The year 2023 has been prolific in good news that contribute to boosting the notoriety of the Barcelona brand and its international positioning. The city has reaffirmed its tourist appeal and is also consolidating itself as an important magnet for international talent, which arrives in the Catalan capital attracted not only by the quality of life, but also by the employment opportunities offered by its business and entrepreneurial ecosystem and the numerous projects underway in the scientific and technological fields.
In its firm vocation to daily find stories that contribute to reinforcing self-esteem and highlighting the assets we have in the city, The New Barcelona Post has strived one more year to publish those news items that boost the Barcelona brand. This is a summary of the main articles published in the last twelve months, from the business and scientific fields, as well as the cultural and social.
January: New Hospital Clínic on Diagonal
The year started strong with the unblocking of one of the main projects Barcelona has on the table, which will contribute to further increasing its excellence in the healthcare sector. This is the agreement to build a new Hospital Clínic on the land currently occupied by the sports fields of the University of Barcelona (UB) on Diagonal. The Department of Health, the Barcelona City Council, the Barcelona Provincial Council, the UB and the hospital itself ---led by Enric Crous--- have already started working to make the future complex a reality, which aims to become one of the most important biomedical campuses in Europe. In addition to integrating the care activity of the Clínic, the new complex, which will add an area of 290,000 square meters, will house the Faculty of Medicine and all research centers associated with the hospital.In January, the first stone of the Ciutadella del Coneixement was also laid, another of the main scientific projects promoted by the city.
February: The ISE Show shines in Barcelona
The Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) audiovisual technology fair has become one of Fira de Barcelona's most prized jewels and follows in the successful footsteps of MWC. In its latest edition, it managed to exceed all expectations by registering an attendance of 58,107 attendees from 155 countries, a record figure since its arrival in the city.in 2021. The event, which contributes to the first weeks of the year also being high season for the hotel sector,left 385 million euros in the economyfrom Barcelona, of which 243 million were direct and 142 million indirect. Congress attendees alone spent 130 million euros during their stay on the days the event lasted. Their expectations for 2024 are even higher, as it will occupy 17% more square meters in the Gran Via venue and, in addition, will organizethe first AV Latin American Summit,an event in which presidents and ministers from the main Latin American countries will participate, turning Barcelona into the authentic audiovisual capital of the world.In February, the Tech Barcelona association inaugurated Pier 07, a hub specialized in the health sector and located on Via Laietana. Here you can retrieve the interview we did to learn all the details of this project from the CEO of Tech Barcelona, Miquel Martí.
March: The big bet of Alexion and AstraZeneca on the Catalan capital
The multinational pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca multiplied its commitment to Barcelona in March by announcing that in addition to its rare diseases research center ---dependent on its subsidiary Alexion--- it would locate its new European R&D center in the city. The company plans to invest some 800 million euros in Barcelona in the next five years and hire 1,000 qualified workers, talent that it will try to attract from all over the world. Two thirds of this workforce will work on the research lines and clinical trials led by AstraZeneca, while the remaining third will join thehubfrom Alexion.The New Barcelona Post interviewed Dr. Gonzalo de Miquel, director of the R&D center that the British pharmaceutical multinational has installed in the El Dau building in the Catalan capital, where it occupies three floors totaling 5,400 m². "Barcelona has a very important healthcare and pharmaceutical ecosystem. Catalan family pharmaceutical companies are a very solid base that provides local talent, but, in addition,Barcelona as a city offers us an incredible response in attracting international talent; it is easier for us to attract talent from here.", assured De Miquel.In March, the University of Barcelona (UB) also completed the installation of the first very high-field nuclear magnetic resonance apparatus in all of Spain, also a pioneer in Europe due to its technical characteristics. Located in the Barcelona Science Park (PCB), the scientific infrastructure involved an investment of 8.9 million euros, fully financed with a grant from the Ministry of Science and Innovation and European funds.
April: The prestigious Fraunhofer Institute bets on Barcelona
Barcelona will host a branch of the Fraunhofer Institute, Europe's largest organization dedicated to applied research. The implementation of Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in Catalonia has the collaboration of the Generalitat, the Barcelona City Council, and the Government. This is a historic agreement that includes the creation of the Fraunhofer Spain institution —as a foundation— and the launch of a research center in bioengineering applied to health (Fraunhofer Center for Applied Theragnostics (Fraunhofer CAT), in collaboration with the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC). The arrival of Fraunhofer in the Catalan capital through this international alliance based in Barcelona will decisively contribute to the internationalization of applied research and improve the connection between academia and productive sectors. In this sense, the Fraunhofer-CAT program will promote applied knowledge and technology towards a new process of development, modeling, and optimization of humanized biomodels designed to develop better diagnostic, prognostic, and therapy selection systems to boost precision medicine and advanced therapies.May: Catalonia will have a chip prototyping cleanroom
At the end of May, coinciding with the Cercle d'Economia conferences, the President of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, announced thatCatalunyahas presented to the Government a project to receive European Next Generation funds to finance the construction of a advanced microchip design and prototyping factory on land located next to the Alba Synchrotron, inCerdanyoladel Vallès. This is a public investment of more than 300 million euros that has been confirmed this December and will allow Catalonia to position itself on the European map of the strategic semiconductor industry. "Catalunyacan play a leading role in the European chip program; we can be a decisive country," said Aragonés, pointing out that this new strategic infrastructure will also contribute to "leading the reindustrialization process." According toBarcelona Global, which has also participated in this initiative, this is the first step for Catalonia to be able to host a futurefoundry, that is, a series semiconductor factory, a project that may require an investment of more than 17,000 million euros.In May we also learned that the Barcelona Science Park is activating an expansion project after reaching full occupancy.
