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.

One of the challenges facing an economy is technology transfer—translating knowledge derived from scientific and technological research into practical solutions or applications for the market. In 13 of the 23 indicators of the European Commission's Regional Innovation Scoreboard (RIS) for 2025, designed to identify strengths and weaknesses relative to Europe's leading innovation regions, Catalonia still lags behind the European Union (EU) average.