Tag: barcelona

The Catalan government, Ministry of Transport and AENA have agreed to expand the Barcelona-El Prat Airport, in order to increase capacity and make it an intercontinental hub. The works will be ready in 2033 and with a budget of €3.2 billion, will add 500 metres to one of its main runways. This extension of the runway is the minimum needed to ensure it can serve intercontinental flights with wide-body aircraft while having the least impact possible on wildlife areas nearby.

The estimated investment, in addition to extending and improving the runway, will go towards remodelling Terminal 1, remodelling and improving Terminal 2 and adding a new satellite terminal. This new terminal will also have an underground train connecting it to Terminal 1. This project aims to increase the airport’s capacity to 90 operations an hour so it can welcome 70 million passengers a year. Currently, the facility can only handle 80 operations an hour.

Regarding environmental impact, the final project only encroaches on part of the La Ricarda natural space and also has less of an effect on the Remolar lagoon. Plus, La Ricarda will be improved ecologically, as each hectare affected will be offset with 10 hectares to optimise aquatic habitats in the area, creating a green ring connecting the protected areas and farmlands around the airport.

The Catalan business and economic sector welcomed the news of the Barcelona-El Prat Airport expansion. Foment del Treball Nacional has calculated that the expansion will add 1.8 points to the Catalan GDP (€5 billion annually) and create 45,000 direct jobs.

Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport welcomed 5,176,436 total passengers in May, up 3.7% from the same month last year. In the first 5 months of 2025, the airport also saw a record number of users, with 21,887,027 or 4.1% more than January-May 2024.

For the second year in a row, Barcelona has made the list of the top five start-up ecosystems in the European Union, according to the Global Startup Ecosystem Index published by the StartupBlink consultancy, and presented recently. Barcelona is ranked 5th in the EU, only behind Paris, Berlin, Stockholm and Amsterdam.

For the report, the consultancy analysed over 1,400 cities in 110 countries, assessing start-up ecosystems based on several variables, such as number and quality of their companies, business environment, number of coworking spaces and accelerators, traction for emerging companies, and other regional economic and business indicators.

Globally, Barcelona is ranked the 33rd best ecosystem for emerging companies in the world, up 5 spots from last year’s ranking. In this regard, it is still the main start-up hub in Spain and one of the few cases of a country’s main ecosystem not being in the national capital.

It should also be noted that Barcelona is ranked second globally in the video-games sector, third globally and first in Europe in the pharmaceutical industry, second in the EU in healthcare technology, and second in the world in clean technology, smart cities, sustainability and travel technology.

According to Catalonia Trade & Investment, Catalonia is currently home to 2,285 start-ups, the highest ever registered, up 9% from last year. These companies generate a joint total of €2.33 billion in income and employ nearly 23,000 professionals.

Catalonia is consolidating its place as a strategic hub for healthcare innovation with the inauguration of the new hub of excellence of the British multinational corporation Smith+Nephew. The new facilities, located in Esplugues de Llobregat, are called ‘Campus Barcelona S+N’ and have 2,000 square metres of space for roughly a hundred professionals.

The company has invested €5 million in the Campus, which includes a latest-generation skills centre equipped with surgical robots, augmented- and virtual-reality simulators and surgical navigation technologies. It also features a showroom, hundred-seat auditorium and sound stage to create scientific content for global use.

At the Campus presentation, Smith+Nephew representatives highlighted that the company isn’t just investing in a facility, it is making a firm commitment to local talent, scientific development and continuing to make Catalonia a benchmark in biomedicine in Europe and the world. New technologies will allow for more precise, less invasive surgery in the future, with a faster recovery time.

The British multinational corporation will hire new professionals and is looking for highly qualified candidates, mainly in bioengineering, biology, artificial intelligence applied to health, IT and digital surgery, among others.

According to data from ACCIÓ, between 2020 and 2024 Catalonia secured nearly a third of all British investment projects in Spain, specifically 63 projects with €2.209 billion in capital invested and 6,000 jobs created. There are currently 955 British subsidiaries in Catalonia.

The life sciences have become a strategic, highly consolidated sector in Catalonia.  This dynamic, innovative sector, which attracts global talent and investment and is transforming the knowledge economy, healthcare and quality of life, has over 1,400 companies, creates roughly 250,000 jobs and makes up 8.7% of the Catalan GDP. This data is from the report compiled by  Biocat, the BioRegion of Catalonia. The life sciences arena includes biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical technology and digital health. In 2023, the sector saw a record of over €220 million in private investment.

Additionally, looking specifically at the digital health ecosystem, which is the field of knowledge and practice related to the development and use of digital technologies to improve healthcare, Barcelona is, behind London, the second city in Europe in number of emerging companies in this area. The Catalan digital health sector grew 7% to 400 companies, mostly SMEs (92.5%) and 41.5% of these firms are developing health applications for artificial intelligence solutions, according to a study by ACCIÓ.

In any case, despite figures that show the Catalan life science sector’s current success and enormous potential, what truly sets it apart is the solid, diverse, highly connected ecosystem, with centres of excellence, strategic facilities, large public and private hospitals, consolidated companies, universities, technology centres and start-ups that make up an innovative, competitive network.

The health and life sciences sector is one of the most important in the Catalan economy and this study shows it is also one of the best at embracing digitalisation. This will help make this sector a true driving force for the economy, generating jobs with value added, moving towards a healthcare model in which technology is an ally to guarantee better care for all.

Pontegadea Inversiones, the family office of Inditex founder and owner  Amancio Ortega, signed a deal with the  Blackstone fund to purchase the current headquarters of the Planeta Group, located at Avinguda Diagonal 662. Sources close to the negotiations note that the operation was valued at roughly €250 million, making it the city’s largest real estate operation so far this year.

Pontegadea has other real estate assets in Barcelona, such as the former Banesto headquarters and the former BBVA headquarters on Plaça Catalunya, and an office building at Passeig de Gràcia 56, among others.

Additionally, US investment firm Income Opportunity Fund II (IOF II) is putting the finishing touches on the full remodel of the former Novartis headquarters in Barcelona, at Carrer de la Marina 206, which has nearly 6,500 square metres of space. IOF II purchased the asset from the Swiss pharmaceutical group for €13.5 million and has invested €8.4 million to fully remodel it.

Also, Acciona has closed the deal for the Nestlé headquarters in Esplugues de Llobregat to be acquired by South Korean fund Igis Asset Management. The operation was valued at €65 million and the new owner will turn the property into housing. Nestlé has a lease and expects to continue its activity in the building, which has 30,000 square metres of space.

Finally, insurance company Zurich just sold the building that houses the headquarters of the Catalan Ministry for Social Rights and Inclusion in Diagonal Mar, to Portuguese fund Square Asset Management. The operation was valued at roughly €40 million. The property has 18,000 square metres of floor space on 23 storeys.

Automotive company Ebro, which occupies most of the former Nissan site in Barcelona’s Zona Franca, has reached an agreement with Australian logistics property firm  Goodman to add 57,000 square metres to its facilities in the Barcelona City Hub. The hub has 144,000 m² for logistics activities, combining multi-sector functionality and circular building practices.

With this expansion, Ebro will have 319,000 square metres of industrial space and, with Chinese partner Chery, will invest €100 million to build a new production line for assembling, soldering and painting. The new line is expected to be operational by the end of this year. Goodman manages the 500,000 square metres of industrial and logistics land in the area.

At the same time, Goodman presented its logistics platform, the largest multi-plant project in Europe, which will have 125,000 square metres of floor space. The Australian company will invest €120 million to build the platform, which will be finished in approximately a year and a half. The space features multi-storey buildings, sustainable mobility solutions and energy efficiency facilities, such as solar panels and electric vehicle charging stations.

Additionally, Ebro, which currently employs 800 workers, is already running two shifts and expects to add another after summer. The goal for 2024 is for production to hit 20,000 vehicles, although the total capacity is 30,000. At the same time, the company is investing €100 million to increase capacity to 100,000 units. Looking to the future, the company hopes to produce 150,000 vehicles a year.

Despite global economic and political uncertainty, Barcelona ended last year with GDP up 3.8% over 2023, which is slightly higher than the figure for Catalonia (+3.6%) and Spain (+3.2%) and nearly four times higher than the European Union (+1%).

This data is from the report titled Conjuntura de Barcelona 2025 compiled by the Barcelona City Council, which highlights that the positive economic progress can mainly be seen in the figures on the job market. Unemployment dropped in the first quarter of 2025 (-2.5% year-on-year). Additionally, Social Security affiliation saw a record high for March, with nearly 1,242,000 people employed and nearly 22,900 more jobs.

Tourism, which is a key part of Barcelona’s economy, saw moderately positive growth. In March, more than 700,000 people stayed at the city’s hotels, up 1.6% from the same month last year. In total, 1.9 million tourists stayed in Barcelona in the first quarter of 2025, up 3% from 2024, although overnight stays were down 3.3%.

Furthermore, looking at housing, the price of new-build options rebounded 6% in the last quarter of 2024. And in terms of used housing, prices have stabilised. Regarding rental prices, the new regulations in Barcelona seem to be having an effect, and average rental prices have dropped 5.1% year-on-year.

