Barcelona, an entrepreneurial and business-friendly city

Thanks to its long business and commercial tradition, Barcelona is today one of the most important cities in Europe for doing business. The city produces and attracts entrepreneurs and is establishing itself as a European centre for business creation. The local authority promotes economic activity by establishing a stable, business-friendly framework that encourages economic growth. Another noticeable feature is the creation of business clusters in cutting-edge sectors such as information and communication technologies (ICT), the media, biotechnology, energy, design, social sciences, aeronautics, aerospace and mobility.

Trade link with the Mediterranean

Barcelona, the gateway to southern Europe, is the connection point with Europe, a huge economic area of over 700 million inhabitants. There are more than 33,000 companies in Barcelona that specialise in logistical operations and goods transport, importers, exporters and international operators.

The airport transports over 100,000 tonnes of goods, while the maritime port, linked to Europe's rail network, is the leading cruise liner port in Europe and the Mediterranean, and fourth in the world rankings. Goods coming from Asian ports save three days crossing if they unload in Barcelona rather than in one of the ports in north-east Europe

Barcelona also has a high-speed train line that connects it with the European network and the main Spanish cities, plus a motorway system linked to Europe, which means it is two hours from France by road and a day from Europe's main capitals.

Barcelona, a business city

With a long industrial tradition behind it and a large business community, the city is geared towards the economy and knowledge-intensive activities, especially advanced services and new economic activities. Sectors linked to new technologies and sustainability, which offer considerable business and investment opportunities, are developing strongly in the Catalan capital.

For the last 14 years it has been seen as the best city in Europe in terms of the quality of life enjoyed by employees, according to the “European Cities Monitor”, and it is the only southern European city that concentrates, in a five kilometre stretch, one of the Mediterranean's biggest ports, a high-speed train station, an international airport, motorways linked to the European network, the second largest trade fair site in Europe and one of the biggest logistics zones in southern Europe.

Most foreign investment in Catalonia is concentrated in Barcelona, the sixth best city in the world for business. The quality of life and skills of its human capital are two of the things valued most highly by the foreign companies that have moved into the city, as well as by various international rankings.

The city is constantly trying to improve go for to projects with big opportunities for the future. Consequently it is permanently immersed in large-scale urban redevelopment, which requires a lot of public investment and offers big opportunities for private initiative. Various independent, international and comparative studies back Barcelona, an internationally renowned city that enjoys a deserved prestige, as a city to invest and do business in.