In Catalonia, we like to say we're a land of talent. And we are. We have brilliant scientists, leading research centers, top-tier hospitals, and networks like ICREA and iCERCA that have put the region on the European map. Our publication figures, our success in securing competitive funding from the European Research Council (ERC), and our research impact all attest to this. So far, so legitimate.

The Mobile World Congress is the world's most important event for mobile technology and telecommunications. Every year, companies, experts, and journalists participate to present new phones, networks, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and 5G/6G technology. These are three of the many innovations that were showcased this year.

Five seconds, one liter. Ten seconds, two. Fifteen seconds, three... and so the water is lost down the drain hole toward the sewer. This is the scene that repeats itself every day in most homes when someone is waiting for the hot water to come out in the shower, sink, or kitchen. To put an end to this, companies like those in Valencia AquaReturn and Ecoid They have devised devices that prevent this waste and aim to make reuse a daily practice, moving from an occasional gesture to something commonplace.

In recent years, China has managed to capture a significant portion of the market that until recently was dominated by the European pharmaceutical industry, displacing the Old Continent to third place globally in many aspects. This ranking is led by the United States, but the Asian giant continues to gain ground. In this context, Catalonia, the leading center for the sector in Spain, with 44% of the pharmaceutical manufacturing plants (79 out of 181), and one of the main centers in Europe, must play a key role in the effort to improve innovation in the industry and regain its position. Within this framework, the Catalan government (Generalitat) and the industry association Farmaindustria are working to boost competitiveness and increase innovation and patient access to new treatments. The last meeting between the two parties took place last month, attended by President Salvador Illa, before his medical leave, and the president of the industry association, Fina Lladós.

Concern and unease. This is what the European pharmaceutical sector feels in the face of the advance of the US and China. This was expressed by Carlos Gallardo, president and CEO of Almirante and second vice-president of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). During a conference at Matins d'Esade, the representative of the family that controls the majority of Almirante's capital asserted that Europe was, "literally, the pharmacy of the world," and that this characteristic has been lost in the last three decades. "In 25 years, it has gone from contributing half of the innovative medicines to producing only one in five," he explained. Gallardo called on the European Union (EU) to modify its policy and consider the biopharmaceutical sector strategic for the future of the European economy, instead of as a cost center. He explained that investment in research and development (R&D) has fallen by 25% in the last 20 years in Europe, which is delaying the global launch of drugs. He also explained that the regulatory process is also too slow in Europe. As an example, he said that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) takes an average of 426 days to approve a product, while in the US, through the FDA, it takes 244 days. And, in Spain, another 600 days are added. Therefore, companies only have about six years to recoup their investment before the patent expires. During the audience question period, Gallardo called for a commitment to a hub He argued that having a "superpower" research center in Europe, like the one in Boston, USA, instead of one in every country, fragments everything and creates significant inefficiencies. The decline he believes is affecting the European sector also impacts clinical research. "European participation in clinical trials has halved, resulting in 60,000 fewer opportunities for patients." Furthermore, he noted that US and Chinese industrial policies are "redirecting manufacturing investment away from Europe." He also stated that Almirall is committed to artificial intelligence (AI) and explained the process that led the company to focus on medical dermatology. To this end, they consider many variables, from dermatologists' perceptions to the number of patients treated, sales growth, employee satisfaction, progress on the R&D roadmap, and reducing their carbon footprint, he concluded. It has been agreed that its objective is to launch products prescribed by dermatologists, outside the realm of cosmetics or aesthetics.

Anisakis, a parasite found in fish and cephalopods, has caused health problems for many people, especially as the consumption of raw fish has increased in Spain. Besides digestive problems, fever, and other symptoms, anisakis has another consequence, though not as serious: the need to freeze the fish to ensure the parasite is killed. This obviously affects the taste and texture of the fish. But a new machine could eliminate this parasite as a problem. At the Madrid Fusión congress, a prototype, invented by the University of Zaragoza, was presented that kills anisakis without the need to freeze the fish, allowing it to be eaten with all its properties intact.

A new step towards Catalonia having a chip development and prototyping center. The Catalan government has awarded the contract for drafting the basic engineering project for the construction of Innofab, a project resulting from collaboration between the Spanish and Catalan governments, to the IDP group, part of Bureau Veritas, for €2.6 million. The proposal, which must be submitted in April 2026, will be the starting point for developing the detailed engineering design and the subsequent construction project, which is expected to be awarded in the summer of 2026. Innofab will be Catalonia's leading chip center and will be located in the Parc de l'Alba, in close collaboration with the synchrotron, in the municipality of Cerdanyola del Vallès. It will represent an investment of €400 million, part of which will be financed with resources from the Next Generation EU funds. It falls within the framework of the PERTE (strategic project) for the chip and the European Chips Act. These are two European initiatives that seek to strengthen European technological autonomy, one of Brussels' priorities.

