Barcelona the Edge of Innovation
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Mobile World Congress
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Smart City
European Capital of Innovation 14
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Connectivity & Infrastructure
A Global Learning Hub
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t the beginning of spring every year, the vibrant Mediterranean city of Barcelona becomes the undisputed capital of the world’s mobile telecommunications industry, as host to the giant Mobile World Congress. With the MWC as a springboard, Barcelona is now pursuing ambitious plans to develop The content of this report was produced by:
into the Silicon Valley of Southern Europe, a city where entrepreneurs, researchers and multinationals come together to develop cutting-edge products and services for use around the world. Since the Mobile World Congress moved to Barcelona in 2006, the city has embraced the transformative potential of
digital communications on an unprecedented scale. In 2011, the organisers of the MWC appointed Barcelona as Mobile World Capital, positioning Barcelona as a global benchmark for new mobile technologies. Local authorities are at the forefront of the Smart City social revolution and Barcelona is leading the way in putting the
needs of residents at the centre of its investments in digital services. At the same time, the city is stepping up its support to start-ups and forging new links between the private sector and its world-class business schools, universities and research centres, ensuring a sustained flow of innovation from Barcelona to the world. In collaboration with:
02 2 Barcelona The Edge of Innovation
Mobile World Congress
Mobile World Congress leaves lasting legacy Barcelona has become the spiritual home of the mobile telecoms industry. As Mobile World Capital, the city is a showcase for new mobile technology services and a global hub for mobile and digital business Over 85,000 people visited the Mobile World Congress in 2014
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he economic renaissance of Barcelona can be traced back to the Olympic Games of 1992, which reshaped the city and put the capital of Catalonia back on the world map for both business and leisure. However, the main catalyst for the city’s current transformation has been the Mobile World Congress. Last year, the event brought around 85,000 visitors to Barcelona and in 2015 the Congress is celebrating its tenth edition in the city. “The Mobile World Congress has been a major creator of wealth for our country. It has enabled Barcelona to become not just a global showcase for digital innovation, but also an international hub for mobile
Barcelona is an open and cosmopolitan city that is full of creative people. We are on the frontline of innovation in Spain and Southern Europe.” Xavier Trias Major of Barcelona
telecoms,” says Artur Mas, the President of the Generalitat, the Government of Catalonia. “It has helped Barcelona develop a new industrial structure with advanced technological content.” “The Mobile World Congress and the Mobile World Capital have given us the opportunity to change the DNA of the city,”
Far Left: Mayor Xavier Trias, Centre Left: John Hoffman - Gsma, Far Right: President Artur Mas
says Agustín Cordón, the CEO of Fira de Barcelona, which puts on the massive event every year. “For us, it is not only about hosting the event – it is about taking the chance to build on Barcelona’s strengths and change who we are.” Even a casual visitor to Barcelona can hardly fail to notice the effects of this ambition; drivers receive real-time information on their phones on where to find a free parking space, based on information from smart sensors, while interactive bus shelters with touchscreens and USB ports provide passengers with real time bus information. The transport authority has launched an innovative app for residents and tourists that superimposes bus and metro information wherever a smartphone is pointed. In the heart of the city, the former industrial district of Poblenou is now the site of a thriving cluster of companies dedicated to technological innovation, the 22@ district. In addition to start-ups and research centres, the area is home to organisations such as Barcelona Activa, the city’s agency for economic growth,
PROJECT DIRECTION / EDITORIAL CONTENT: SIAN GODDARD Editing/writing: MARK BERESFORD ILLUSTRATIONS: VASAVA DESIGN: AGNES WANAT, ANTONIO CAPARRÓS Special thanks to Newsweek for their support of this feature
and the Barcelona Growth Centre, a high tech building that is the headquarters of the Mobile World Capital Foundation and the epicentre of Barcelona’s fastgrowing start-up scene. The city’s status as Mobile World Capital has turned it into a living lab for the integration of mobile technologies into everyday life. John Hoffman, CEO & Director of GSMA, the industry body behind the Mobile World Congress, says the organisation selected Barcelona to be the Mobile World Capital from a host of other candidate cities mainly because of local authorities’ strategic commitment to mobile innovation and entrepreneurship. “Mobile World Capital is working to embed the mechanics of mobility in society,” he says. “It’s going to have a profound impact on health, education, transport and government. The entrepreneurial society that Barcelona is building around mobility is also going to pay major dividends.” Barcelona’s investments in mobile technology and in digital innovation have brought it worldwide attention and the city has become a recognized global model for others to follow. “We want to point the way forward in using new digital technologies to benefit everyone who lives in a city,” Mayor Trias says.
“THINKING BIG MAKES US GROW”
Barcelona City Council appreciates the generous support of Dídac Lee.
Barcelona The Edge of Innovation
It doesn’t matter if it’s a start-up or a multinational, it doesn’t matter if they are small investments or large international ventures. In Barcelona, what matters are big ideas, people, opportunities... Everything has a place in one of the main European cities for international investment projects. That is why Barcelona makes you grow, makes you dream while keeping your feet on the ground, even further than the horizon.
BARCELONA, THE EUROPEAN CAPITAL OF INNOVATION.
A prize awarded by the European Commission in 2014.
