The Maritime Museum will once again host next Saturday, October 28, the Barcelona International Community Day, the annual benchmark meeting for all members of the international community living and working in Barcelona. The event, which this year reaches its tenth edition, is a must-attend for international professionals newly arrived in the city and also for all those who wish to connect with a group that brings diversity and richness to the Catalan capital.
Promoted by the Barcelona City Council, through the Directorate of International Economic Promotion, the event consists of a fair of companies and entities that offer products, services and initiatives aimed at international talent, and also includes a program of activities, workshops and conferences on topics of interest to the community. Access to the emblematic venue that housed the historic Drassanes Reials is from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Access is free and tickets can be obtained by registering on the website barcelona.cat/internationalcommunityday.
https://youtu.be/K3rIK1rzHoY
In this edition, the Barcelona International Community Day will feature nearly 80 exhibitors, including companies, public entities, associations and expat clubs, as well as international schools. 21% of these exhibitors are participating in the event for the first time. In parallel, more than 60 activities have been scheduled throughout the day in various formats: informative talks, workshops, round tables, networking activities, musical performances and children's activities. The activities will be mostly in English and will involve around 100 speakers and experts of diverse nationalities.
In last year's edition, more than 5,400 people registered, a record figure, which demonstrates the strong interest that the Barcelona International Community Day arouses among the expat community, interested in participating in an event that not only allows them to access a lot of practical information, but also becomes a great networking and socialization experience. This year, the first 200 people to arrive at the Maritime Museum will receive a gift: an exclusive t-shirt to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the event designed by Philip Stanton, a renowned American artist based in the city who has made Barcelona the leitmotiv of much of his work.
Under the slogan 10 years with you, the tenth meeting of the international talent ecosystem will host as a novelty the Cities for Talent Meeting, a meeting to which 25 representatives from 17 cities have been invited to learn about the Barcelona International Community Day. Specifically, the day before the event, an intense working day will be held to share best practices among all these invited cities regarding services aimed at international talent.
The first 200 people to arrive at the Maritime Museum will receive a gift: an exclusive t-shirt to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the event designed by Philip StantonThe sectors represented in the exhibition part of the day are the real estate sector,relocation, talent management, legal and financial advice, insurance and medical services, business schools and other educational centers, among others. Attendees will also find cultural and social entities, both public and private, that will offer them products, services, and initiatives to enjoy the city and integrate. Activities have been programmed that refer to practical issues about procedures, apartment hunting, taxation, or the functioning of the Catalan educational and health system. There are also sessions designed to find a job, to undertake, about Barcelona's scientific potential, or to develop a professional career, in addition to content related to leisure and culture to fully enjoy the city and its surroundings.
The day also has a festive and family aspect. This year, new and striking recreational activities will be offered for all audiences, such as a castellera performance or a virtual reality experience about Barcelona. As usual, the Garden of the Maritime Museum of Barcelona will host concerts and live performances, and inside the venue, there will be a playroom for the little ones with children's activities. Between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m., the closing party will take place, which this year will be special, with a Catalan rumba concert that all attendees can join and where there will be an anniversary cake and a toast to celebrate these first ten years.
The Barcelona International Community Day, of which this year The New Barcelona Post is a collaborating media, is the culmination of a series of activities and programs that the Barcelona City Council offers throughout the year through the service Barcelona International Welcome, whose mission is to facilitate the arrival and integration of international talent in the city. The event will feature the prominent participation of Barcelona Activa, which will offer attendees its services to find employment and support for business creation. The Barcelona International Welcome Desk, the permanent municipal service for supporting and welcoming newly arrived international talent in the city, will also play a special role.
"The Barcelona International Community Day will therefore be not only a space for reception and meeting for citizens from other countries, but also what will probably be the largest concentration of talent, entrepreneurship, ideas and projects that have arrived in the city from abroad," highlight the International Economic Promotion area of the City Council, which, one more year, has the support of the host ambassadors to carry out the initiative. These are professionals from various countries who have settled in Barcelona and have developed their professional projects in the city. In addition to participating in the October 28 conference, through the social networks of Barcelona International Welcome, each of them explains in a video interview why they chose Barcelona and how the city has helped them carry out their professional projects.
Global Ambassadors of Barcelona
The host ambassadors of this edition are the Ukrainian Svetlana Velikanova, founder of Harbour Space University; the Chinese entrepreneur and businesswoman Liling Qi, president of Puente China Holding; the German biologist Reimund Fickert, head of communication and development of the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB); the Dutch Mirjam Maarleveld, founder of the Barcelona Expat Life platform; the Cuban Lázaro Campoalegre, computer engineer specialized in the ICT industry, and the French Marion Sánchez, currently involved in the impact investment foundation Ship2b. In addition, to commemorate the tenth anniversary, the hosts from all previous editions have also been invited.
Among the companies collaborating with the Barcelona International Community Day, Banco Sabadell stands out as the main sponsor of the event. The international mobility management agency Eres Relocation, the insurer Mapfre, and the tax consultancy Entre Trámites are other prominent actors that make the meeting possible, a result of public-private collaboration.
Barcelona, a corollary of 177 nationalities
Of the more than 5,400 people who registered in 2022, 71% were foreigners, and of these, 67% had been living in the city for less than five years. They came from 130 countries, mainly France, Italy, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Colombia. People living in the Catalan capital who were born abroad now account for 31.3% of the population census, which demonstrates the diverse and intercultural character of the city. According to the latest data provided by the city council, there are a total of 519,066 foreigners in Barcelona, from 177 nationalities of origin, although the majority groups are Italian, Colombian, Pakistani, and Chinese. In terms of education level, 43.2% of the expats living in Barcelona have university degrees or higher vocational training.
Barcelona offers numerous possibilities to facilitate the personal and professional growth of newcomers, who, in turn, also enrich the city from multiple perspectives, such as generating wealth with their work, talent, investments, and business projects. Furthermore, this citizen diversity improves competitiveness and productivity, as foreigners bring new ideas, techniques, and innovations. Another very interesting factor is that they become economic ambassadors for Barcelona when they travel the world or return to their countries of origin. In this sense, they also help attract new investments and international talent, as they contribute to investment decision-making or facilitate the arrival of new people.
"Given this very positive contribution, it is important to take care of this international community, both newcomers and long-term residents. For this reason, for years, the International Economic Promotion area of the Barcelona City Council has had a plan for attracting, welcoming, retaining, and energizing international talent, which is embodied in the Barcelona International Welcome," conclude officials from the Barcelona city council.
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