The Associació del Passeig de Gràcia has awarded the audiovisual fair Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) with the XVI edition of the Amics del Passeig de Gràcia award. The award was collected by its general director, Mike Blackman, at a dinner at the Hotel Casa Fuster attended by 130 guests. Among them was the new mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, in one of his first institutional acts.
The merchants, restaurateurs, and hoteliers of Paseo de Gràcia have valued ISE for "its contribution to positioning Barcelona as an international benchmark for holding large events, in turn generating synergies with local companies in the audiovisual and technological sector." The Amics del Passeig de Gràcia awards annually recognize individuals, companies, and institutions that have a special involvement with the commercial street or the city and that, with their actions, contribute to promoting and dynamizing its image.
The president of the association, Luís Sans, took advantage of the meeting to demand improvements from the new municipal government in areas such as security, mobility, and cleanliness. Sans also addressed Collboni to ask "that the city be promoted as a great capital of southern Europe, not only for tourism, but also for culture, commerce, industry, and innovation; in short, as a pole of attraction and retention of talent and investment."
At the dinner of the Associació del Passeig de Gràcia, other members of the new municipal government attended, such as Jordi Valls and Albert Batlle, as well as some from the previous mandate, such as Montserrat Ballarín. On the other hand, representatives of other political groups of the consistory participated, such as Xavier Trias and Daniel Sirera. Beyond the political representatives, among the public, there were members of civil society such as the general director of the Hotel Guild, Manel Casals, the president of La Boqueria, Jorge Mas, the president of Amics de La Rambla, Fermín Villar, and the president of Barcelona Oberta, Gabriel Jené.