Barcelona enters the race to host the headquarters of the State Public Health Agency

BarcelonaBarcelona has entered the race to host the headquarters of the Spanish State Public Health Agency (AESAP). The city council of the Catalan capital officially submitted its bid on Friday for the agency to be based in the city, according to reports. The Newspaper and has been confirmed by ARA. The Ramon Llull building, located on the grounds of the Industrial SchoolThis is the space Barcelona is proposing to house this state health agency, whose main objectives are to centralize public health surveillance and prepare for and respond to future emergencies. The Barcelona proposal has the support of the Catalan Government (Generalitat) and the Barcelona Provincial Council (Diputación de Barcelona).

This Friday is the last day to submit bids to host AESAP, for which cities such as Granada, Lugo, Oviedo, León, and Zaragoza have also offered their services. In its proposal, the city council led by Jaume Collboni argues that the Ramon Llull building—a building declared a national heritage site but currently unused—is very well connected by public transport and is located in an emblematic area of the city, in the Eixample district. Specifically, it highlights its proximity to Sants station, which guarantees connections to high-speed trains and El Prat Airport. The report prepared by the Barcelona City Council acknowledges that a complete renovation of the building requires significant work, but assures that with "minimal interventions" a 500 m² space can be ready by the second half of 2026. The document also notes that the Escola Industrial Y2 site was rehabilitated as a large meeting center with a capacity for 600 people, a historic auditorium, and a restaurant with 584 seats. This building would be able to house the estimated 300 employees who could eventually work at the State Public Health Agency. For decades, the building in question was an emblematic university residence, the oldest in Catalonia, where writers such as Bartomeu Rosselló-Pòrcel, Salvador Espriu, and Carles Riba, as well as Pompeu Fabra, lived. Federico García Lorca was also among its visitors. The residence closed in June 2022.

Pending creation since 2011

AESAP is a strategic body created in response to experiences such as the Covid-19 pandemic and recommendations from international organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). In fact, the General Law on Public Health mandated its creation in 2011. Its objective represents "a decisive step" to address, with guarantees, the responses in the current context of climate change and its impact on health, as well as new emerging diseases, according to the Spanish government. The procedure for selecting AESAP's physical headquarters, which is not yet operational, began last December with the publication in the Official State Gazette (BOE) of the corresponding agreement by the central government, proposed by the Ministries of Health and Territorial Policy. According to this agreement, proposed venues must meet certain requirements, such as having approximately 4,000 m² of space, several meeting and videoconferencing rooms of varying sizes, and an auditorium for events with a capacity of over 300 people, as well as other facilities. It is also required that the venue have good public transport connections, and preference will be given to cities with air, rail, and road access. Furthermore, proximity to or connections with international airports will be considered, especially for destinations such as Stockholm, Geneva, Brussels, Copenhagen, Helsinki, and Istanbul.