04 4 Barcelona The Edge of Innovation
Mobile World Congress
The Mobile World Capital
The city is pioneering the use of mobile networks for new services
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ll three of Spain’s major telecoms operators – Telefónica, Vodafone and Orange – are members of the Mobile World Capital Foundation, where they are focused on developing new digital products and services for today’s hyper-connected society. The mission of Mobile World Capital is to expand the mobile experience and use mobile technologies as an opportunity to drive change. The Barcelonabased institution is focused on the three key areas of mHealth, mSchools and Smart Living. It also runs an Entrepreneurship and Innovation programme which brings together startups, investors, universities, research institutes, R&D labs and business associations. As part of this programme, the Mobile World Capital puts on Four Years from Now, a sister event to the Mobile World Congress which is aimed at start-ups and investors in the digital and mobile area. Four Years from Now is a chance for start-ups from the Mobile World Capital to show what they are doing and attract capital from funds and innovation programmes from other parts of the world,” says Agustín Cordón, who is the
Vice President of the Mobile World Capital. Francisco Román, President of Vodafone Spain, says that the company’s activities at Mobile World Capital reflect its “Mobile for Good” vision and its special interest in the social inclusion of the disabled. “We are working on projects to use mobile handsets to make cinema more accessible for the blind and to use Smart City technologies to better integrate the disabled,” he says. “Mobile technology should reach the most vulnerable parts of the population. It should never be exclusive.” In another initiative, in the city’s central Plaça Catalunya, Telefónica has teamed up with the Mobile World Capital to build the Mobile World Centre, a year-round showroom and exhibition centre that is designed to help ordinary people understand and experience the potential for mobile technologies to enrich everyday life. In less than a year, the Centre has received over one million visitors. Kim Faura, Telefónica’s General Director for Catalonia, says that the company’s investments in the Mobile World Capital programmes form part of its transformation strategy; evolving from a traditional,
Francisco Román President, Vodafone Spain
One cornerstone of our strategy has always been the fact that we own the best network.” utility-style telecoms company into a digital telco that operates at a higher level of the value chain. Telefónica has restructured to become a more consumer-facing organisation, appointing brand managers who are dedicated to developing products and services
for digital markets such as Health and Smart Cities. “Telefónica has been a pioneer in responding to today’s market disruption,” Faura says. “We are in a process of continual transformation.” At the same time, operators in Spain are investing heavily in fixed and mobile infrastructure to provide the ubiquitous high speed connectivity needed to enable these new business models. Last year, Vodafone acquired the country’s leading cable operator, Ono, for €7.2 billion, giving it access to eight million households across the country. In October, the company began providing LTE Advanced services in a number of major cities, including Barcelona, offering downstream rates of up to 300 Mbps. “We are accelerating the pace of our investments in Spain, especially in high-speed broadband for both mobile and fixed,” Vodafone’s Román says. “We were the first company in Spain to launch 3G and the first to launch 4G. Our competitors are more conservative, but we are obsessed with improving the user experience by increasing data transfer speeds.”
Barcelona has been awarded Mobile World Capital status until 2018
06 6 Barcelona The Edge of Innovation
Smart City
Smart City with a Soul Barcelona is the global showcase for a new type of Smart City, where investments in technology are driven by the needs of residents. The city is partnering with leading multinationals to develop innovative solutions to today’s urban challenges
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here can be few city districts in the world that seem less futuristic than the labyrinthine streets of Barcelona’s Barri Gòtic, or Gothic Quarter. But it is here in the Catalan capital that technologists and local authorities are working together on a new vision of urban living, a Smart City that puts people at its heart. “We don’t want to talk about how smart we are,” says
Antoni Vives, the Barcelona Deputy Mayor who is spearheading the plans. “There are many cities in the world that are filled with sensors and devices that add little value to the community. In Barcelona, we want to improve the services for our citizens and enhance their quality of life and wellbeing. That is the real aim of all our investment in new technologies.”
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The Smart City concept has come under fire from some quarters for its potential to dehumanize cities and turn them into over-controlled dystopias. In 2011, after a series of meetings between the City Council and CEO John Chambers, Cisco Systems began working in a long term partnership with Barcelona, one of the world’s most glamorous and historic cities, to show that it doesn’t
Antoni Vives Deputy Mayor, Barcelona
We are carrying out a real quantum leap in Barcelona.” need to be that way and that Smart City technologies can help improve the quality of life for urban communities and make city living a joy again. “Cisco and Barcelona share a common vision of Smart Cities,” José Manuel Petisco, Cisco’s Managing Director for Spain says. “John Chambers realized early on Barcelona’s capacity to innovate, to attract investments and to become a worldwide reference model. We have created an iconic Smart City model in Barcelona. Barcelona is very important for us at a global level. Authorities from other cities all over the world want to know what Barcelona is doing.” The partnership between Cisco and Barcelona aims to deliver innovative services powered by Internet connectivity in areas such as education, health, transportation, energy management and energy efficiency. The first initiatives have
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focused on new technologies to enhance some of the most prosaic city services, such as parking and waste collection. For example, an estimated 40% of traffic in city centres is caused by drivers looking for a place to park. In Barcelona, Cisco has embedded sensors in parking spaces to reduce this problem. Residents can download a free map application on their smartphone to find an available space, tap to reserve the space until they arrive, and pay the fee using the application. They can also use the application to renew the parking space if they need, without having to rush back to the car to top up a meter. It’s not only car drivers who stand to benefit from these Smart City initiatives. At bus stops, Cisco has installed touchscreen monitors with WiFi which provide up-to-date schedules, maps, locations for borrowing city bicycles, and information
José Manuel Petisco, Managing Director, CISCO Spain
We are learning from Barcelona citizens how best to use and develop technology.” about local businesses and entertainment. Furthermore, the city authorities and the bus company can analyse information collected from these stops to improve bus schedules. “All these new sensors also provide information about what’s happening in the city,” Petisco says. “We can use this data to make city services much more efficient.”
