Urban planning is a long and complex process. Agreed. However, it is still somewhat frustrating that it is taking so long to implement the new Metropolitan Urban Plan (PDUM), which was finally approved initially yesterday for the second time. The first approval, in 2023, received so many objections—5,180—that it took three years to present the new document. Let's put this in context. This plan is the necessary step to definitively retire the Metropolitan General Plan that was drawn up in 1976 under the direction of Joan Antoni Solans, a leading urban planner who, nevertheless, did so in a pre-democratic era and within a context of still-unprecedented urban expansion. developerOver a thousand modifications have been made, and the proof that it was a good plan is that it has lasted until today. However, things have changed a lot in these 50 years, and new rules of the game were needed. The process to create them began in 2013; it took ten years for them to be approved for the first time, and final approval is not expected until 2028. That is, from the time they were first conceived until work can begin on implementing them, 15 years will have passed. And that's if everything goes well.

AstraZeneca, Hipra, and Sanofi are some of the names of the laboratories that the citizens of Catalonia began to learn about as a result of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Since then, in just four years (between 2020 and 2024), up to 23 hubs Digital and healthcare excellence companies have established themselves in Barcelona and its metropolitan area, solidifying the Catalan capital's position as a leading hub for healthcare investment. The arrival of these companies has generated up to 5,000 new jobs and positioned Barcelona as the only Spanish city to appear in the EMEA ranking—which encompasses Europe, the Middle East, and Africa—for attracting global healthcare investment. This is one of the main conclusions drawn from the report. The Barcelona metropolis. Investing, working and living in 2025The study, presented this Tuesday by the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, compiles data from over 80 different indicators. According to the study, which shows that the greater Barcelona area has climbed to 12th position among the capital cities attracting the most investment in healthcare, at a level very similar to Zurich, Munich, and Dublin, but still far behind London, Paris, and Cambridge, which lead the rankings. Barcelona's position improves even further, to 9th, when we look at the health technology companies subsector. More companies and a stronger position also translate into greater talent attraction, more research, and more publications. The Barcelona metropolis has established itself as the ninth European region in scientific output and the 50th in the world. In 2023 alone, more than 1,500 articles were registered, representing 25% of the total published throughout Spain. The life sciences and health sector also attracted more than 25,500 graduates (with bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees) in scientific fields that year. And overall, Catalonia maintains its 3rd position in Europe in the number of "highly cited" publications per million inhabitants regarding advanced therapies, only behind Switzerland and the Netherlands. During the presentation, the president of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, Josep Santacreu, argued that to maintain this level, Barcelona must further strengthen its overall vision. "Our future involves presenting ourselves to the world as a metropolis that is larger than just the city of Barcelona," he said. From the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB), the vice president for social and economic development, Jordi Valls, emphasized the importance of public-private collaboration and asserted that the success of the health sector also brings "direct benefits" to citizens: strengthening the public health system and improving the salary structure.

In 2000, the city of Girona had just over 73,000 inhabitants. Currently, there are more than 107,000 registered residents. In a quarter of a century, the population has grown by 43%. But this growth isn't limited to the city itself; the entire metropolitan area has seen an even more significant increase (48%). Vilablareix has doubled its population, but Fornells de la Selva, Sant Gregori, Sant Julià de Ramis, Campllong, and Quart are close behind. These towns, with inadequate public transportation, depend directly on Girona for their residents' daily lives: many commute to work in the city. Thinking of Girona no longer means thinking only of the city itself, but of the entire metropolitan area. But which municipalities should be included?

Joan Anton Solans, once the General Plan for Barcelona (1976) was drawn up, which is still in force today, carried out an intense urban management action in the City Council, which incorporated so much public land that the subsequent democratic city council received a fabulous inheritance. And two years before the plan, in 1974, the Metropolitan Corporation of Barcelona had been created, the predecessor of the current Area (AMB). He then repeated the move as General Director of Urban Planning of the Generalitat, with the creation of Incasòl, which operates throughout Catalonia. There has never been a similar action on the Trinitarian front of planning, management and institutionality. And that was half a century ago.

January 1, 2025 was a date marked on the calendar of residents of the Barcelona metropolitan area. After months of half-heartedness, six low-emission zones (LEZ) began to operate at full capacity and, therefore, with fines. This is the case of Sant Boi de Llobregat, Cerdanyola, Sant Joan Despí, Gavà and Viladecans. In these cities, residents with polluting cars can circulate in the affected neighborhoods for a maximum of 24 days a year if they are registered, but if they exceed this threshold and do not prove any special circumstances, such as low income levels or transport needs for health reasons, they are fined. There is only one exception: Cerdanyola has decided to exempt all registered residents from fines for the next three years. Now, other municipalities will follow the same path.

The Barcelona metropolitan area is the main source of votes in elections and, therefore, one of the territories most coveted by the parties. In the last parliamentary elections, the parties with representation shared 1.8 million votes: whoever wins in this area has a good chance of winning in Catalonia as a whole. In the first 30 years since the restoration of democracy, the PSC reigned with an iron fist, but in the last decade it has become a much more unpredictable territory. In 10 years up to five different political colours have won: CiU, the PSC, the comunes, ERC and Cs. In the run-up to 14-F, the socialists can be expected to recover much of the ground that Cs took three years ago, but Esquerra has long been knocking on the door to dispute this territory. The battle is on.