It is worth noting that the Barcelona City Council presented the Barcelona Impulsa plan in April, with €890 million through 2027 to create 180,000 quality jobs, diversify the economy and bolster the city’s positioning in strategic sectors, such as technology, healthcare, research, culture and green and blue economy.

Again this year, Barcelona is one of the world’s top cities for congress tourism. It ranks first in the number of participants that attend and has climbed from fifth to fourth place in the number of congresses hosted. These figures were released in the latest report from the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), which has been publishing its prestigious ranking for the past 24 years. Notably, Barcelona is the highest-ranked non-capital city.

Within this ranking, Vienna tops the list with 154 congresses, followed by Lisbon (153), Singapore (144), Barcelona (142) and Prague (131). However, Barcelona is, by far, the city with the highest number of delegates in 2024 (125,826), generating financial return of over €350 million. London, Singapore, Madrid and Vienna trail the Catalan capital on this ranking, which only considers rotating international congresses held in at least three different cities, excluding permanent events such as the MWC or the ISE.

Taking into account all association and corporate events (congresses, conferences, conventions, training courses and incentive trips) held in the city, the figures rise significantly. Barcelona hosted a total of 1,968 events in 2024, welcoming a grand total of 734,818 participants (85.6% foreigners), up 23% over the previous year.

According to Turisme de Barcelona, the total economic impact of these events in the city amounted to €1.384 billion. It is also worth highlighting that the Catalan capital consolidated its global leadership in hosting medical congresses, with 56 in total, making up 27.3% of all events, followed by academic events (16.3%) and scientific ones (15.4%).

The ICCA report was presented at IMEX, the leading international trade fair for the meetings, events and incentive travel industry, recently held in Frankfurt.

Digital health is currently one of the most significant sectors of the Catalan economy. There are 386 companies, 17% more than a year ago, with a combined turnover of more than €630 million, up nearly 7%, and employing over 5,300 professionals, 10% more. These findings are detailed in the latest annual report published by ACCIÓ, the Agency for Business Competitiveness, which was presented during the most recent edition of the Health Revolution Congress.

The digital health ecosystem is the field of knowledge and practice related to the development and use of digital technologies to improve the healthcare sector. It is rapidly becoming a powerful economic driver, generating high-value jobs and helping retain talent. Digital health also supports progress towards a more sustainable and inclusive healthcare model, where technology ensures people get better care, as emphasised during the report’s presentation.

The ACCIÓ report highlights that Catalonia ranked fifth globally in the number of projects, behind Massachusetts, Ireland, Telangana (India) and California, but rose to second place in terms of total investment received, surpassed only by Boston, the world’s leading hub for this industry. Catalonia attracted over €1.5 billion in investment, with major projects led by AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche, Polpharma and Siegfried, among others.

Finally, the report notes that most digital health companies in Catalonia are SMEs and that nearly two-thirds of them have been set up within the past ten years. Plus, a significant share is developing clinical tools (17.9%), digital therapies (13%) and diagnostics (9.8%), while 41.5% of companies are working on artificial intelligence solutions applied to healthcare.

With a large student population and rental yields of 5%, Barcelona is consolidating its position as the best university city in Europe for real estate investment in student accommodations, ahead of Madrid, Brussels, Milan and Lyon. This is according to Compare the Market, a British price comparison site using data from Numbeo, and a report compiled by real estate asset manager Patrizia that analysed data from over 180 university cities in 21 European countries.

On the one hand, the Compare the Market report ranks the best cities in the United States, Europe and Australia for this type of investment based on four weighted variables: rental yield, student population, rental prices and general interest in student property investment.  In this regard, Barcelona tops the European ranking, driven by the third-highest rental yield (5%) and a large student population, with more than 140,000 university students.

The report also notes that Barcelona is home to eight universities, and that university cities represent a potentially attractive destination for real estate investment due to the permanent demand for student housing.

On the other hand, Patrizia highlights the Catalan capital’s academic prestige and international projection, along with a consolidated yet underdeveloped real estate market, which contribute to making Barcelona a highly competitive location for investment.

It also concludes that student accommodations are an essential strategic component of institutional real estate investments, and that this type of asset offers higher returns and has greater potential for growth than conventional residential housing.

Siemens, the German global leader in innovation and technology, is relocating its headquarters to Diagonal One Tower in Barcelona’s 22@ district in October. The new offices will house the company’s sales and technology operations, while Siemens Mobility will continue operating at full capacity from its Cornellà headquarters and the corporation’s DEX (Digital Experience Centre), which focuses on software for the infrastructure, logistics and automotive sectors, will remain at DFactory.

Siemens’ new offices will occupy the twelfth floor of Diagonal One Tower, renowned for its cutting-edge architecture, panoramic sea and city views, and privileged location in the heart of the 22@ district. This move coincides with a significant milestone for the company, as it celebrates 130 years in Spain while addressing new challenges fuelled by technological innovation.

Siemens notes that the new space will better reflect its purpose as a company: to transform everyday life through technologies that enhance quality of life and promote sustainability as a core pillar of business practice. Furthermore, this move not only strengthens Siemens’ brand image, but also aligns it with global trends in office transformation towards more sustainable and flexible workplace models.

This relocation reaffirms the company’s long-term commitment to Catalonia within its strategy and future challenges, and reinforces the position of the 22@ district as Barcelona’s main innovation hub, where numerous global firms are now establishing their regional headquarters.

Barcelona has been ranked the fourth-best city in Europe in the prestigious Europe’s Best Cities 2025 report, compiled by Resonance Consultancy, standing out for its exceptional quality of life, vibrant culture and growing innovation ecosystem.

World renowned for its architecture, Mediterranean lifestyle and vibrant economy, Barcelona ranks high in liveability, hospitality, restaurants, urban parks and walkability. The report highlights the city’s unique balance of heritage and modernity, making it a privileged destination for residents, tourists and investors. Its growing economic appeal, which already has it ranked twelfth in prosperity, attracts international investment from global companies banking on its future.

Additionally, the 2024 Barcelona Observatory Report, compiled by the Barcelona City Council in collaboration with the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, highlights the city’s strong economic moment in terms of international investment, research and development. This report, which analyses the Catalan capital’s position compared to other cities across several indicators, ranks Barcelona among the 20 most competitive cities in the world.

The Observatory reveals a significant leap in Barcelona’s global competitiveness, with the city ranking nineteenth on the Global Power City Index. Furthermore, the Catalan capital has excelled in attracting foreign investment projects and, in recent years, has also gained significant strength, appeal and competitiveness in the blue economy.

Barcelona’s rise in the global rankings is not only due to its international appeal but also to its strategic evolution towards a city model that prioritises long-term economic resilience, quality of life for its residents and global competitiveness.

Catalan exports were up 3.3% year-on-year in the first quarter of this year, according to figures released by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business, confirming that Catalonia remains the leading exporting region in Spain, with total foreign sales reaching €25.05 billion. This marks the second-highest figure in the historical series, despite ongoing uncertainty regarding tariffs.

By sector, chemicals continued to lead the ranking with nearly €7.8 billion in exports (+7.4%), representing 31% of the total. This was followed by capital goods, with €4.09 billion (+15%), and food and beverages, with sales worth €3.86 billion (+8%).

In terms of markets, Catalonia mainly exported to the European Union, with €5.42 billion in sales (+6.3% year-on-year). The second-largest export destination was the Americas, with €1.04 billion (+20.7%). Notably, just ahead of the potential implementation of import tariffs in the United States, sales there surged to €406.8 million, up 8.9%.

In this context, it appears that many companies opted to bring forward shipments to avoid the expected tariff hikes. This is further supported by March figures alone, when export volumes reached €8.8 billion, up 6.6%.

NTT DATA, the Japanese IT services company, has inaugurated its NTT DATA Living Lab in Barcelona. This innovation centre is designed to accelerate technological progress through co-creation with clients and strategic partners. The new hub includes multidisciplinary spaces to support the entire innovation lifecycle, from concept to real-world validation and implementation.

Artificial Intelligence is a key pillar of the Living Lab. Since 2018, NTT DATA has been developing its AI Centre of Excellence in Barcelona, and this new facility further strengthens the city’s role as a key node in the company’s global AI strategy.

The launch of the Living Lab also underscores NTT DATA’s commitment to consolidating its presence in Barcelona, where the group already employs more than 4,000 professionals. This initiative aligns with the company’s broader strategy to centralise innovation efforts in the Catalan capital. In 2023, NTT DATA opened its new headquarters in the city’s 22@ district.

In this context, NTT DATA representatives highlight that innovation is the foundation of progress, particularly at this time of great global uncertainty, with developments impacting all areas of society and the economy. They stress that continued advancement can only be achieved through anticipation, innovation and co-creation with clients and partners to provide effective solutions to emerging market and societal challenges.

Barcelona’s 22@ district is regaining momentum. One example of this is the 93,000 m2 of office space leased last year, which is 32% of all such operations in the city (291,000 m2) and twice as much as the previous year. These figures are from the latest Transparency 22@ report by real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield.