Barcelona The Edge of Innovation
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08 Barcelona The Edge of Innovation
Smart City
New initiatives in lighting and electric mobility
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new initiative by the City Council has been to install wireless sensors on litter containers which inform the waste management company when they need emptying, making collection more efficient and cost effective, as well as reducing pollution and carbon emissions from trucks. One of the important steps that Barcelona has taken is in the area of public lighting. Working with the Council, Philips is installing thousands of smart LED lights in Barcelona’s streets and squares which can be managed remotely, turned on and off automatically, or decrease and increase their intensity when their sensors detect activity. In the city’s central Avinguda del Paral·lel, the heart of Barcelona’s theatre and cabaret district, the company is deploying stateof-the-art smart LED systems which, in addition to separate lighting for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians, provide ornamental lighting of varying colours and intensity for special occasions. Juan Sanabria, President and CEO of Philips Iberia, says that
as well as delivering savings of over 60% on energy costs, the smart LED systems being deployed in Barcelona will improve the quality of lighting, enhance the city’s brand and support its economic growth. “LED technologies can improve the safety of the streets and
Marco Toro, Managing Director, Nissan Iberia
We are investing more than €100 million to produce the e-NV200 electric vehicle in Barcelona.” increase the number of visitors and people who stay for the night,” he argues. “Barcelona is a showcase for us. We now want to replicate the sophisticated projects we are carrying out here and customize them for other cities around the world.” As well as developing smart
The first electric taxis from Nissan are now in operation in Barcelona
Technology is enabling new services for Barcelona residents and tourists
lighting systems, Philips is also focused on using technology to develop new healthcare services that have the potential to improve the quality of life in Barcelona and even to save lives; the company has installed defibrillators in a number of Barcelona metro stations and in popular city markets. Another core part of Barcelona’s Smart City strategy is to provide the infrastructure needed for electric vehicles. In this area, a key partner to the city is Nissan, the Japanese car manufacturer which produces five different vehicle types in Barcelona, including its e-NV 200 electric van. Last year, Nissan adapted the e-NV 200 as a taxi and sold its first models to Barcelona taxi drivers, who are now benefiting from the lower fuel and maintenance costs and more comfortable driving experience provided by electric vehicles. As part of its efforts to grow demand for the e-NV 200, Nissan has signed an MoU with the City Council. Nissan is helping pay for the charging infrastructure needed and the local authorities are establishing exclusive zones and parking spaces for electric taxis and providing additional subsidies for buyers. “It is a completely integrated initiative,” Marco Toro,
Managing Director of Nissan Iberia says. “Nissan is investing in production and infrastructure for electric mobility while for its part the local Government is providing the institutional support needed for electric vehicles. The Government understands that electric mobility will have a massive impact on pollution levels, and so they are providing very attractive tax discounts and benefits for users of electric vehicles such as the e-NV200 taxis.” Barcelona’s approach to the Smart City has earned it global recognition, including being awarded the European Capital of Innovation prize from the European Commission last year, for introducing the use of new technologies to bring the city closer to citizens. City authorities are travelling the world to share their blueprint for the future, and have struck agreements with cities from Rio de Janeiro to Hong Kong to promote Barcelona’s City Protocol for urban transformation. “Every city is different, but they all share a similar metabolism,” Antoni Vives says. “We want to help authorities around the world use the Barcelona model and the Barcelona parameters to reproduce and customize what we are doing here in other major cities.”
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10 European Capital of Innovation
Barcelona The Edge of Innovation
European Capital of Innovation Leading multinationals are investing in R&D in Barcelona, building on the city’s celebrated heritage of design and creativity and contributing to an ecosystem of open innovation
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s well as encouraging start-ups and entrepreneurs in the mobile and digital sectors, Barcelona is attracting significant foreign investment in R&D from major multinationals, in sectors ranging from information technology to car manufacturers. “Catalonia has always been very open to financial, commercial and cultural exchange,” Felip Puig i Godes, Catalonia’s Minister of Business says. “One of the reasons behind the success of the Catalan economy is that for lack of major natural resources we have always had to be creative, efficient and open to new technologies and innovation.”
The iconic Media-TIC building is the nerve centre of Barcelona’s digital economy
“Being the Mobile World Capital is helping us to attract ICT companies to set up their European headquarters and their innovation and research centres in Barcelona, and it ensures we get a lasting industrial legacy from the Mobile World Congress,” adds Sònia Recasens, Barcelona’s Second Deputy Mayor. In 2014, Cisco Systems began investing €26 million in a global innovation centre for the Internet of Everything in Barcelona’s 22@ district. Cisco said its decision to open the centre in Barcelona reflects the city’s commitment to innovation, as well the strength of its technological, academic
and research community. The Centre is set to open in the summer of 2016, cementing Barcelona’s role in delivering and disseminating Smart City solutions. Energy management company Schneider Electric is investing in its first Centre of Excellence for city solutions and in this same building will share ideas and innovations with Cisco. “The Internet of Things and the Internet of Everything do not just depend on the work of big companies,” Chris White, Cisco’s Senior Vice President of the Internet of Everything says. “They depend on mobilizing innovation and creativity from
start-ups and educational institutions, and on cities sharing their experiences and collaborating. Barcelona is now recognized as the city that is leading this initiative.” Cisco estimates that globally the Internet of Everything will be a €17 trillion market. At its innovation centre in Barcelona, the technology company will be working with its partners to translate that massive headline number into real world services on the ground. Chris White says “In Barcelona we are working very pragmatically to break down our global forecast into services that provide tangible benefits to city communities”.
banking activities of La Caixa are now grouped into the listed entity CaixaBank, which uses the brand of La Caixa and the iconic logo created for it by Catalan artist Joan Miró in 1980. Antoni Massanell, CaixaBank’s Deputy Chairman, says that the bank’s investments in multi-channel technology have helped it establish closer ties with its customers. “Having a presence on a customer’s mobile phone is a means of establishing an emotional link with that person. Furthermore, by offering them a range of banking channels to use, we are able to free up
our branches to provide more efficient and personalised services to customers.” CaixaBank has an imposing share of 32.5% of the Spanish Internet banking market, the second highest market share in online banking for any bank worldwide, and it has more mobile customers than any other bank in Spain. The institution was the world’s first bank to launch a proprietary app store, and the first to fit its cashpoints with contactless readers, allowing customers to withdraw cash without having to insert their card.