June: Barcelona will host the EU's reference incubator for technology transfer
The Mobile World Capital Barcelona (MWCapital) won a European Commission project that will locate an incubator in Barcelona aimed at boosting technology transfer across the continent. "Technology transfer within the European framework is and will be a priority to place us on the global map," said MWCapital CEO, Francesc Fajula. From the Catalan capital, 120 scientific projects will be promoted each year with the aim of helping them leave the laboratory and reach the market. MWCapital, together with the German innovation consultancy EurA, will be responsible for developing and scaling initiatives conceived in research centers and universities across Europe so that they becomespin-offsof success.July: Barcelona transforms Port Vell for the arrival of the America's Cup
The Catalan capital has this year thrown itself into preparations to host the 37th edition of the America's Cup sailing race, which will be held on the Barcelona coast between August and October 2024. The work to rto completely remodel the Port Olímpic to convert it into an engine of the blue economy and also the acceleration of all the planned works in the Port Vell, which will be even more integrated into the city. The Port of Barcelona is carrying out more than twenty actions that will involve an investment of more than 120 million euros. The most notable is theremodeling of the historic Port buildingin the Portal de la Pau, la rambla de la nueva bocana, the renovation of the Aquarium, the new fish market, the opening of a gastronomic market in Maremagnum, the installation of ainnovation hubin the old sheds and the commissioning ofa nautical busthat will connect the Drassanes and Llevant docks.August: The Gabriel García Márquez, the best public library in the world
The Gabriel García Márquez Library was chosen as the best public library in the world in 2023, according to the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). It thus becomes the first in Spain to achieve this distinction, sharing the title with others such as the American Missoula Public Library, the Norwegian Deichman Bjørvika, and the Finnish Oodi Helsinki Central Library. The award jury valued the Sant Martí facility for its interaction with the environment, the architectural quality of the building, the flexibility of its spaces, and its sustainability. The Barcelona library, directed by Neus Castellano, competed with the Janez Vajkard Valvasor Krškov Public Library (Slovenia), City of Parramatta Library (Australia), and the Shanghai Library East (China).
September: Barcelona hotels reach historic highs in prices
The year 2023 will go down in history as one of the best for the Barcelona hotel sector, with record occupancy rates and a substantial increase in the average price. It is estimated that the city's establishments will reach a combined turnover of more than 2,000 million euros, a 20% increase. In summer, the occupancy rate reached 88%, only two points below 2019, but the average price increased to 187 euros per night, almost 37 euros more than before the pandemic. According to the Gremi d'Hotels, it is now time to open a new stage in which the quality of clients must be prioritized over quantity. The idea is to promote a higher-value tourist profile "who loves the destination" and who comes to the city for business, to participate in fairs and congresses, and to enjoy its cultural facilities. In this regard, the Gremi highly values that Fira de Barcelona has managed to attract three international fairs to Barcelona this year that are benchmarks in their respective sectors: theworld's largest trade fair for the gaming and casino sector, ICE (International Casino Exhibition), the Labelexpo show and the meetingVitafoods Europe.October: Barcelona premieres the great exhibition on Picasso and Miró
Miró-Picasso it is the great exhibition organized by the Picasso Museum and the Joan Miró Foundation to honor both artists coinciding with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Picasso's death. The exhibition can be seen until February 25 and is essential, not only for its magnitude, bringing together more than 300 works by the two artists, many of them never seen in Barcelona, but also because it is the first time that the two Barcelona museums have exchanged pieces. "This exhibition is only possible in Barcelona, other major cultural capitals would have it more difficult because there is no other city that brings together so many works by both," highlights the director of the Joan Miró Foundation, Marko Daniel, who emphasizes that it is a unique opportunity to get closer to Miró and Picasso and that it will not be easily repeated, so, without a doubt, it is the great exhibition of the year.
November: The Disfrutar restaurant wins three Michelin stars
Barcelona has had the privilege this year of hosting the celebration of the annual Michelin Guide gala, which has awarded a third star to the Disfrutar restaurant, led by Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch, and Mateu Casañas. Now, in the city there are a total of 26 restaurants with a Michelin star, four of them three-starred: ABaC, Cocina Hermanos Torres, Disfrutar, and Lasarte. The red guide has also awarded its first star to the Barcelona restaurants Quirat and Suto.In November The New Barcelona Post also published an exclusive interview with Óscar Pierre, co-founder of Glovo, who conveyed a message of great optimism about the future that awaits Barcelona, a city he considers to be a magnet for attracting talent, although he advocates the need for more local investment muscle, which is why he has launched the Yellow fund, which will invest 30 million in fifty startups in southern Europe in the next three years.
December: First stone of the CaixaResearch Institute immunology center
The La Caixa Foundation has laid this month the first stone of the CaixaResearch Institute research complex, which aims to be a world leader in immunology. The scientific complex will require an investment of 60 million euros and will begin to be operational at the end of 2025, although its "maximum performance" will be reached in 2033, when 600 researchers are expected to work in the complex, who have already begun to be recruited.In December, the symbolic act of starting the expansion works of the Fira de Barcelona venue in Gran Via was also carried out. The construction of a new pavilion the size of an Eixample block will culminate in 2026 after an investment of 320 million and will allow the exhibition area to be increased by 25%, in addition to facilitating the attraction of new international reference trade shows. This project is accompanied by the good results achieved in 2023 by Fira de Barcelona, which has reached a historic billing record of 250 million euros.
Another element of utmost relevance has been the inauguration of the fifth supercomputer of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center-National Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS), a new technological infrastructure that has a power 10,000 times greater than the first MareNostrum and that will allow progress in solving scientific problems and addressing some that until now could not even be considered.
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