So, the district has rebounded from the hard knock of the pandemic and subsequent rise in remote working. The real estate consultancy believes that this business area has regained its appeal as a hub for strategic companies, as much of the office space uptake has been driven by companies in IT, telecommunications, video games, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and the life sciences.

It is also worth noting that this boost in office leasing activity in the district, which is home to 21% of Barcelona’s total office stock, has affected overall availability, dropping from 22.5% to a still high rate of 19.1%. Nevertheless, development in the district continues, with 90,000 m2 of new office space currently under construction and set to hit the market between now and 2026. This reflects growing confidence in the sector’s short- and medium-term prospects.

Finally, in terms of investment, the 22@ district attracted €26.5 million in office-related transactions and €32 million in land acquisitions. Looking ahead to this year and next, forecasts are quite optimistic, expecting strong investor demand from international capital and family offices. According to the consultancy, this will be an opportunity to firmly consolidate the district, not only as a business hub but also as a vibrant, attractive urban and social environment.

Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial, a leader in publishing and distributing books, has recently inaugurated its new book distribution centre in Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, further consolidating its leadership in both the publishing and logistics sectors worldwide.

The group has invested €36 million in this new 42,000 m2 facility, which is regarded as the most advanced of its kind in Europe.  Equipped with cutting-edge technology, the centre will significantly enhance the publisher’s logistics operations, allowing it to manage over 40 million copies annually.

At the inauguration of the new facilities, the company highlighted the strength of Catalonia’s publishing sector, which accounts for 54.1% of total industry turnover in Spain. The new centre further strengthens Catalonia’s role as a key logistics hub within Europe’s cultural industry.

According to the company, Barcelona (Cerdanyola del Vallès) was chosen as the location for the new centre for its strategic position within the metropolitan area and excellent connections to the rest of Spain and Europe. Its proximity to major transport infrastructures allows for faster delivery times and better national and international distribution.

Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial, a leader in publishing and distributing books, is part of the international Penguin Random House group, based in New York and founded by Bertelsmann in 2013. The publishing group exports and distributes its titles in more than 45 countries across Latin America, Asia, Europe and the United States.

French biopharmaceutical company Sanofi is strengthening its commitment to Barcelona by launching a new international centre of excellence. This will be the company’s second worldwide, based in the city’s 22@ district. The hub will create over 300 highly skilled jobs in data science, AI engineering, digital product development and advanced analytics.

This new centre is part of Sanofi’s strategy to prioritise AI and become the first biopharmaceutical company to adopt this technology on a large scale. The company expects the hub, which will work to drive innovation and transform the future of medicine, to be fully operational by the end of this year.

Sanofi’s AI centre will lead the generation of real-world evidence, a research methodology based on data from healthcare systems, with support from experts in biostatistics, statistical programming and clinical data analysis, as well as engineering and data science.

Sources inside Sanofi highlight their confidence in Barcelona’s innovation ecosystem, where they are not only creating high-value jobs, but also helping position Catalonia and Spain as key drivers in the transformation of Europe’s healthcare system.

So, Sanofi is bolstering its presence in Spain, where it has offices in Madrid and Barcelona, and a manufacturing facility in Riells i Viabrea (Girona). In the Spanish market, the company employs over 1,400 professionals and has invested more than €250 million in R&D over the past five years.

The logistics real estate sector continues its strong upward trend, with logistics leasing in Catalonia up 58% in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2024, from nearly 95,000 m2 to 149,000 m2. These figures are from real estate consultancy JLL.

According to the Barcelona Snapshot Logistics report, most of the leased space was located in Barcelona’s third logistics ring, extending from just beyond Vallès Occidental and Garraf to Tarragona and Girona, which accounted for nearly 76,000 m2 (51%). This was followed by the second ring, with around 53,000 m2 (36%), and the first ring, with 20,000 m2 (13% of the total).

In this regard, it is worth noting that retail accounted for 47% of the total take-up through the end of March, followed by industrial companies and logistics operators. As a point of reference, total logistics leasing in Catalonia was 700,000 m2 at the end of 2024, already above the average for the past five years.

The logistics market in Catalonia is characterised by a lack of land and limited supply of high-quality assets, especially in the first ring. This area is particularly attractive and in high demand due to its proximity to the city of Barcelona and critical transport infrastructures, such as El Prat Airport and the Port of Barcelona.

US multinational Mitek has created nearly 200 new jobs at its R&D centre in Catalonia, which it established in 2017 and has since become the company’s main global hub. The multinational corporation specialises in developing digital identity verification and official document authentication technologies using artificial intelligence (AI).

From its R&D and innovation centre in Cerdanyola, Barcelona, Mitek leads the development of innovative products and services for the whole group worldwide. It is the company’s largest R&D site and has seen significant growth over the past two years, with a 65% increase in its workforce. More than half of Mitek’s global product development and R&D staff is based in Catalonia, made up of professionals highly specialised in artificial intelligence and advanced technologies.

Mitek specifically focuses on developing technology solutions to verify digital identity and authenticate documents. Among others, these solutions are powered by artificial intelligence, incorporating biometric analysis, traditional computer vision and advanced deep-learning techniques. The company aims to enhance security by preventing identity fraud and financial transaction fraud, among other threats.

The US-based company established its presence in Catalonia in 2017 by acquiring ICAR Vision Systems, a Catalan company originally created as a spin-off of the Computer Vision Centre (CVC) at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). Founded in 1986 with its headquarters in San Diego, California (USA), Mitek currently has offices in New York, London, Paris and Amsterdam, in addition to its Barcelona location.

A new, definitive boost for Catalunya Media City, the audiovisual hub that will be located at the Tres Xemeneies Besòs site. The Catalan Government has promoted the signing of a collaboration protocol to align all the institutions involved and coordinate actions to carry out the project, while progress continues on refurbishing and expanding the Turbine Hall and building two large new stages at Parc Audiovisual de Catalunya (PAC) in Terrassa.

These are the two pillars of a nation-building initiative based on public-private partnership that aims to give Catalonia a benchmark centre in production, research, training, professional specialisation and services for the audiovisual, digital content and video-game sectors. It will be a next-generation technology and training park equipped with advanced services and infrastructures, with local, regional and international connections, patterned after iconic international hubs such as Hilversum in the Netherlands and MediaCityUK in the United Kingdom.

Works will begin to refurbish and expand the Turbine Hall at Catalunya Media City in the summer of 2026 and are expected to be completed by the end of 2028. A total of €70.8 million will be invested in the project. The facilities will include training areas and a cultural centre to showcase the latest audiovisual and digital trends. Plus, it aims to be a benchmark in research and innovation. The centre will complement Parc Audiovisual de Catalunya in Terrassa, where €13 million will be invested to build two large new stages, measuring 2,200 m2 and 1,000 m2 respectively.

Catalunya Media City is part of the Catalonia Leads Plan, the Catalan Government’s transversal strategy to position Catalonia among the leading regions in Europe. The goal is for Catalunya Media City to become a strategic hub for the audiovisual and digital sectors, with a positive economic impact and global outlook on innovation and production.

Catalonia’s economy has exceeded €300 billion for the first time ever, up 3.6%, significantly outpacing the rest of Spain (+3.2%) and nearly quadrupling the European average (+1%). These figures, recently published by the Statistical Institute of Catalonia (Idescat), show that the region’s GDP reached exactly €316.728 billion in 2024.

Several factors contributed to this growth, including strong domestic demand, which rose 4%, household consumption (+3.5%), public sector spending (+5.3%) and investment (+3.2%). In terms of foreign trade, exports increased 1.8% while imports rose 2.7%.

On the supply side, all economic sectors posted positive growth: industry (+3.9%), services (+4.1%), agriculture (+4.2%) and construction (+1.7%). Notably, tourism broke records once again, boosting revenue in hospitality, food services and all related industries.

These figures confirm the continued strength of the Catalan economy. The robust performance of the Catalan economy contrasts with weaker growth seen in the European Union’s largest economies. France, the eurozone’s second-largest economy by GDP, grew 1.1% last year, while the third-largest economy, Italy, managed only 0.5%. Germany, long considered Europe’s economic powerhouse, ended the year with a contraction of 0.2%, marking its second consecutive year of negative growth.

Foreign investment in Catalonia in 2024 reached record levels, exceeding €1 billion, with an employment impact of over 8,000 jobs, both newly created and retained. The Catalan Government, through ACCIÓ, the Agency for Business Competitiveness under the Catalan Ministry of Business and Labour, recently announced that €1.051 billion of foreign investment had been attracted, up 19% from the previous year and the highest figure ever recorded.

This figure corresponds to 106 investment projects by foreign companies, which led to the creation of nearly 5,000 new jobs — up 10% from 2023 — and the retention of over 3,200 more jobs. Altogether, the total number of jobs created and retained is the highest on record and represents a 44% increase over last year. Notably, more than half the total projects attracted are directly linked to the digital and green transitions.