Banking on technology
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ince its establishment in 1904, La Caixa has been defined by its commitment to the development of the Catalan economy and to the welfare of the Catalan people. In recent years, the institution
has put technology and innovation at the heart of its strategy for growing its market share and providing Catalonia with stateof-the-art financial services. Following a restructuring that was completed in 2014, the
Barcelona taxis accept contactless payments thanks to La Caixa
12 European Capital of Innovation
Barcelona The Edge of Innovation
City of style inspires investment
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n Barcelona, Cisco and Schneider are joining other technology leaders who have invested in R&D centres in the city. Last year, HP chose the region as the location for its global 3D printing centre. Barcelona is already home to the company’s graphic arts business,
Jürgen Stackmann Chairman, SEAT
Barcelona is an inspiration for our work as we move from low cost to high emotional value.” and HP chose the city for its annual HP Discover conference in 2013 and 2014. Meanwhile, authorities are also in talks with Chinese giants Huawei and Lenovo about potential investments in the city. In addition to these newer industries, Barcelona continues to be a powerhouse in the European automotive industry. Nissan plans to invest €300 million and hire an additional 1,000 employees for production of the e-NV 200 electric vehicle, a new pick-up, and the Pulsar at its plant near the Port. Nissan’s Marco Toro describes the Pulsar as “our most Spanish vehicle yet,” as the car was also largely designed and engineered in Barcelona. Meanwhile, SEAT, which is Spain’s single largest investor in R&D, employs around 900 engineers on research,
development and design at its headquarters in the Catalan town of Martorell. Investments in new design and technologies have been key to the repositioning and internationalisation of the SEAT brand, led by the successful launch of the new León in 2012. Once known for producing affordable, smaller cars such as the Ibiza, SEAT is now investing heavily in evolving to larger vehicles that compete less on cost and more on performance and brand value. As part of this shift, the Martorell plant will start producing SEAT’s first compact SUV in 2016. “For the first time in our history we are selling more Leóns than Ibizas, which is a massive change for a company that has been built on small cars,” says Jürgen Stackmann, the Chairman of SEAT, owned by Volkswagen. “We are making huge progress in key European countries, with double digit growth in a market that is basically flat.” SEAT invests a total of around 500 million euros annually. As well as adding to its portfolio of cars to support the exciting change in its brand profile, the manufacturer is investing in modernizing its plant. The Martorell site is home to the largest solar power plant in the global automotive industry; SEAT has spent 35 million euros installing 53,000 solar panels which generate 15 million kWh annually, or 25% of the energy required each year to manufacture the León. The plant also uses train lines
SEAT is the largest industrial investor in R&D in Spain
to transport vehicles directly to the Port of Barcelona and to receive components from the Zona Franca, reducing carbon emissions from truck trips. Stackmann says that the company is taking inspiration from the city of Barcelona and its celebrated culture of design, spontaneity and good living, as it looks to add more emotional value and power to the brand for this next stage in its history. “SEAT”, he says, “Combines the best of German precision engineering and perfectionism with the creativity and innovation that characterises its home town. We believe that Barcelona is a city of engineered beauty, it is an international symbol of elegance, creativity and style, but this is not a coincidence - a lot of thinking and engineering has gone into it. In the same way, we see our designers here as engineers of beauty, so as well as SEAT being a part of the city of Barcelona, Barcelona is also an important part of SEAT.” For the Government of Catalonia, it is a strategic priority to attract investments from multinationals in research and development. At the same time, it has launched new
programmes to enable the transfer of knowledge from Catalonia’s educational institutions and research centres to the market. To support both multinationals and local startups, it is also investing heavily in education at all levels to
Felip Puig i Godes, Minister of Business and Labour, Catalonia
Catalonia has always had a very open and diversified economy and the outlook for foreign investment is positive.” ensure that Catalonia has the dynamic and entrepreneurial workforce it will need in this new stage of its history. “Our most important asset is our people and our main goal is to invest in education,” the Catalan President Artur Mas says. “Our vision is for Catalonia to be a leading driver of the economy of southern Europe, a strategic hub thanks to a knowledge economy that prioritizes research and innovation.”
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14 Connectivity & Infrastructure
Building networks for growth Investments in transport and telecoms infrastructure are helping Barcelona capitalise on its strategic location, providing local businesses with the connectivity they need to develop new relationships and new services for today’s global economy
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s Barcelona transforms for the knowledge economy, it is building above all on the strengths of its soft assets; its global brand, the creativity of its people, its business schools and research centres and its status as Mobile World Capital. However, the city also enjoys a series of competitive advantages in physical infrastructure, transport and logistics. Foremost among these hard assets is Barcelona’s Port, which is
The Zona Franca Industrial Estate has been a key factor in Barcelona’s economic strength
playing a leading role in the rapid growth of Catalonia’s industrial base. In recent years, the Port of Barcelona has benefited from major investments that have increased its capacity and efficiency - notably a €300 million investment from Hutchison Port Holdings in a new, semi-automated container terminal. In 2014, Hutchison started work on a €150 million expansion of this terminal. Sixte Cambra, the President
of the Port of Barcelona, says that the Port is now focused on investing in improving road and rail access, to reduce the time and costs of transporting goods in and out. These investments will help position Barcelona to grab an ever greater slice of Asia-Europe container traffic. It is at least three days quicker to ship a container from China to Barcelona than to Antwerp or Rotterdam. These new international rail connections are
positioning the Port of Barcelona as a gateway to the rest of Europe. “We want to enable the Mediterranean as an entry point for commercial traffic to the entire European market,” Cambra says, “improvements in rail connections will be essential.” The key project will be the construction of a Mediterranean Railway Corridor that will provide a freight connection from Barcelona to Marseille, Lyon and beyond.
15 Barcelona The Edge of Innovation
New air and telecoms connections
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n recent years Barcelona’s airport, El Prat, has become a major air hub for southern Europe. That status is largely the result of the rapid growth of Vueling, the low cost airline which takes around 22 million passengers a year in and out of Barcelona and flies direct to over 120 destinations from El Prat. As befitting a Barcelonabased company, Vueling is investing significantly in technology to differentiate the airline in a growing market. “Most of our IT budget is going to mobile,” Alex Cruz,
the company’s CEO says. “We want to use mobile to find new ways of solving the potential problems of our customers and improve the travel experience.” Increasingly, the connectivity needed to provide these value-added experiences is being provided not by the telecoms operators themselves, but by specialist companies which run the mobile tower networks. One of the largest of these companies in the world is Abertis Telecom, which is headquartered in Barcelona and operates over 4400 telecoms towers. In
addition to its mobile assets, the company has a ten-year contract to manage Barcelona’s fast growing public WiFi network, which forms one of the foundations of the city’s Smart City innovations. It is Abertis Telecom that provides the connectivity needed for city
services such as Smart Parking in the district of Les Corts. “We have long-term relationships with the telecoms operators and with public administration,” Tobías Martinez, the General Director of Abertis Telecom says. “We are an enabler who can accelerate the deployment of new infrastructure to the market, speeding up the rollout of innovative new services for users.” Last year, Abertis Telecom took its first steps outside Spain, acquiring over 200 mobile telecoms towers in Italy. It is now preparing to carry out an IPO to raise funds for further international expansion, which will bring the company’s financial resources and technical knowhow to new markets across Europe.
centre of Barcelona’s digital economy. Other tenants at the site include university research centres and economic development agencies such as Barcelona Activa and Barcelona Digital. Meanwhile, in the giant industrial estate between the airport and port, El Consorci
is attracting increasing interest from manufacturers and logistics operators who want to use Barcelona as the gateway to southern Europe. El Consorci has cut the costs of leases in the free zone by 30% and is investing 24.3 million euros in modernising facilities.