Although debates about Europe’s dwindling growth prospects have been ongoing since at least the beginning of the century, the 2020s have lent them a new urgency. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine not only exposed a dangerous dependence on imported energy, but the change of government in the United States has forced Europeans to rethink how they will ensure their future prosperity, security, and sovereignty. Furthermore, with the United States and China leading the way in AI—widely considered the next mainstream technology, on par with the internet—Europe’s lack of dynamism has become an emergency. The problem is not just the commonly cited gap between the per capita incomes of the European Union and the United States. It is that Europe has long lagged technologically, with few globally recognized leaders in the digital platform economy, AI, the new space race, and other sectors that will be critical to competitiveness and security in the 21st century. Deeply dependent on advanced technologies manufactured elsewhere and unable to generate the growth needed to fund its strategic objectives and future liabilities, Europe is a textbook example of why creative destruction—the elimination of less productive firms as a result of the emergence of innovative new entrants—is important. Ignored, moderately reduced growth prospects are just the beginning of the problems. Despite its success as a trading and regulatory powerhouse, Europe will remain vulnerable unless it can foster innovation at the same pace and scale as the United States, China, and other countries. Given that AI has the potential to generate new knowledge and ideas, as well as perform a wide range of traditional productive services or functions, it could be a doubly potent engine of creative destruction that ultimately drives long-term growth. Frontier innovation matters the closer an economy gets to the technological frontier. However, while increasing investment in R&D is necessary to generate cutting-edge innovation, it is not enough. As highlighted in the report by former European Central Bank President and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi for the European Commission, The future of European competitivenessThe continent will remain stuck in incremental, mid-technology innovation unless it makes significant progress on three main fronts: removing all barriers to a fully integrated market for goods and services; creating a suitable financial ecosystem to encourage long-term risk-taking by companies, starting with venture capital and institutional investors (pension funds, investment funds); and promoting a pro-innovation and pro-competition industrial policy in key areas such as the energy transition, defense and space (including AI), and biotechnologies. Europe has not only avoided industrial policy under the guise of implementing a competition policy, but has also emphasized competition among established companies within Europe, paying little attention to the entry of new players and competition from outside Europe, starting with the United States and China. The entry of innovative startups from the rest of the world into the market is, in fact, the essence of the creative destruction that Europe needs to grow faster. In the early 2000s, Giuseppe Nicoletti and Stefano Scarpetta of the OECD demonstrated that while turnover (the replacement of older, less efficient firms with newer, more innovative ones) had played a significant role in productivity growth in the United States, most of the productivity gains in Europe can be attributed to this fundamental difference. More generally, Europe needs to update its economic doctrine, which has made it a regulatory behemoth and a budgetary dwarf. First, in implementing the Maastricht Treaty limits on budget deficits, policymakers should no longer equate growth-promoting investments with various recurring public spending programs (such as pensions and social benefits). Furthermore, they should allow for well-managed industrial policies, particularly those designed to promote competition and innovation. Finally, eurozone countries should be able to borrow collectively to invest in new technological revolutions, provided that member states demonstrate discipline in managing their public spending frameworks.

The Mercat del Peix is scheduled to open next year, one hub for innovation and research that aims to become a hub for cutting-edge research and innovation in precision medicine. The goal is for the facilities of this 45,000 m² complex to become a leading center for innovation and research in precision medicine.², which has a cost of 104 million euros and which are located next to the Ciutadella campus of Pompeu Fabra University, will foster interdisciplinary research and become a magnet for researchers from around the world.

At the beginning of the 20th century, aesthetic taste was no longer satisfied with mere quality and demanded novelty, especially in the form of transgression. By the end of the same century, a technological product, in addition to efficiently fulfilling its function, had to do so with originality. Excellence, in both art and technology, could only be innovative.

The Gran Via exhibition center will host, from November 17th to 20th, what is already anticipated to be the largest edition of Piscina Barcelona in almost two decades. Growing by 22% in size, it will bring together more than 400 exhibitors from 30 countries. With nearly 70% of its offerings international, the show reaffirms its European leadership and consolidates its position as the essential event for discovering the latest in swimming pools. wellness and outdoor spaces. Organized by Fira de Barcelona with the support of the Spanish Association of Professionals in the Swimming Pool Sector (ASOFAP), the event positions itself as the strategic meeting point for the sector, while also aiming to be the gateway to the Spanish market, with a forecast of exceeding 15,000 professional visitors, 60% of whom will be from abroad.

There's no way to overcome this challenge. Europe invests a third less in innovation than the US, and this gap persists, leading to a loss of competitiveness and productivity. This is the warning from Europe G, the think tank led by former Catalan Minister of Economy Antoni Castells, in its latest report. paperData from the OECD and Eurostat clearly reflect this: European spending on research and innovation (R&D) amounts to 2.3% of gross domestic product (GDP) compared to 3.5% in the United States. This 35% difference "explains the lag in productivity, business profitability, and technological leadership," the authors assert.

