Foreign talent perceives Barcelona as essentially a tourist city.
Residents from outside the city cite housing prices and bureaucracy as factors that could reduce the attractiveness of the Catalan capital for professionals and entrepreneurs from elsewhere.
BarcelonaBarcelona has an image as primarily a tourist city. This is the perception of most foreign professionals and entrepreneurs who have chosen the Catalan capital to work and live. This perception means that efforts are needed to improve its standing as a place to do business or research, explained Mercè Conesa, CEO of Barcelona Global, at the presentation of theInternational Talent Monitor 2025A study commissioned by the Barcelona Global association reveals that 62.9% of respondents perceive Barcelona as a tourist city, while only 7.2% see it as innovative and 2% as sustainable. This survey, conducted every two years, captures the pulse and trends in how international talent perceives the city. The analysis, supported by Banco Sabadell and the consulting firm Gaps, shows that international residents recommend "rebalancing the city's global narrative." 64.7% advise focusing more on technology and innovation; 57.7% on sustainability and climate; and 48.1% on creative industries, culture, and ecosystems such as life sciences to strengthen "a brand that projects Barcelona as the knowledge capital of Southern Europe," explained Oriol Molas, co-founder and CEO of Gaps.
Aside from the old debate about whether it's California (technology and entrepreneurship) or Florida (tourism), the study shows, in general terms, that the satisfaction of the respondents—around 800 people from 27 countries interviewed between May 27 and July 31—is high. But it also highlights the areas for improvement and the biggest concerns for most professionals living in Barcelona, such as housing and bureaucracy.
Security is also a concern.
In the seventh edition of this biennial survey, the areas with the greatest room for improvement are housing affordability, cost of living, taxation, and administrative processes. Added to this are safety and security, which, according to Conesa, has improved compared to previous surveys; air quality; and lower salaries than in other European cities.
International residents warn that Barcelona's future competitiveness depends on urgently addressing three major structural challenges: access to housing, cost of living, and administrative complexity. These factors negatively impact the city's image. In fact, the housing supply remains the weakest point in the talent attraction ecosystem, receiving the lowest score in the study at 2.2 out of 7, followed by the cost of living, which emerges as one of the major risk factors for attracting talent.
In the business and employment sphere, salaries are among the least valued issues, considered uncompetitive or low compared to other cities; and the "discrepancy" between urban connectivity and connections outside the metropolitan area. There is also concern about taxes, perceived as high, although they are not always under the City Council's control, as is the case with personal income tax (IRPF). The major strengths of Barcelona, according to the majority, include international connectivity through both the port and the airport, the cosmopolitan atmosphere, the quality and conditions of life, the healthcare system and transportation within the city, as well as access to culture and sports.
The study does not only gather opinions from executives of multinationals and large companies. 30% of respondents report a salary of up to €50,000 per year, 54% are women, 49% are between 35 and 49 years old, and 32% are between 18 and 34 years old. Furthermore, 63% of the talent arriving in Barcelona has lived and worked in other cities, such as London, Paris, Milan, or other locations in the USA.