Sixte Cambra President, Port of Barcelona
The Port of Barcelona has doubled in size in the last 10 years and is as competitive as any port in Northern Europe.”
Prime Barcelona real estate
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or nearly one hundred years, Barcelona’s free zone has been at the centre of the city’s economic development. El Consorci de La Zona Franca, the Free Zone Consortium, is now spearheading Barcelona’s drive to attract investors in high technology industries.
In downtown Barcelona, El Consorci has leased floors in an iconic property in the 22@ District to the Mobile World Capital Foundation. The cutting-edge Media-TIC building was named Building of the Year 2011 by the World Architecture Festival and has emerged as the nerve
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16 A Global Learning Hub
A Global Learning Hub Barcelona is a recognised international leader in education. Students and researchers come to study at its business schools, universities and research institutes from around the world, bringing new ideas and creating opportunities for change
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n business education, as in football, Barcelona has pride of place in the European Champions League. Uniquely for a city that is not a national capital, Barcelona is home to three institutions in the top 25 Teresa Garcia-Milà places of the 2014 European Director, Barcelona GSE Business School ranking produced by the Financial Times. The future In the 2015 Global MBA ranking depends on connecting to published by the FT in January, the frontier of knowledge IESE is the city’s outperformer; and translating that into the business school was in innovation and products.” newsweek.pdf 1 17/12/14 11:57
BARCELONA FREE ZONE A GATEWAY TO THE ENTIRE WORLD
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seventh place worldwide and was the third highest ranked institution in Europe. Academics and politicians attribute Catalonia’s leadership in global business education to the region’s historic openness to outside influence and trade, to the unbeatable appeal of Barcelona as a place to live and study, and to concerted efforts to support research, innovation and knowledge transfer. The city’s institutions produce the fourth highest
quantity of scientific literature in Europe, and are among the leading recipients of European research funds, accounting for double the EU average on a per capita basis. Links between business schools, universities and the private sector are increasing, forming a world-class community of knowledge workers from around the world, with Barcelona’s business schools at the centre of a fast developing culture of invention.
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17 Barcelona The Edge of Innovation
Specialists in globalization and creativity
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here has been a very obvious cluster effect, and as a result, Barcelona is now a major hub for business education,” Andreu Mas-Colell, a prominent economist who is Catalonia’s current Minister of Economy and Knowledge, says. “Historically, Catalonia has two business schools that are always among the world leaders, but they are not alone. There are now four or five other schools which have those two as their standard of excellence.” Minister Andreu Mas-Colell played an instrumental part in establishing one of these new schools, the Barcelona
Andreu Mas-Colell, Minister of Economy and Knowledge, Catalonia
We have an environment for research and world-class research infrastructure that is attracting a many talented people to Catalonia.” Graduate School of Economics, where he was appointed the first Chairman in 2006. The GSE was founded by four of the city’s public research institutions, with financial support from the private sector, and is now home to 160 full time researchers. Many of these researchers are at the forefront of the European
economic research community; the Barcelona GSE has been awarded a total of 17 grants from the European Research Council. The institution does not see itself as competing with existing business schools in Barcelona, but as providing a complementary service for a more specialist set of skills. “Our programmes do not focus so much on managerial and strategic skills as on advanced economics, analytics and data science,” GSE Director Teresa Garcia- Milà says. “They are more for people who end up working in think tanks, economics consulting firms, central banks, the World Bank, the IMF and other international institutions. The Barcelona GSE provides complementary education in economics and analysis to the business education from schools such as IESE and ESADE.” Common to the Barcelona GSE and business schools such as IESE is a focus on globalization and innovative thinking that differentiates them from their competitors elsewhere in Europe and in the US. While business students interested in a career in finance may gravitate to one of the world’s financial centres, students at IESE and other business schools in Barcelona tend to be more creative, with professional interests ranging from software programming to technology to venture capital. The institutions also tend to have higher proportions of international students than business schools in the US.
18 Barcelona The Edge of Innovation
A Global Learning Hub
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n IESE’s full time MBA profirst university in the world to gramme, 56 countries are be completely online, enabling We are using represented and 80% of students technology to personalize students to develop their careers come from outside Spain. Xavier our educational offering with Bachelor’s or Master’s deVives, Professor of Economics and to adapt it to the grees later in life and while workand Finance at IESE, says that the changing needs of today’s ing. Around 55,000 people are quality of life in Barcelona serves students.” currently studying at the UOC. as a magnet that attracts students Research into the social implicDr. Josep Planell, President, from all quarters. The programme ations of frontier technology is a Universitat Oberta de Catalunya UOC appeals in particular to people major priority for the university; looking to develop truly global the UOC is home to the Internet management skills and immerse and customized programmes; Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3), themselves in a multicultural en- participants choose from the which specialises in research vironment. Pankaj Ghemawat, a most relevant research sessions into the network society and the well known global strategist who held in parallel each morn- knowledge economy, and the was the youngest full professor in ing, and one specific area from eLearn Center (eLC) for research, the history of Harvard Business School, moved to IESE in 2006 because of the opportunities it affords for researching globalization. As Professor of Strategic Management, he now teaches the world’s first mandatory MBA course on globalization. As well as this focus on globXavier Trias Major of Barcelona alization, IESE is continuously innovating in its delivery of themed tracks that run through innovation and training in education for executives in a the entire week. While students e-learning. Reflecting this focus, fast moving international busi- can sign up individually for Fast some of the UOC’s most popular ness environment. The business Forward, many leading multina- programmes are in subjects such school has launched a pioneer- tional companies have also sent as innovation, e-learning and the ing, multidisciplinary five-day entire management teams to par- knowledge society. course, Fast Forward, specifically ticipate in the course. As more traditional univerdesigned for international execThe region of Catalonia has sities migrate online, Dr. Josep utives who want to explore the also played a pioneering role Planell, President of the UOC’s, long-term impacts of global so- in university education and says the institution plans to furcial and economic trends on their lifelong learning. Twenty years ther globalize its activities, and to businesses.aaff_uoc_newsweek_buki_175x60.pdf The intensive course ago, the Universitat 1 12/16/14Oberta 11:43deAM continue to partner with research blends elements of both open Catalunya (UOC) became the institutes, the private sector and
“Barcelona is showing cities how to use new technologies to enable people to live better and enjoy life more than ever before.”
