this global network, the convention is much more than a congress: people from all over the world gather, with all their diversity, but all united by "the same values of helping others." So much so that the participants themselves often define the meeting as a "mini United Nations."

The sessions combine talks with workshops, presentations of humanitarian projects, and spaces for creating alliances: projects, actions, and contacts are shared, according to the same sources. This constant exchange of ideas and experiences turns the meeting into a global laboratory of solidarity initiatives, which will materialize in Barcelona in 2029.

Thus, this international convention is a space where "ideas, service, and collaboration converge," according to the president of Rotary International, Francesco Arezzo. This is also the view of Sergio Aragón, president of the Barcelona 2029 Host Organizing Committee and member of the Rotary Club of Barcelona Diagonal: "Barcelona's civic spirit, its cultural diversity, and commitment to social progress fully coincide with Rotary's values, and we are eager to show it to our international guests."

The convention comes at a time when Barcelona is strengthening its role as a global destination for international congresses, with the support of institutions such as the Barcelona Convention Bureau, Fira de Barcelona, and the City Council. The three institutions supported the bid, with which Barcelona will once again become a meeting place, in this case, to imagine a better world.