Barcelona and the sea are two inseparable elements. The Mediterranean that bathes the city is not only its natural horizon, which shapes the relief, orography and climate, but also a key engine for the Catalan capital. For centuries, the port and maritime activity have been fundamental in the development of the city and its economic model. Today, this relationship between the Mediterranean and economic growth is redefined under a new paradigm: the blue economy, a strategic sector for both the city and Catalonia, which turns the sea into a space for innovation, sustainability and growth.
Precisely in recent years, Barcelona is strengthening its European leadership in this sector, with announcements such as the city's election as the UNESCO headquarters to lead the blue economy worldwide, or the reconversion of the old Sant Bertran sheds of the Port of Barcelona into a large maritime innovation hub. This leadership is now consolidated with the creation, in Cornellà de Llobregat, of the European Maritime University, the first center of these characteristics in all of Europe, which seeks to position the metropolitan area as a pole of knowledge and talent linked to the sea.
The new university center emerges as a response to a sector that is strategic and, at the same time, diverse, ranging from renewable energies —such as offshore wind farms or floating photovoltaic panels— to aquaculture, fishing and the sustainable use of marine resources. But its scope goes further, also including blue biotechnology, maritime and freight transport, shipbuilding and repair, coastal tourism and, increasingly relevant, defense, maritime security and cybersecurity, areas often invisible but fully strategic.
The great diversity of the sector also explains its magnitude: in Catalonia, the sector already concentrates more than 1,078 companies, employs more than 23,800 people and has a turnover of more than 5,556 million euros, according to the latest Acció report. The data therefore reflect a dynamic and growing sector, as nearly 38% of companies are less than a decade old, a clear indicator of their innovative potential.
And, despite this, the sector has not yet deployed its full potential. "Catalonia is not sufficiently taking advantage of the blue economy's momentum," warns Iolanda Piedra, president of the Catalan Blue Economy Cluster, in an interview with The New Barcelona Post. Currently, the blue economy represents 4.3% of the city's GDP and 1.4% of jobs, but Piedra emphasizes that its importance cannot be understood solely from macroeconomic indicators: "its environmental, social, and territorial impact must also be measured." In this regard, the president of the Catalan Blue Economy Cluster emphasizes that the sector still faces great challenges to fully leverage its momentum.
The great challenge: attracting and training blue talent
One of the main challenges of this sector is talent. Or, rather, its absence. "The blue economy sector suffers from a structural deficit of qualified professionals, from labor to technical profiles," Piedra points out. "From the sector, this lack of talent has already become a cry for help: without these professionals, in a few years it will be impossible to build or repair ships, develop sustainable energy projects, or guarantee the operation of ports and maritime infrastructures," she warns.
It is in this context that the European Maritime University of Barcelona (UMEB) is born, a result of the sector's demands and the public-private collaboration that has made this pioneering project possible. Driven by the Cornellà de Llobregat City Council —a city that, curiously, has no sea, but does have a strategic location due to its proximity to the Port of Barcelona and other key infrastructures— and the Spanish Federation of Maritime Entrepreneurs (IVEAEMPA), the UMEB is projected as the first university specialized in blue economy in all of Europe.
The campus will occupy about 4,000 square meters ceded by the city council and foresees private management with public support and impulse. Its model is innovative: three integrated buildings —university, dual vocational training, and business connection space— that will allow the coexistence of students of different educational levels, while promoting practical learning and strengthening the connection between companies and universities. "The project is not only a commitment to the blue economy: it is also a commitment to dignify vocational training," integrating training cycles and university studies on the same campus.
The UMEB will orient its offer to the ten major areas of the blue economy: aquaculture, fishing, coastal tourism, maritime transport, ports, shipbuilding and repair, blue energy, blue biotechnology, submarine mining, and maritime defense and security. Among the planned university degrees are, for example, Marine Engineering or Port Management, while in vocational training cycles, titles such as aquaculture or shipbuilding and repair stand out. The objective is for master's and postgraduate degrees to complement the offer with specific programs in subjects such as offshore wind farms or marine biotechnology.
The objective is to deploy the complete campus, integrated by the three buildings, over the next decade —with construction beginning in 2027—, although it is expected that, within two or three years, the center will already be able to launch its first online training programs. Likewise, given that it is a model developed by the Spanish Federation of Sea Entrepreneurs, with the collaboration of the different regional clusters that comprise it, the long-term goal is for this model to be replicated in other maritime regions, with the creation of specialized headquarters, expanding the presence of the UMEB throughout the State.
Beyond talent: parity and new tourism models
Beyond talent, the blue economy faces other structural challenges. For Iolanda Piedra, one of the most urgent is parity. Female presence remains residual in many subsectors of the blue economy —especially in activities such as maritime transport or fishing, still very masculinized—. "In some subsectors, women's participation does not even reach 5%, while the wage gap exceeds 40%, not to mention the presence of women in positions of responsibility," Piedra laments. With the aim of advancing in this aspect, Catalonia will host this year the International Maritime Congress on Equality, from which a European observatory should emerge to analyze, measure and make visible the contribution of women to the sector, since, until now, European figures are not segregated by gender.
Piedra also points out another of the great challenges facing the sector: rethinking the tourism model linked to the sea. The challenge is to diversify it: go beyond sun and beach tourism and bet on new maritime routes that "integrate heritage, culture and sustainability." In this sense, the Network of river and maritime cruises, of which the Catalan cluster is a part, works to create river routes in regions such as the Terres de l'Ebre or the Balearic Islands, which allow "to decongest the main tourist routes and diversify the offer," Piedra points out.
In addition to diversifying the tourism model, for the president of the Catalan Blue Economy Cluster, the sector also needs to broaden its horizons and bet on new growing areas, until now little exploited, such as blue biotechnology or technologies linked to defense, maritime security or cybersecurity. However, Piedra is optimistic: although the sector faces great challenges, it also presents "major opportunities" that can be taken advantage of thanks to pioneering projects such as that of the European Maritime University of Barcelona, which has the challenge of preparing the professionals who will shape the future of this strategic sector for the city, the metropolitan area and Catalonia as a whole.