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international universities to deliver lifelong learning in new advanced technology niches. “The need to train people in Key Enabling Technologies both at the vocational and the higher education levels will be enormous in the near future,” Planell says. “We have the expertise and the platform to offer this lifelong learning opportunity.” Strengthening ties between private institutions and the public sector is key to developing the region’s educational offering and to driving economic change. Xavier Vives at IESE says that the economic future of Catalonia will partly depend on maintaining close relations between the private, public and academic sectors, who are working in partnership to support innovation and improve the city’s competitiveness and productivity. Barcelona’s business schools, universities and research centres are playing a critical part in enabling the city’s current economic and social transformation. As well as serving as high tech factories of innovation and new ideas, they are attracting talented and creative knowledge workers from around the world, ensuring that the dynamic and inspirational city of Barcelona continues to look to the future with confidence and optimism.
Come for a walk in my garden
20 Q&A’s
Q &A Mobile communications Business schools Digital enterprises Public and private sectors New trade
21 Barcelona The Edge of Innovation
Leading the mobile communications revolution MR. Eugenio Galdón President, Everis Foundation Founder, ONO
Entrepreneurship has become a real alternative, but there needs to be more nonbanking institutions with capital to invest.” Q. Both ONO and Everis were recently acquired by global telecom giants—Vodafone and NTT Data. Do you think this is a vote of confidence in the Spanish ITC sector? Definitely. Vodafone was the best destination for ONO from a strategic perspective. It is the perfect fit for both companies. At the same time, Everis was the ideal platform for NTT Data to expand abroad. The two transactions have showcased the attractions of the Spanish sector to global investors.
Q. As a Spanish telecom entrepreneur, how easy have you found it to launch businesses? When I launched ONO around 20 years ago, entrepreneurship was looked down on in Spain. Today, being an entrepreneur has become a real alternative for many people. However, Spanish businesses are still funded mainly by banks and this is limiting the growth of start-ups. There needs to be more non-banking institutions with capital to invest. Q. How does the Everis Foundation support entrepreneurs? In 2014, there were 650 candidates for the Everis Entrepreneur Awards, with a top prize of 60,000 euros. However, what people value the most is not the money, it’s the free consultancy we give to the best candidates, such as helping them to register patents, design marketing plans and present their businesses to financiers and venture capitalists.
MR. Jean Marc Vignolles CEO, Orange Spain
We are currently investing over 200 million euros in developing our very fast broadband networks (4G and fibre) in Catalonia.”
How important is Catalonia to Orange Spain? Today, Orange Spain has two important entities located in Barcelona, with responsibilities that go beyond the city and Catalonia. Orange is responsible for the operations of all our Enterprise clients in Spain. Also, one of Orange Group’s 17 worldwide R&D centres called the “Orange Labs” is located in
MR. John Hoffman CEO and Director, GSM Association
Q. How do you think the Mobile World Congress has benefitted from being in Barcelona? When we moved here from Cannes we came for many reasons, including the facilities available and the support of the Government and the business community. It is a monumental effort to put on the Congress because of all the city services required. We have a great relationship here with the Government. When we started, there were about 40,000 people, and now we are hitting 85,000 to 90,000 from all over the world, many of whom are very senior executives. In 2012, after looking at over 100 cities in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, we renewed the contract with Barcelona through to 2018. Q. How do you feel that the Mobile World Congress has helped Barcelona as a city? There are several levels of
the 22@ district in Barcelona. This Orange Lab is the M2M skill centre for the whole Orange Group. How quickly are you rolling out broadband in Catalonia? We are currently investing over 200 million euros in developing our very fast broadband networks (4G and fibre). In Catalonia, Orange´s 4G network covers more than 70 municipalities, including all cities over 25,000 inhabitants. In addition, we have recently
It is a monumental effort to put on the Mobile World Congress because of all the city services required.” benefit. One is the spotlight that gets shown on Barcelona during a World Congress. You cannot pay for that kind of global publicity. Barcelona also benefits economically. Last year the total spending in Barcelona from the Congress was 397 million euros. Since we have been here, there has been a total economic impact of 2.5 billion euros. Because of the number of senior executives who come here, Barcelona has also been able to develop major partnerships around Smart Cities and other activities.
launched 4G+ in some areas of Barcelona. How are you developing digital health solutions here? Catalonia is one of the most innovative regions in the field of digital health. This is why we decided to test our mobile identity solution here, “Mobile Connect”, which provides access to confidential medical information with the highest standards of security, privacy and reliability. The trial starts in March.
22 Q&A’s
Business schools build on global appeal MR. Pankaj Ghemawat Professor of Global Strategy, IESE Business School
Q. Why did you choose to move to IESE from Harvard? I had already spent nearly three decades studying and then teaching at Harvard, so it seemed time for a change. IESE in Barcelona, where I had spent my two sabbaticals while at Harvard, was the obvious choice both because of the city itself and because of IESE. Like other leading business schools in Europe, IESE is much more internationalized than US business schools: only 21% of the students in its entering class are from Spain, which makes for a high degree of interest in globalization—one of my focal areas.