It is worth noting that 64% of the foreign investment attracted was industrial and technological. Specifically, 37% of the projects are in the manufacturing industry and 27% in the technology arena. In terms of sectors, ICT and electronics stand out (22% of the total), followed by automotive (14%), chemicals (11%), food (7%) and video games (7%). As for the origin of the investments, most projects came from Germany (11%), United States (9%), France (9%) and China (7%).

Through ACCIÓ–Catalonia Trade & Investment, foreign companies receive guidance to make it easier for new multinationals to invest in Catalonia. In this regard, a total of €3.641 billion has been invested over the past five years, with nearly 28,000 jobs created and retained in this period thanks to multinational investments in Catalonia, up 9% from the previous five-year period.

Microsoft opened a digital sales hub in Barcelona this past March, aimed at providing services to companies in thirteen European countries: Spain, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland. This new centre, which joins existing hubs in Dublin (Ireland) and Cairo (Egypt), completes the company’s Digital Sales Centre network in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa).

The new hub has an initial workforce of 44 people from nine nationalities (59% women), which is expected to grow to around 250 in the coming months. The company is recruiting professionals with various profiles, including technical specialists, cloud architects and solution specialists to fill open positions.

Microsoft Iberica has highlighted that choosing Barcelona as the headquarters for this new centre represents a commitment to supporting development of digital talent in the area, as well as enhancing the city’s appeal as a hub for attracting technology professionals from across Europe. In fact, the centre will offer its services in ten languages.

According to the latest Digital Talent Overview report by Mobile World Capital, Barcelona is one of the most vibrant cities in terms of generating and attracting digital talent, with over 122,000 professionals in the field. Over the past year, more than 5,000 foreign professionals joined companies based in the city. In fact, one in three digital professionals in Barcelona comes from abroad, according to the same report.

The Metropolitan Urban Master Plan (PDUM) lays the groundwork for planning through 2050 throughout the territory comprising the city of Barcelona and 35 surrounding municipalities. It was initially approved in 2023 and will now be redrafted to incorporate many of the proposals put forward by local councils, some of which introduce substantial changes to the initial document.

The document approved two years ago by the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB) includes sections on natural spaces, buildable areas, housing, infrastructure, mobility routes, green corridors, new centralities and areas of economic activity, among others. Some of the most significant aspects of the 2023 PDUM include ten major metropolitan avenues designed for surface public transport and mobility. Together with streets and paths, these add up to 870 km of green hubs.

Additionally, the document includes fifteen new areas of centrality and proposes to increase non-developable land to 32,000 hectares (51% of the total), decrease private vehicle use by 50% and for 50% of journeys to be made on foot or by bicycle, with 30% using public transport. It also foresees the construction of 217,000 new homes. Of these, 120,000 will be affordable housing, including 62,000 social rental units.

After reviewing the 5,498 submissions made by individuals, councils and sector entities, 26% have been accepted and 28% are still under consideration. Following a new public consultation period, the document will move on to the urban planning commissions of Barcelona and the metropolitan area for their approval. The PDUM won’t get final approval until 2027 or 2028.

The multinational tech company Oracle has launched its first European health centre in Barcelona. This new hub provides support and services to clients in the healthcare sector across Europe. Over 60 professionals from various technical backgrounds and nationalities have joined the Oracle Health Hub in Torre Glòries, where the company now occupies four floors and has established two key centres for research and development (R&D) and healthcare.

Oracle’s decision to establish a strong presence in Barcelona is based on the city’s many advantages. According to the company, Barcelona is an exceptional city, offering a combination of economic growth, talent, strategic location, climate, environment, quality of life and rich architectural and cultural heritage. It’s also home to major global events such as Mobile World Congress.

The company also highlights that Barcelona ranks among the top three European cities for start-ups, drawing talent from around the world. This ability to attract talent means that Oracle’s Barcelona teams include professionals from 40 different nationalities among its 450 employees, blending international perspectives with local culture.

It’s also worth noting Oracle’s firm commitment to innovation and active role in Barcelona’s tech ecosystem. The company is part of the Barcelona Health Hub and a member of both the Cercle Tecnològic de Catalunya and the Digital Cluster of Catalonia. Oracle invests more than €5.5 billion in innovation annually, with the goal of making it accessible to businesses of all sizes.

Advanced Factories 2025 will take place in Barcelona from 8 to 10 April. Now in its ninth edition, the event is considered the most important industrial trade fair in Southern Europe and a major international reference point. This year’s edition will explore the latest trends in industrial automation and robotics, and finish off with the Industry 4.0 Congress.

This year’s event, focusing on how AI impacts optimisation of industrial production, will be held at the Fira de Barcelona Gran Via fairgrounds. It is expected to attract 30,000 visitors, with roughly 700 exhibitors from more than 9,000 industrial companies, and over 1,000 industrial innovations on display.

With the theme “Redefining Automation with Green Tech”, this year’s Advanced Factories will address key challenges such as decarbonisation, competitiveness, productivity, funding and attracting talent.

The industrial sector plays a key role in Catalonia’s economy, currently accounting for roughly 19% and aiming to grow progressively to 25%. Robotics is becoming increasingly prominent in the sector. Globally, more than half a million industrial robots have been installed in factories for the third year in a row, driven mainly by electric vehicle production.

Advanced Factories will not be the only major event held during these days. The biennial Advanced Machine Tools (AMT), now in its second edition, will also return and is expected to attract 17,000 visitors, with 450 new products and 180 exhibitors. Together, the two events aim to bring in more than 37,000 professionals.

Digitalisation in Catalonia is above the European Union average. This is the main conclusion of the Informe sobre l’estat de la Dècada Digital (Report on the State of the Digital Decade) by the Cercle Tecnològic de Catalunya. The report highlights Catalonia’s strong performance in 11 indicators that are crucial for building a fully digital society and economy.

The study is based on the former Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), published annually by the European Commission, and focuses its analysis on 11 of the 32 indicators across four key areas: digital skills, digital infrastructures, digitalisation of businesses and digital public services. Catalonia exceeds the EU average in 28 of the 32 indicators.

One particularly notable area is network coverage, where Catalonia scores higher than the EU average on all indicators related to digital infrastructures. The region boasts 97% coverage by fixed very high capacity networks (VHCN) and 95% 5G coverage. Catalonia also scores well in fixed broadband of at least 166 Mbps, with 88%, and fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP), with 98%.

The report also highlights Catalonia’s performance in digital public services both for individuals and businesses, including mobile access and digital healthcare services. Furthermore, Catalonia is above the EU average in digital skills and ICT talent, with 67% of the population reporting at least basic digital skills, compared to the EU average of 54%.

During the latest Mobile World Congress, the Barcelona City Council and Huawei announced a new collaboration agreement to promote innovation and training in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in 2025. This strategic partnership aims to drive forward key initiatives in the city, focusing on smart cities, smart buildings, connectivity, green energy and digital platforms.

In terms of ICT training, the initiatives will be supported by Huawei Spain Academy. The first institution of its kind in Europe, it was created recently to foster digital skills and talent development around Spain. The training programmes will take place under the IT Academy, the advanced technology training centre run by Barcelona Activa, which already has solid experience in areas like programming and big data.

At the announcement of the agreement, Huawei representatives highlighted the company’s commitment to innovation and the digital transformation of cities. They noted that Barcelona stands out as a global benchmark in technology and sustainability, and that the initiatives launched through this collaboration will help build a more efficient, sustainable, inclusive digital ecosystem.

Through this partnership, the Barcelona City Council and Huawei are strengthening their joint efforts to develop innovative solutions that advance digitalisation and sustainability, reinforcing Barcelona’s position as a leader in the use of technology to benefit the public.

Barcelona Catalonia, a joint project of the Government of Catalonia through INCASÒL, the Barcelona City Council and Barcelona Metropolitan Area  (AMB), will be at the MIPIM real estate fair again, participating for the 18^th time. This annual event, held this year from 11 to 14 March, brings together more than 20,000 participants from the international real estate industry and is considered a benchmark for investment and urban development.

With the slogan Where else? Barcelona Catalonia, it will present its strategic projects from around the region, showcasing various investment opportunities across all sectors. The initiative aims to position Barcelona and Catalonia as a prime destination for investment and new projects, reaffirming their commitment to inclusive, sustainable, cohesive development models.

In this regard, Barcelona Catalonia has strengthened its public-private collaboration model, integrating proposals from various administrations with projects from companies in the private sector. The MIPIM stand will bring together internationally minded businesses and municipal, metropolitan, and supra-municipal administrations that collaborate on urban planning projects in Catalonia.

As part of the official MIPIM programme, Barcelona Catalonia is organising a conference titled “Barcelona Catalonia. Life sciences: the roadmap for reindustrialisation”, on 12 March from 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm in the Salon Croisette (P3) at the Palais des Festivals. This conference will highlight the life sciences industry’s role as a driving force for reindustrialisation in Barcelona, its metropolitan area and Catalonia. Furthermore, it will share new investment opportunities and key players in the industry’s value chain and in the health technologies ecosystem. In short, it will show how the life sciences sector is shaping Barcelona’s metropolitan economy and leading a new phase of reindustrialisation in Barcelona and Catalonia.

