An investment of 280 million until 2027; 180,000 new jobs in a decade and 1.8 million square meters transformed in the metropolitan area. These are the target figures of the City Council's plan to diversify its economy and turn knowledge into the city's economic engine, betting on strategic areas through which Barcelona wants to define itself.
Specifically, the Barcelona Impulsa plan focuses on ten key sectors: science and innovation; health; technology and digital sphere; creative industries; commerce and restoration; the care economy; the agri-food sector; the social and solidarity economy; the visitor economy, and the blue economy.
Through these ten areas, Barcelona will deepen the diversification of its economy, especially in sectors linked to knowledge, with a dual objective: to generate quality jobs and advance towards a "more resilient" city economy, as highlighted by the mayor, Jaume Collboni, at the presentation of the plan at the City Council.
To do this, the City Council outlines eight areas of economic activity that will be the engine of the metropolis. Among them are the biomedical axis of Diagonal, which is already preparing for the future expansion of the Clínic; that of Sants-Montjuïc, linked to culture and events; the city center, which focuses on science, entrepreneurship and urban regeneration, and the coastal area, with the blue economy and sustainability as protagonists.
The City Council's plan also cannot miss 22@, due to its link with innovation, entrepreneurship and creativity, as well as the Zona Franca, for industry 4.0 and the food and logistics sectors. La Sagrera also stands out in this sketch of the economic Barcelona of the future, as a new centrality and urban development hub, while Besòs focuses on green and circular creative industry.
The plan, which acts as an umbrella for other sectoral plans, includes 246 million euros already committed in 2024, and the investment forecast for this year is an additional 215 million. For next year, another 211 million are planned to be allocated to this area, and in 2027 the remaining 216 million will be invested to foster diversification by supporting these ten sectors. Diversifying the economy allows various economic areas to be important, but "none to be essential," as defended by the Deputy Mayor for Economy, Jordi Valls.
In addition to these investments, the plan is structured through transversal policies, ranging from promoting quality employment to supporting local commerce, including fostering knowledge transfer, supporting entrepreneurship, digital and green transformation, and positioning the city globally.
Thus, the City Council reaffirms its diversification strategy at a time of "uncertainty" in the economic sphere, according to Collboni. In an international context marked by tariffs promoted by the US government of Donald Trump, the mayor has advocated turning "the tariff war" into an opportunity.
With this objective, he called for an agile response in the "race to attract investments" that he believes is opening up as a result of the US president's policies. Although Trump's decisions "will impact the economy," the mayor has advocated facing them as an opportunity for Europe and for Barcelona, to "locate projects and talent and attract investments."
Generalitat Plan
From the other side of Plaça Sant Jaume, the Government of Salvador Illa plans to respond to tariffs by mobilizing 1,500 million euros, as explained by the president in a meeting with social and economic agents at the Palau de la Generalitat. The plan aims to foster the resilience of Catalonia's business and agricultural fabric and the employment it generates, as well as facilitate the internationalization of Catalan companies, looking beyond the United States.
Under the name of Responem. Pla de defensa de la Catalunya de tothom, the strategy includes 300 million to activate aid lines from the ordinary budgets of the Generalitat, as well as 900 million in loans and credits channeled by the Institut Català de Finances (ICF); 150 million for investment funds; 130 for internationalization advice, and 200 for the promotion of Catalan products in strategic markets.
The Government has launched this plan in anticipation that the new tariffs will affect 3,160 Catalan companies that regularly export to the United States, totaling more than 4,350 million euros in exports, figures that represent 4.3% of Catalonia's sales abroad and 17% of Catalan exporting companies.