MR. Xavier Vives Professor of Economics and Finance, IESE Business School
The quality of life here is very high and this is attracting more people from abroad to study in the city.”
Barcelona excels in cultural connectivity, underpinned by local attractions and a wonderful climate. This draws a large international community.”
Q. What is ESADE doing to support entrepreneurship in Catalonia? The way we teach things has to be different if we want to teach people to take risks and try to commercialize their ideas. We’re trying to re-engineer the way we teach entrepreneurship into much more of a hands-on MR. Jonathan Wareham Dean of Faculty and Research, ESADE Business School
Q. As a specialist in globalization, what do you think are Barcelona’s major strengths? Barcelona excels in cultural connectivity, underpinned by local attractions and a wonderful climate. This draws a large international community.”
Q. In which economic sectors is Barcelona most competitive? Advanced education is one area. There are several institutions that are internationally competitive in this sector, including IESE. Barcelona could become an international hub for business education services. The quality of life here is very high and this is attracting more people from abroad to study in the city. Q. How important is innovation to the economic future of Catalonia? It is crucial. We have to invest in innovation in order to improve productivity. In the medium term, Catalonia will not be able to compete on cost with other low cost competitors around
activity. We offer our students a wide selection in the field of en trepreneurship and we have set up our own incubator for startups, Creapolis. Q. How can entrepreneurs contribute to shaping the future of Catalonia? At ESADE we firmly believe that entrepreneurship can be a vehicle for increasing the social prosperity of a region such as Catalonia. The creation of enterprise is not just about setting up a business and reaping the rewards. It’s also about creating value for society at large.
We firmly believe that entrepreneurship can be a vehicle for increasing the social prosperity of Catalonia.”
the world. But by investing in innovation, Catalan companies will be able to offer higher quality products and services, rather than competing on cost alone. Q. What role do you think the mobile telecoms industry can play? Barcelona should not just be a city where the mobile industry gathers once a year to congratulate itself. Barcelona needs to be a place where a lot of innovation takes place and where small companies can start operating. As well as hosting the Mobile World Congress, Barcelona is working hard on becoming a more attractive and welcoming city for ICT companies to set up and do business.
Barcelona has the potential to be one of the most dynamic cities in Europe for innovation, culture and business.” Q. How do you expect Barcelona’s position in the European economy to evolve? It is important to understand that cities and metropolitan areas now matter more than countries. Investment decisions and economics are being driven more by metropolitan areas than by countries. Barcelona is already a major player, particularly in the Mediterranean region and Southern Europe. It has the potential to be one of the most dynamic cities in Europe for innovation, culture and business.
23 Barcelona The Edge of Innovation
Digital enterprises show the way forward MR. Miquel MartÍ CEO, Ecommerce & Tech Barcelona
entrepreneurs and to leave all their fears behind. People started taking more risks. We have success cases and role models to follow; not just international role models but local companies as There are digital companies here with proven well. People in Barcelona realized that they could be successful enbusiness models who can trepreneurs and start businesses help other companies go here, so they did just that. digital and go mobile.” Q. How has the e-commerce and tech cluster grown since you launched in 2013? Our association was launched in March 2013 by the City Council. We are the umbrella organisation for all the relevant companies, universities, venture capitalists and multi-nationals based in Barcelona, and other companies from the offline world who want to come online. We now have a total of more than 170 members. Q. Why do you think Barcelona is becoming a more entrepreneurial city? In part, it is a consequence of the crisis and this encouraged people to become
Q. What are Barcelona’s competitive advantages in the digital economy? Several things: the lifestyle, competitive universities, government agencies that support entrepreneurs, and international initiatives such as the Mobile World Capital and the Mobile World Congress. We also have very good technical universities and highly ranked business schools. The main advantage is that we have success stories in both international and local businesses. There are digital companies here with proven business models who can help other companies go digital and go mobile.
MS. SÒNIA RECASENS Deputy Mayor of Barcelona
Q. How satisfied are you by the growth of the 22@ district? The 22@ was an old industrial area when we decided to create the project. Our aim was to bring new, clean industries with high added value to the 22@ district, such as ICT. At first, Our aim was to bring new, clean industries the low property prices and with high added value to the rents were the main incentive 22@ district, such as ICT. “ for companies to set up shop.
Q. How easy has it been for you to grow an e-commerce business in Barcelona? There has always been a more entrepreneurial culture in Catalonia than in the rest of Spain, in music, advertising, arts, architecture and urbanism. In the last 10 years a number of companies have been successful in Barcelona in the e-commerce and digital media sectors. The costs are very competitive and the communications networks in the city are excellent. Barcelona is also a very attractive city for foreigners, so it is easy to recruit talented people from other markets to come and work here. There are around 20 nationalities working at Privalia in Barcelona. Barcelona is positioning itself as a new
Barcelona is positioning itself as a new hub for attracting talent and developing companies in the digital economy.” hub for attracting talent and developing companies in the digital economy. Q. How have you raised funds for your growth? La Caixa, via its venture capital arm Caixa Capital Risc, was a critical partner in the early days when it was very hard to find funding for e-commerce. They have done a good job in Catalonia by having a mission to help local entrepreneurs. Now that Privalia is selffinancing. I would like to bring the company to a second phase of growth and expansion, either by remaining as a private company and raising more capital from private equity funds, or by going public.
MR. Lucas Carné Co Founder and General Director, Privalia
Now the popularity of the 22@ district has increased and prices have gone up. The area is currently a very attractive destination because there are many big corporations and now everyone wants in. Q. Can you tell us about the work of Barcelona Growth? To create the Barcelona Growth initiative, we gathered all the main economic and social players in the city and sat them
at a table to come to a consensus about how to return to economic growth. This platform proposed around 90 measures, of which we are implementing 30 as part of Barcelona Growth. One of the measures was for us to open a single office to attend to companies’ needs. This is the Barcelona Growth Centre which is located in the MediaTIC building, the same site as the Mobile World Capital Foundation.