Conference host: Silvia Labé, Director of Marketing, Communications and Competitive Intelligence at Biocat. Speakers: Iker Cano, CEO and co-founder of Cosymbio Labs and Oliver Pou, Senior Open Innovation Manager at Barcelona Health Hub.

The indicators from the recently published 2024 BioRegion of Catalonia Report reveal a sector that is firmly established as one of the main drivers of innovation and economic and social development in Catalonia. In this regard, the region is one of the most competitive health innovation hubs in Europe. This is primarily due to growth in exports, increased foreign investment, a rise in scientific publications and greater participation in clinical trials.

The report highlights that the life sciences and healthcare ecosystem accounts for 7.6% of Catalonia’s GDP and comprises more than 1,500 companies, 90% of which are SMEs. In terms of employment, the sector provides jobs for over 280,000 people (7.3% of the employed population) and continues to grow, driven by the steady flow of new international innovation centres and major multinational companies, particularly in the Barcelona metropolitan area, which has welcomed 23 new innovation hubs in recent years.

Additionally, 2024 marked a record year for foreign direct investment, totalling nearly €550 million and creating almost 1,700 new jobs. In this context, Catalan health start-ups and scale-ups secured a total of €347 million in 2024, the second-highest figure ever. Notably, 112 health start-ups and scale-ups are actively working on applications for artificial intelligence (AI).

Catalonia is among the top 10 regions worldwide in terms of participation in clinical trials, ranking fifth in Europe. Globally, Catalonia holds the eighth position, while in Europe, it ranks fifth in number of clinical trials involving Catalan research centres.

The BioRegion of Catalonia Report, published by Biocat since 2009, has become the most comprehensive and robust analysis of the assets, achievements and trends in Catalonia’s life sciences and healthcare sector within an international context.

Integrated Systems Europe (ISE), a key event in the audiovisual sector, returned to Barcelona for the fifth time last month, continuing its growth in terms of participating companies and international significance. Catalonia being chosen to host this benchmark event has given a major boost to this industry, which has taken advantage of this driving force. In this regard, some 85 Catalan companies took part in the event, 8% more than last year.

Catalonia is currently home to 4,161 audiovisual companies, which is 14% more than last year. The combined turnover of these companies exceeds €8.6 billion, accounting for 3% of Catalonia’s GDP. The audiovisual industry also employs around 42,000 people.

It is worth noting that the companies that existed before hosting the congress have seen a 30% increase in turnover, partly thanks to ISE. All this data comes from the study El sector audiovisual a Catalunya compiled by ACCIÓ in collaboration with the Catalan Audiovisual Cluster.

The audiovisual sector encompasses various areas, from content creation and production to distribution and screening, and includes a wide range of activities and industries related to entertainment, communication and technology. Start-ups have gained significant prominence in this ecosystem. Specifically, there are 335 audiovisual start-ups in Catalonia, more than twice as many as there were five years ago.

On an international scale, the study highlights that the global audiovisual industry generated revenue exceeding €3 trillion in 2024. The United States is the leading global market, with more than a third of all global spending. However, the report also points to the rise of Asian countries as future leaders of the industry. It points to Indonesia, China and India as the countries best positioned to become new global audiovisual powerhouses.

This year’s edition of the Mobile World Congress (MWC), currently taking place in Barcelona from 3 to 6 March, is expected to exceed last year’s 101,000 visitors, with an economic impact of approximately €550 million for the city. On this occasion, artificial intelligence (AI) will take centre stage and roughly 2,700 companies will attend.

The Mobile World Congress is the world’s most important event for mobile technology and connectivity and, as every year, is bringing together the leading global companies in the sector—including  Huawei, Samsung, Xiaomi, Google and Meta—to showcase the latest innovations and key products for the coming year. Highlights include smartphones, tablets, smartwatches and other innovative technologies.

Plus, MWC will feature a conference programme fostering open discussion of major global issues, with renowned speakers leading conversations on the impact of technology on social, political and economic challenges. These speakers include Jürgen Schmidhuber, known as the father of modern artificial intelligence.

MWC will also feature the 11th edition of 4YFN: the premier platform for connecting with the most disruptive start-ups, visionary investors and industry pioneers shaping the future. This year, 4YFN will be the epicentre of AI-driven innovation, featuring seven stages exploring the latest trends and applications of artificial intelligence.

According to the third  Tech Hubs Overview, compiled by Mobile World Capital in collaboration with ACCIÓ and the Barcelona City Council, Catalonia now has 160 international technology hubs, up 9% from the 147 hubs recorded the previous year. These technology hubs collectively generate annual revenue of €2.879 billion, with 13% growth over the past year.

Additionally, the report highlights a significant rise in employment at these international technology centres. Specifically, 6,191 new jobs were created in 2024—22% more than in 2023—bringing the total number of professionals in the sector to nearly 35,000.

In 2024, 13 new international hubs were established in Catalonia, fuelled by investors from Germany, the United States, China, Brazil, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Japan, among others. These hubs are particularly focused on mobility and software solutions. Collectively, these new technology centres created 263 jobs and had an economic impact of nearly €22 million. In this regard, AstraZeneca is set to establish its global research hub in the Edifici Estel, where it plans to hire up to 1,000 people and invest €800 million.

At the report’s presentation, Mobile World Capital emphasised that technology hubs have become a strategic element of the digital transformation, driving innovation, talent acquisition and the creation of highly skilled jobs. Their continued growth demonstrates Catalonia’s ability to attract investment and create an environment capable of developing technological solutions with a global impact.

According to a report by real estate consultancy CBRE, Barcelona has risen three places and is now ranked the fourth favourite city in Europe for real estate investors in 2025, surpassed only by London, Madrid and Paris.

Barcelona first made this ranking in 2022, in ninth place. The following year, it climbed to sixth place, before dropping slightly to seventh in 2024. This year, however, it has regained upward momentum, moving up three positions to its best ranking in recent years.

In 2024, the Catalan capital attracted more than €2.5 billion in real estate investment, up 30% from the previous year. According to the CBRE report, forecasts expect growth over 20% this year, to more than €3 billion. This estimate is based on the strong outlook for the sector, particularly in the hospitality, logistics and office markets.

Barcelona’s ability to attract international real estate investors is primarily driven by the return of international capital, lower financing costs and the appeal of the Euro against the US dollar.

Finally, the report highlights a shift towards widespread optimism. While 23% of investors surveyed believe that the market is already beginning to recover, more than 70% expect activity to bounce back by the end of this year.

Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport ended 2024 with 55,034,955 passengers, up 10.3% over 2023, setting a new all-time annual record. In theory, this figure means the airport has reached its maximum capacity, which had been set at 55 million passengers. However, the airport operator Aena affirms there is still room for further growth by utilising off-peak hours and reducing seasonal fluctuations.

Of these more than 55 million travellers, 54,932,207 were on commercial flights. Among them, 40,721,234 travelled on international flights, while 14,210,973 were on domestic flights. In 2024, El Prat handled 347,977 operations, up 9.1% from 2023. In terms of cargo, freight volume also saw significant growth, reaching 181,688 tonnes, a 16.1% increase from the previous year.

It is also worth noting that Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport started the new year with 5.4% more passengers in January than the same month last year, with a total of 3,695,529 passengers, according to Aena. This marks yet another new monthly record.

The growing number of users has once again revived the proposal to expand El Prat Airport in order to make it a sustainable international hub. This project seeks to address Catalonia’s long-standing demand for long-haul connections to America, Asia and Africa.

Barcelona and its metropolitan area have consolidated their place as one of the most important technology and innovation hubs in Europe. The dynamic ecosystem, made up of start-ups, accelerators, investors and large fairs and international events, has drawn over €6.1 billion in investment over the past ten years, six times more than the previous decade.

Although this figure is still quite a bit lower than the investment secured in other European cities such as London, Berlin and Paris over the same period, Barcelona is ranked eighth among European hubs in tech investment, according to the State of European Tech 2024 report.  The city’s talent, quality of life and strategic location have made it one of the benchmark capitals in innovation and technology.

One key factor driving investment is Barcelona’s ability to attract global tech events and meetings, such as Tech Spirit Barcelona (gathering of technology entrepreneurs and investors), 4YFN (space for technology start-ups) at the Mobile World Congress, BNEW (events for the new economy) and ISE (world’s biggest audiovisual fair), among others.

In this regard, in 2024 alone the city welcomed more than 420,000 visitors attending international events, fairs and congresses. All the events mentioned above not only help connect local talent with international companies, investors and partners, they also act as a platform to raise awareness of Barcelona’s potential in tech.

It is important to note that one of the key indicators to understand this phenomenon is the significant number of existing start-ups. In 2023, there were more than 2,100 according to the Barcelona & Catalonia Startup Hub and 86.7% of them were based in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB). In 2024, Catalan start-ups secured €1.44 billion in investment, twice as much as the previous year.