AstraZeneca has launched its own hub global in Barcelona, ​​in the Estel building, formerly occupied by Telefónica. The company's president in Spain, Rick R. Suárez, took advantage of the inauguration ceremony to ask the Spanish government for "agility, stability, and a long-term vision" to guarantee the competitiveness of the pharmaceutical and scientific sectors. He made these remarks during the opening of this headquarters at an event also attended by President Salvador Illa; the Minister of Health, Mónica García; and the Mayor of Barcelona, ​​Jaume Collboni, among other high-ranking officials.

Each year, the European Commission (EC) publishes the Regional Innovation Scoreboard (RIS), a report that assesses 23 indicators related to the level of innovation in 241 regions across Europe and classifies them into four innovation performance groups based on their regional innovation index: Innovation Leaders (38 regions), Strong Innovators (69 regions), and Innovative Regions. In the 2025 edition, Catalonia has once again achieved the second-best ranking as a Strong Innovator Region and has positioned itself for the first time as the most innovative region in Spain. Overall, the most innovative region in Europe according to the RIS is Stockholm (Sweden), followed by Hovedstaden (Denmark), London (United Kingdom), Zurich (Switzerland), and Upper Bavaria (Germany). In this edition, Catalonia scores 124.7 points on the innovation index, ahead of the Basque Country (121.7) – although the Basque Country had traditionally held first place in almost every edition – and also ahead of the Community of Madrid (119.5), which is in third place within Spain. These three regions, along with the Chartered Community of Navarre and the Valencian Community, are ranked above the European Union as a whole, which has a score of 112.6 on the innovation index.

At a time when local businesses are struggling to survive against the pressure of large digital platforms and changing consumer habits, innovation has become a necessity rather than an option. In this context, initiatives like Komerz, planned by the Girona Chamber of Commerce for November 15th, emerge as a breath of fresh air for a sector seeking to reinvent itself. Komerz is a hackathon—an intensive event focused on innovation, learning, and collaborative work—organized by the Girona Chamber of Commerce with the support of the Directorate General of Commerce. Over a weekend, young talent, businesses, and professionals from the region come together to address real challenges facing local businesses, contributing both technological and non-technological ideas and solutions.

Indra Group consolidates its position as one of the driving forces of talent, innovation, and economic development in Catalonia. The multinational technology company has 12 offices in Barcelona, ​​​​Girona, ​​Lérida, and Tarragona, where more than 3,500 professionals work on projects in artificial intelligence, robotics, cybersecurity, and other advanced technologies.

This year's Nobel Prize in Economics celebrates two contributions that underlie contemporary understanding of the economics of innovation, and consequently, of economic growth. One, by Joel Mokyr, has already been featured in an article in the ARA (by Albert Carreras, October 13). I will dedicate this one to the work of Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt, who jointly formulated a theory of innovation based on Joseph Schumpeter's concept of "creative destruction." It is rigorous, empirically testable, and useful for public policy.

President Salvador Illa asserted this Friday that his is a "pro-science government, which means in favor of truth, objectivity, and certainty." He emphasized the importance of saying so and standing up as defenders of science at a time when "there are movements in the opposite direction" by governments, which are leading us "toward a very dangerous relativism." Isla made this statement at the signing ceremony to bring a subsidiary of the German Fraunhofer Institute, one of the world's most important applied research centers, to Barcelona. Also speaking were the Minister of Science, Diana Morant, who asserted that "Barcelona is the scientific capital of this country," and the Mayor of Barcelona, ​​​​Jaume Collboni, who underscored the Catalan capital's commitment to research and innovation. Also attending the event on behalf of the Generalitat (Catalan Government) were the Minister of Research and Universities, Núria Montserrat, and on behalf of the City Council, Jordi Valls, Fourth Deputy Mayor.

Barcelona has now definitively agreed to establish a subsidiary of the German Fraunhofer Institute, one of the world's leading applied research centers. This is the first establishment of that organization to open in Spain. The President of the Generalitat (Catalan Government), Salvador Illa, will lead the signing ceremony of the institutional protocol for the launch of the Fraunhofer Center for Applied Theragnosis (Fraunhofer-CAT) this Friday, along with the Minister of Science, Diana Morant, and the Mayor of Barcelona, ​​Jaume Collboni, as well as the President of Fraunhofer.

One outstanding issue for Catalonia is improving technology transfer, that is, the process of transforming knowledge from scientific and technological research into practical solutions or applications for the market. It is an essential element of innovation and, by extension, improving productivity, the variable that ensures long-term progress. The Basque Country in Spain and Flanders in Belgium are two benchmarks that Catalonia looks to, characterized by having innovative ecosystems focused on industry.