24 Q&A’s
Public and private sectors share common vision MR. Gonzalo Rodés Vice-Chairman, Barcelona Global
Q. What is Barcelona Global and what are your objectives? Barcelona Global is a private, independent and non-profit association, made up of people and companies who care about Barcelona and its future. Our mission is to contribute to making Barcelona one of the most competitive cities in the world for attracting and developing talent and economic activity. We work with all the major institutions and business sectors in Barcelona. Q. What is Barcelona doing to
MR. Antoni Massanell Deputy Chairman, CaixaBank
The European stress tests have shown CaxiaBank to be one of the most solvent banks in Europe.”
support start-ups and entrepreneurs? There is a great opportunity to create the conditions for more financial investors, venture capitalists and funds to be based here. Barcelona is not a major financial centre and we need these players to help drive the expansion of our industries. There are plans to give incentives for financial investors to establish themselves here to help make Barcelona a city where entrepreneurs can achieve their goals. We want to make Barcelona the European capital of entrepreneurship.
Q. How are you bridging the gap between science and industry? Our main priority is to put scientists in Catalonia in contact with industry representatives and provide funding for their projects. We want to ensure that academics can identify a market need, approach industry in the right way, and develop products
MR. Enric Claverol CEO, Catalonia Research and Innovation Foundation (FCRi)
There are plans to give incentives for financial investors to be based here, to help entrepreneurs in Barcelona.”
Q. How has the restructuring of the financial sector affected access to finance in Catalonia? While there are fewer banks currently operating in the Catalan market as a result of the extensive restructuring of the sector, those banks which are operating enjoy greater solvency and liquidity. This supports the economic recovery via increased lending. As for CaixaBank, the European stress tests showed the bank to be one of the most solvent in Europe. We are ready to respond to our customers’ credit needs. I think we can now say that credit facilities are available to address solvent demand, while recent decisions and new refinancing operations from the ECB have resulted in a decrease in the price of lending.
We are now seeing growing interest from Venture Capitalists to invest in companies in Catalonia.” for which there is global demand. We organise regular coffee meetings between the directors of the research centres in Catalonia and senior representatives from the private sector. Q. What funding can the FCRi provide to start-ups? As a public-private foundation we administer public funds and can bring them to interesting start-ups. One of the roles of the FCRi is also to bring Venture Capitalists to Catalonia and show them what is available here. We are now seeing growing interest from Venture Capitalists to invest in companies in Catalonia.
Caixa Capital Risc oversees a number of venture capital firms that specialise in investments in innovative companies.”
In addition, CaixaBank has a subsidiary, the social bank MicroBank, which is dedicated exclusively to microfinance, providing financing to entrepreneurs and the self-employed.
Q. What are you doing to improve access to finance for start-ups and entrepreneurs? Caixa Capital Risc oversees a number of venture capital firms that specialise in investments in innovative companies. Furthermore, since 2010 we have been organising several enterprise programmes at universities and research centres seeking to identify and support emerging talent. In 2007, we also launched the Emprendedor XXI awards for entrepreneurship to further support these objectives.
Q. In which sectors does Caixa Capital Risc provide funding to start-ups? With 144 million euro in assets, Caixa Capital Risc is providing early investment in innovative Spanish firms with major growth potential, while also supporting them through each development stage. The division has seven venture capital vehicles for investment in start-ups operating in innovative sectors: biomedicine and life sciences, digital businesses and technological development for industry.
25 Barcelona The Edge of Innovation
El Consorci de la Zona Franca expands internationally
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s well as attracting inward investment from high technology companies, another priority of Barcelona’s free zone consortium is to increase Catalonia’s exports of goods and services. El Consorci de la Zona Franca plays an important part in helping small and medium sized Catalan companies to establish connections in overseas markets, especially links with businesses which operate
in free zones in other parts of the globe. It works closely with the nearly one hundred consulates of Catalonia around the world, supporting Catalan companies as they expand internationally. At the same time, El Consorci is increasingly looking beyond Barcelona for its own business opportunities. In the run-up to its centenary year in 2016, the organisation aims to export its expertise in managing free zones into new regions,
MR. Orhan GÜven General Manager, Turkish Airlines Barcelona
We transported in 2014 more than 300,000 passengers to and from Barcelona, an annual increase of 12%.”
Q. How is Turkish airlines improving the international connectivity of Barcelona? Turkish Airlines has helped Barcelona to improve its connections especially with countries in the Far East, Middle East and Africa, where we have 31, 33 and 42 destinations respectively from Barcelona. At the end of 2014, Turkish Airlines connected
catalonia and barcelona useful websites
El Consorci de la Zona Franca was established in 1916
especially in Latin American and North African countries which have strong logistical connections with Barcelona. El Consorci has already begun to work closely with the Tangier Free Zone in Morocco. It has
also established a department for international expansion, which will focus on bringing Barcelona’s celebrated knowhow in trade and logistics to new markets around the world.
Barcelona to 261 destinations in 108 countries.
Q. What new mobile services are you adopting? Our focus is to use new technology and personal hospitality to create one of the world’s best end-to-end passenger experiences. For example, we are currently launching a Bluetoothbased push notification service which informs passengers of gate changes, flight updates and tailored retail offers in their vicinity. The trial is on-going, but we have already decided to expand the services.
Q. How are you increasing frequencies at El Prat? We started operating here in 1999 with three flights per week. By May 2015, we will be flying 28 times a week, or four flights daily. In 2014 we transported more than 300,000 passengers to and from Barcelona, an annual increase of 12%, and in 2015 we expect to continue this trend.
www.mobileworldcapital.com/en
www.catalonia.com/en
www.barcelonaglobal.com
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Barcelona The Edge of Innovation
A CITY THAT BRINGS OUT THE BEST IN YOU.
As a new day begins in Barcelona, so do thousands of projects and hopes. A motivational climate, vibrant people, attractive light and a seductive lifestyle... When you enjoy the city, there are many reasons that inspire you to find the best in yourself, to experience everything intensely, both personally and professionally. This is the secret to being chosen as the best European city to live and work in.
EUROPEAN CITY WITH THE BEST QUALITY OF LIFE FOR EMPLOYEES. Source:European Cities Monitor, Cushman & Wakefield 2011.