Foreign investment in Catalonia through the third quarter of 2024 was €3.453 billion according to data from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business. These are the latest official figures, showing a 65% increase over the same period the previous year. The data for all of 2024 will be made public this quarter.

In Spain as a whole, foreign investment through September was also up, although not as much. The figure was €23.607 billion, up 21.7% from the January-September figure for 2023. In this regard, it is worth noting that the Spanish government’s statistics count foreign investment in the region where companies have their business headquarters, regardless of where the funds are actually invested. This causes a capital effect, with more investment attributed to Madrid than other regions.

In Catalonia, the majority of foreign capital investment in the first nine months of the year was in Barcelona, with 90% or €3.191 billion. Girona secured €183 million; Tarragona, €66 million and Lleida, €11 million.

Catalonia is a magnet for foreign direct investment, which generates many jobs and fuels innovation and competitiveness in the country, contributing new technology, knowledge and expertise.

According to data announced by real estate consultancy firm CBRE, logistics leases in Catalonia hit 710,000 m² in 2024, up 33% from the previous year and an all time high in the sector.

This figure is also higher than the average for the past five years, at 655,000 m², and for the past ten years, at 600,000 m². It should also be noted that over 50% of demand was for new products, half in the second logistics ring, and that net leases totalled 530,000 m², or 75% of the total.

This positive behaviour in logistics leases has driven up prices in the first ring, which are at €9 per square metre/month, 6% higher year-on-year, and also in the second ring, with yearly growth above 7% for €7.25 per square metre/month. Finally, rent in the third ring has held stable at €4.25 per square metre/month.

Sources at CBRE highlight that increased leasing in 2024 wasn’t accompanied by a corresponding increase in investment due to lack of product. Nevertheless, they say that strong demand and new logistics products available in 2025 point to notable growth in investment.

Real estate investment in the city of Barcelona reached €2.5 billion in 2024, which is up 30% from the previous year, according to data from a report by real estate consultancy firm CBRE. This report highlights that the data shows a trend shift from the slowdown in 2023, marked by an interest rate hike and macroeconomic uncertainty.

It should be noted that the hotel sector has led real estate investment in Barcelona, with more than €600 million and 22 transactions. This demonstrates that the strength of the tourism sector in Barcelona has extended to the real estate sector. Furthermore, the Catalan hotel sector made up 18% of all investment in the sector in Spain.

Regarding the housing segment, investment was over €450 million, up 65% from 2023. Additionally, the office segment saw nearly €550 million, up 24%, while investment in retail was over €350 million, compared to €75 million the previous year.

CBRE forecasts for 2024 estimated growth would be around 10%, but in the end it was much higher. In this regard, it is worth noting that family offices and local investors played a central role, while investment funds, which have gained presence, are expected to return in full force this year.

The drop in interest rates and return of big rounds of funding allowed emerging Catalan companies in the health sector to secure 56% more investment than the previous year, with €235 million in 2024.

So, the Catalan start-up ecosystem in the health sector has rebounded after a drop in investment in 2023. In this regard, it is worth noting that the majority of emerging companies in Catalonia are in the health technologies segment, with nearly 400, making up 17% of the total or one in 6 start-ups.

Furthermore, according to the latest study from ACCIÓ (the business competitiveness agency) and Barcelona Health Hub, Catalonia is ranked fifth in the world in securing foreign investment for technology projects in the health sector. Plus, Catalonia has more than a dozen technology centres run by international companies, such as Bayer, AstraZeneca and Novartis.

The eleventh edition of 4YFN, which will be held in March, remains committed to the health sector, boosting its visibility. The official programme will once again include a specific agenda on digital health, and the exhibition space will also feature a special area for this sector in Hall 8.0, next to Mobile World Congress 2025.

The office segment in Barcelona has recovered. In 2024, the joint value of all operations was €550 million, while the previous year it was only €280 million, mainly due to the interest rates and lack of confidence arising from remote working.

Real estate consultancy Forcadell, in a document published recently, stated that the market went from 238,000 m² in contracts in 2023 to 295,000 m² last year. The figure for 2024 shows 24% growth. For 2025, the consultancy firm expects another positive year, consolidating the trend.

It is worth noting that 46% of all contracts in the office segment were for spaces in the city centre (42.24%) and nearly 40% were in the 22@ district (27.27%) and the Plaça d’Europa–Fira District (12.49%), the new business areas.

The most noteworthy operation of the year was the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona (CZFB) acquisition of the Torre Tarragona building from Blackstone for €93 million. Also significant are the five assets acquired by Stoneshield in Esplugues for a total of €220 million, including the Bayer headquarters and the Imagina building, to create its biomedical campus in Catalonia.

Kion Group, a German multinational corporation that specialises in solutions to manage the flow of materials for intralogistics, has established its first digital hub outside of Germany at DFactory Barcelona. This space will be an extension of KION Industrial Trucks & Services (KION ITS), the most important division of the group.

By opening this new facility, the company is reinforcing its commitment to technological innovation, driving development of automation, connectivity and artificial intelligence technologies to offer innovative products and services for storage, machinery, vehicles and advanced software, with brands like Linde, Still, Baoli and Dematic.

Sources inside the company have said that DFactory provides a privileged location to launch and expand their projects, and that Barcelona stands out as the perfect place for technological ecosystems, thanks to its long commitment to innovation and ability to attract talent and companies.

DFactory, promoted by the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona (CZFB), is home to 35 companies developing projects in robotics, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, cybersecurity and other advanced technologies. It features 17,000 m² of facilities and fosters collaborative innovation.

Barcelona’s 22@ district closed 2024 with a total office leasing volume of 80,000 square metres, marking its second-best performance over the past five years. These figures, published by the real estate consultancy CBRE in its latest report, underline the recovery of the city’s technological district.

This recovery has been driven primarily by the strong performance of 22@ Glòries, while availability in 22@ Nord remains high despite a fourfold increase in leasing activity. CBRE’s report also notes that, across Barcelona, the office vacancy rate stands at 14.4%, with an average rent of €20.4 per square metre.

These results signal the district’s regained prominence in Barcelona after challenging years in terms of leasing activity. The rise of remote work due to COVID-19 and the sector’s downturn led to a significant drop just as 22@ had been breaking records in attracting companies, leasing office space and launching new developments.

Notably, most of the leasing activity occurred in 22@ Sud, the district’s largest area, with a stock of 798,000 m², representing 56% of the technological district’s total. Meanwhile, 22@ Glòries currently has a stock of 403,000 m² (28% of the total), and 22@ Nord accounts for 14% with a stock of 220,000 m².

Finally, CBRE highlights that, with Barcelona’s current office vacancy rate, the city’s absorption capacity stands at 4.6%, placing it as the fourth-ranked European city in this metric. It follows London (6.9%), Warsaw (6.3%) and Budapest (6.2%) and ranks ahead of Lisbon (4.5%), Dublin (4.2%) and Frankfurt (3.8%).

The Dutch multinational Qiagen plans to invest €13 million over the next five years in its new facilities in Esplugues de Llobregat. Currently based at the Barcelona Science Park, the company is set to relocate to its new operations centre at the former Braun factory. The centre, expected to be operational within two years, aims to nearly double its workforce, increasing from 230 to 400 professionals.

The new facility will span 8,000 square metres, housing laboratories, production lines, development spaces and offices. According to the company, it aims to position Esplugues and Catalonia as a global hub for research and innovation in infectious diseases, establishing itself as a leader in the health sector.

In 2018, Qiagen acquired the start-up Stat-Diagnostica, based at the Barcelona Science Park, for €154 million. In 2020, it purchased the Catalan company NeuMoDx Molecular, which had developed a PCR diagnostic test capable of detecting up to 23 respiratory pathogens within an hour. The Dutch multinational’s current turnover stands at €100 million, with a goal of doubling it to €200 million.

The real estate developer Conren Tramway acquired the Braun factory site in 2022 and undertook a comprehensive renovation of the space, preparing it primarily for activities like those of Qiagen. The British medical biotechnology company Smith+Nephew is already operating in the same complex.

Qiagen’s arrival at the complex is a strategic move, expected to attract more companies to the area and transform it into a biomedical activity hub, in synergy with the nearby Sant Joan de Déu Hospital and the upcoming Hospital Clínic, which is set to open at the end of Avinguda Diagonal.

Deeplabs, the life sciences investment platform of the real estate fund Stoneshield, has already invested €35 million – set to reach €70 million by 2026 – in its biomedical campus located on the premises of the BASID laboratories in Esplugues de Llobregat, Barcelona.

At the campus, Deeplabs has completed the rehabilitation of the first 4,000 square metres of the buildings it acquired in early 2024 for €220 million, aiming to create a scientific hub to meet the growing demand for facilities from pharmaceutical and science-related companies. Over the next three years, up to 11,600 square metres will be rehabilitated out of a total of 60,000 available across all the buildings.

The BASID complex is currently home to companies such as Bayer, Agfa Healthcare and Stockmeier, with an occupancy rate of 83%. Furthermore, Lainco, qGenomics, Koa Biotech and Poseidona are set to establish operations there soon.

Esplugues de Llobregat is becoming a scientific hub for the sector, hosting companies like Salvat, Galenicum, Aldo-Unión and Bayer itself. Qiagen has recently relocated to its new facilities at the former Braun factory, and the area is also home to the Sant Joan Despí and Sant Joan de Déu hospitals. Additionally, it will soon host the future Vithas Hospital and the new Hospital Clínic.

Pharmaceutical company Bayer has recently launched a new R&D division for health and agriculture at its shared services centre in Sant Joan Despí, Barcelona, adding 82 new professionals. This unit will serve the multinational’s various divisions by developing operations for clinical trials and managing safety and quality processes for medicines.

Bayer’s shared services centre in Sant Joan Despí, established in 2001, plays a key role in the company’s transformation and digitalisation efforts and serves as a global benchmark in implementing new operational models. The centre’s team comprises professionals from over 50 nationalities and undertakes internationally oriented projects, providing services to more than eleven countries across Europe and the Middle East.

With the launch of this new R&D division, the centre further strengthens its position as a hub of excellence within Bayer’s organisation. Since its opening, the centre has progressively incorporated new areas of development, specialising in the application of artificial intelligence to improve efficiency, traceability and agility in its processes.

According to the company, this milestone would not have been possible without collaboration with public and private institutions in the country and a favourable ecosystem for job creation and economic development. Over the past five years, the centre’s workforce has grown by 75%, increasing from 471 to 822 professionals with scientific expertise.

The Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) will host one of seven European AI factories aimed at fostering development within the business ecosystem. This infrastructure will provide powerful computational resources and R&D services to companies, start-ups, SMEs and scientists, accelerating the development of AI applications aligned with European values.

To support this initiative, the BSC will receive an investment of approximately €200 million to establish one of the first seven AI factories in Europe. This initiative will position the BSC as a hub for AI development, enabling both public and private sectors to drive high-impact R&D projects in science and technology.

The project is part of the European Union’s recent measures to establish Europe as a global leader in AI. In this context, the Barcelona AI Factory will integrate advanced technological resources, data and specialised talent to democratise access to AI resources for sectors with limited means and to foster innovation in areas such as biomedicine, climatology and chip design.

With an initial investment of €580 million from the European Commission for the EuroHPC JU high-performance supercomputing network, member states are called upon to contribute to these strategic projects. In Barcelona, the AI Factory will not only enhance the MareNostrum 5 supercomputer but will also attract European talent, promoting an experimental supercomputing infrastructure specifically designed for AI.

Level, the long-haul airline based in Barcelona and part of the IAG group, received its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) at the end of the year, placing it on equal footing with Vueling, British Airways and Iberia. This milestone allows Level to operate as an independent airline within the group, separate from Iberia.

With this move, the company aims to position Barcelona’s El Prat Airport alongside Madrid, London and Dublin – where other IAG airlines are based – and enable the airport to expand its long-haul offerings. These will build on existing routes to the United States, where Level has increased its capacity by 300,000 seats (a 9% rise), as well as to Argentina and Chile, which it already serves.

With the AOC, Level will operate as its own entity, allowing it to independently manage its own contracts and workforce. Moreover, the airline has already confirmed the addition of two new aircraft by 2026. Level is also considering the possibility of adding new long-haul markets from Barcelona in the future, including routes to Asia.

In this new phase, Level plans to hire additional staff, expanding its current workforce of 50 captains, 85 co-pilots and around 60 professionals based at its offices in Viladecans.

The Barcelona Observatory 2023, an initiative of the Barcelona City Council and the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, has certified that the city remains among the top cities in the world for professionals and entrepreneurs to live, work or establish a start-up.

According to the Observatory, which compiles data from various benchmark global reports, including Decoding Global Talent 2024, World’s Best Cities Report 2024 and Global Power City Index, among others, Barcelona is the eighth most attractive city in the world to work (ahead of Tokyo, Los Angeles and Paris) and tenth in the world for digital and tech professionals.

In this sense, the Barcelona Observatory 2023 shows that the Catalan capital has consolidated its place as one of the leading cities in tech, science and research.

Additionally, Barcelona is ranked eighth in the world and third in Europe for entrepreneurs, professionals and residents, is among the top 25 cities in global competitiveness and eleventh on the European ranking, ahead of Brussels, Geneva and Milan.

Finally, looking at foreign investment, Barcelona had the best strategy to attract foreign investment projects for the third year in a row, according to the FDi Cities and Regions of the Future 2024FDi Cities and Regions of the Future 2024 report, ahead of London and Berlin.

The Observatory has become a reference for measuring Barcelona’s competitiveness and its business, innovation and cultural fabric. The study aims to provide benchmarks for institutions and multinational corporations interested in doing business or setting up in Barcelona, and to attract talent and support bids to host events or open headquarters in the city.

Catalan exports rose 3.4% year-on-year in September, recovering from the 7.3% drop in August and marking the second highest figure for the month of September, according to data published recently by the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism. In total, Catalonia sold goods abroad valued at €8.0898 billion.

This increase was mainly due to the good results in the capital goods and chemicals sectors. On the other hand, however, the food and automotive sectors sold less abroad. In any case, from January to September, exports were still down 2.9% year-on-year, with €74.1829 billion. It should be noted that the automotive sector experienced a noteworthy drop in exports, down 16.1% to €1.0018 billion.

By sectors, chemicals (up 6.7% to €2.3692 billion) remained the biggest exporter. Overall, the sector with the most growth in sales abroad was capital goods, up 11.9% in exports for €1.3336 billion. The increase in sales abroad of energy products is also worth noting, with €413.8 million (+57.2%).

Looking at cumulative sales for 2024 between January and September, the sector with the most exports was also chemicals (€22.4876 billion), while food and beverages, up 2.4%, was ranked second with €11.3589 billion in exports.

The Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) will lead and coordinate the PIXEurope programme across the continent. This programme aims to boost creation of photonic chips and make Europe a global leader. The project, promoted by the European Commission, is endowed with €380 million and will bring unique technological capacities to the industry, creating European-owned technology in a sector that is extremely important for technological sovereignty.

In this regard, the global market for photonic chips (PIC) will grow more than 400% over the next 10 years and the global photonics market will hit more than €1.5 billion. This impressive growth is due to the incessant and growing demand for these devices for various applications in the telecommunications, artificial intelligence, automotive and mobility sectors, as well as medicine and healthcare, defence and security, plus a wide range of consumer goods.

The European Commission, which has selected this programme as its 5th pilot line, has chosen ICFO to coordinate it on a continental level, with a consortium that will include organisations from Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Leading this Photonics Chip Pilot Line will attract talent to Catalonia and boost business competitiveness.

ICFO is a research centre that belongs to the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), founded by the Government of Catalonia and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC). It is located at the Mediterranean Technology Park and currently has more than 500 people working in 26 research groups in 80 cutting-edge labs.

This year, Shining 3D, which specialises in research and development of high-precision 3D digitalisation technologies and 3D printing, focusing on three areas (metrology, professional 3D scanning and digital dental tools) has joined the DFactory Barcelonaglobal benchmark industry 4.0 ecosystem promoted by the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona (CZFB).

The multinational corporation, founded in 2004 and based in China, has consolidated its place as a key stakeholder in 3D digital technology, with global influence and a commitment to spreading the use of digitalisation technologies. The company has more than 1,000 professionals on staff around the world, with strategic headquarters in China, Germany and the United States, so far.

DFactory Barcelona continues working toward the goal of becoming the factory of the future, encouraging and developing industry 4.0, new talent and new technologies and investment, in an unparalleled location, with technologies such as 3D printing, robotics, cybersecurity, blockchain and artificial intelligence. Its facilities are roughly 17,000 m², home to nearly 30 companies, and it expects to add 72,000 m² more in the coming years to house 1,500 direct employees and 5,000 indirect ones.

The Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) will be part of a partnership with NEC Corporation, a Japanese multinational electronics and information technology corporation, and Openchip, a public-private engineering company based in the Catalan capital. Their goal is to develop a new vector computing accelerator for use in supercomputing data centres.

With this partnership, the BSC is taking another big step forward. Some months ago, the centre launched the MareNostrum 5 supercomputer, which is the largest investment Europe has ever made in a scientific facility in Spain, with a total cost of €202 million. The new vector computing processor will benefit from the Barcelona Supercomputing Center’s design experience and NEC Corporation’s leadership in supercomputing architectures.

Additionally, it is important to note the Barcelona Supercomputing Center’s role in developing artificial intelligence. Currently, the top supercomputing research centres are the ones using artificial intelligence to tackle problems that would otherwise be impossible to resolve.

The Barcelona Supercomputing Center-Centre Nacional de Supercomputació is a public consortium of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, Government of Catalonia and Polytechnic University of Catalonia. Founded in 2004, it now has more than a thousand employees and offers supercomputing facilities and services.

Galderma has established the offices for its Global Capacity Centre in the Colonial building on Avinguda Diagonal in Barcelona. The new facilities, with 1,500 square metres of space, will support business growth in its areas of activity, including research and development (R&D) and ICT, among others.

This space will also be used as a centre to attract and manage talent in the group globally, this Swiss multinational corporation’s only one in Europe. Roughly 150 people will work at the centre and Barcelona was chosen for the city’s ecosystem of start-ups, ability to attract highly educated local talent and quality of life.

Galderma has three lines of business: therapeutic dermatology, injectable aesthetics and dermatological skincare. The company has more than 6,500 professionals on staff, is present in 100 countries and has factories in Canada, Sweden, France and Brazil, where it produces more than 300 million product units each year.

The decision to establish this centre in Barcelona reinforces the city’s position as a hub for foreign companies in the life sciences sector, which is highly strategic and currently makes up 8% of the Catalan GDP.

Nearly 350 new multinational corporations have come to Catalonia in the past year, up 3.7%, for a new record of foreign companies established here: 9,602. These figures were published recently by ACCIÓ, the public agency for business competitiveness that has been working to attract foreign investment and help Catalan companies abroad for the past 40 years.

It is important to highlight, in this regard, that the number of new foreign companies arriving has increased 68% over the past ten years, and the figures show this growth has been steady and even accelerated in the past decade. These companies generate one in ten jobs in Catalonia, 30% of turnover and 47% of exports.

If we look at the turnover of these foreign companies by sector, the most noteworthy are automotive (17%), food and beverages (11%) and chemicals (9%). Nevertheless, by number of companies, technology makes up more than 20% of the total, as Barcelona is a hub that attracts many multinational corporations in this sector.

On the other hand, looking at country of origin, the largest share of subsidiaries established in Catalonia are from the United States (15%), followed by France (14%), Germany (12%), the United Kingdom (10%) and Italy (8%). In total, more than 90 countries are represented by companies established in the region. US and French companies have the strongest growth, 6% per year, although they are behind the notable growth of Canadian companies (12%).

The presentation of the Report highlighted that Catalonia, as a generator of talent, has traditionally been a country open to foreign investment that contributes to the people’s wellbeing by creating quality jobs, green energy and international connections, and they are spread throughout the territory. A good part of the projects identified for future investment are associated with the green and digital economies.

Real estate investment in Barcelona continues its progressive recovery and hit more than €1.5 billion for the months between January and September, which is 12% higher than the same period in 2023. These figures are from real estate consultancy CBRE.

By sectors, hotels secured €141 million in investment in the third quarter of this year for €426 million so far this year. This figure, however, is 21% less than the same period for 2023 and 12% under the average for the past 10 years. Nevertheless, Barcelona has consolidated its place as a preferred destination for hotel investment, with 25% of the national total.

Next we have the living sector, with a 25% share of the Catalan market and €377 million so far this year, up 29% from 2023. The consultancy attributes this to a boom in halls of residence for students, with €276 million, or more than double the amount in 2023. This sector continues dominating due to the lack of supply to meet growing demand.

Additionally, the office sector has consolidated its place with the third-highest investment, €357 million, up 44% from last year, while the retail sector saw €90 million, up from €76 million in 2023. Finally, the industrial and logistics sector posted €80 million, far below the €199 million invested in the same period the previous year.

Catalonia has 340 deep tech start-ups, 6% more than last year, according to a study carried out by the Catalan Government through the public agency for business competitiveness ACCIÓ. Deep tech companies have roots in science, technology or engineering and require STEM expertise to address global challenges.

In this regard, Catalan deep tech start-ups currently have 2,735 employees (up 17% from 2023) and turnover of €166 million (up 3%). Compared to the data from the first edition of the study published two years ago, the number of deep tech start-ups has grown roughly 17%, but their turnover is up 34% and number of employees, 58%.

According to the study, deep tech firms make up 16% of the Catalan start-up ecosystem. They mainly work in biotechnology (37%), artificial intelligence (28%), sustainable and frontier materials (11%), clean energy and batteries (6%) and robotics (6%). Other fields that stand out include photonics, blockchain, supercomputing, semiconductors and quantum physics.

Finally, the ACCIÓ study shows that Barcelona is the top hub in southern Europe in funding secured for deep tech start-ups, with €544 million between 2019 and 2024. In Europe as a whole, the Catalan capital is ranked ahead of Copenhagen, Madrid and Amsterdam, among others.

The Catalan GDP grew 0.9% in the third quarter of 2024, showing solid growth of 3.8% year-on-year. This is 0.4% higher than the Spanish economy as a whole for the same period (3.4%). This data is from the Statistical Institute of Catalonia (Idescat).

This growth in the GDP for the third quarter is due to positive results in all sectors, particularly services (4.4%) and industry (4.3%). Additionally, construction is up 2.9% and agriculture continues with its recovery that started earlier this year, up 14.4%.

Regarding the services sector, its growth has been thanks to the hospitality sector, followed by retail, computer services, legal services, transport services, motor-vehicle sales and insurance services. In terms of industry, growth is mainly from the pharmaceutical and food and beverages industries.

The Chinese company Coovally, which specialises in artificial intelligence (AI) services, has opened its new European headquarters in Barcelona. From here, the firm aims to expand business throughout Europe and into Latin America. The Coovally central headquarters was previously located in Vienna.

The company, founded in Shanghai in 2021, has a support platform for companies and individuals interested in adding artificial intelligence to their processes. Their services help accelerate implementation of projects that use AI and boost the company’s productivity in carrying them out, with solutions such as automated data management and internal processes.

Coovally explained they have chosen Barcelona for its great connections with other markets in the world, growing ecosystem of start-ups and large corporations, and capacity to generate and attract all sorts of talent.

The total traffic through the Port of Barcelona was more than 53 million tonnes from January through September, up 11.3%. Container traffic is noteworthy, with nearly three million TEU, up 21.4% from the same period last year.

In this regard, liquid bulk cargo continues to post good results, with 10.5 million tonnes, up 11.2%. Additionally, the number of ITU (intermodal transport units) has increased 2.6% for a total of 328,918 lorries and trailers. The number of new vehicles, 509.255 units, continues to decrease (-13.8%), reflecting the state of the European automotive market.

On the other hand, a total of 4,317,304 passengers travelled through the Port of Barcelona between January and September, up 4.2% from the same period last year. Ferries had 1.4 million passengers (1.1%) and cruise ships, 2.8 million (6%).

Port of Barcelona traffic with the main markets has increased for both imports and exports. It is important to remember that the port facility generates €4.213 billion in gross value added (GVA), which is 2% of the GVA of Catalonia and 0.4% of Spain.

Swedish non-profit organisation Norrsken is celebrating its first year in Barcelona with a community of 1,200 members. It has consolidated its place as a European technology and impact hub, connecting entrepreneurs with the resources, knowledge and networks they need, and driving businesses that help make this world a better place, according to sources inside the foundation.

Norrsken has emerged as an ecosystem that is already driving the growth of over 140 start-ups and 280 companies, which co-exist with roughly 20 venture capital firms and accelerators. In addition to welcoming 15,000 visitors and hosting 244 events, Norrsken House Barcelona has also become a catalyst for impact initiatives in its first year, raising over €30 million.

The Swedish foundation is now tackling new challenges in Barcelona, including building bridges with the main local entities, such as ACCIÓ and Barcelona Activa, as well as the ecosystems in other major European cities. Their goal is to attract new international investors to the Catalan capital and foster solutions in areas such as climate technology, healthcare, biotechnology and other emerging sectors.

The District, one of the most influential real estate events in Europe, brought together the main actors in the sector this week in Barcelona, with special emphasis on housing problems. The event, held at Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via venue, has served as a key meeting point for investors, promoters and public administrations, who have discussed the future of the real estate market and investment opportunities in a context of growing demand for affordable housing.

Among the most outstanding participations, Barcelona Catalonia and the Catalan Soil Institute (INCASÒL) have played a fundamental role. Barcelona Catalonia, the brand that brings together the Generalitat, Barcelona City Council and the Barcelona Metropolitan Area for the promotion of the territory as an investment destination, has highlighted the opportunities offered by the city in terms of housing and sustainable urban development. During their interventions, they have highlighted Barcelona’s potential as an attractive hub for investors looking for projects aligned with sustainability and innovation criteria.

INCASÒL, for its part, has presented several initiatives to promote the mobilization of public land with the aim of promoting the construction of affordable housing in Catalonia. With its intervention, the entity has highlighted the importance of public-private collaboration to respond to the growing demand for social housing, especially in densely populated urban areas such as Barcelona. According to INCASÒL managers, the promotion of these projects is already giving tangible results, with the creation of new affordable homes that respond to the needs of the population.

The representatives of Barcelona Catalonia and INCASÒL also stressed that collaboration between the private sector and administrations is key to the transformation of the territory. Sustainability, energy efficiency and social inclusion have positioned themselves as central factors in the new real estate projects promoted in the city and the metropolitan area.

The success of The District reaffirms the role of Barcelona as the European epicenter of real estate activity, and consolidates its position as a pioneering city in urban innovation and housing solutions. The event has attracted the eyes of international investors who see the city as a space conducive to the development of projects with high added value, paving the way for new investments that will help transform the Catalan urban landscape in the coming years.