Barcelona publishes its recipe for tackling the tariff crisis

BarcelonaAbout to reach the halfway point of his term, Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni presented the city's economic plan for the next decade this Monday. This strategy aims to diversify its economy and create 180,000 jobs, amid a context marked by the tariff crisis. To counter this crisis, the municipal government plans to mobilize €890 million between 2024 and 2027, which should be used to boost ten sectors it considers strategic and eight specific areas that should become economic drivers for the city.

Diagonal Health Axis

1. Caja Research Institute
2. Supercomputing Marenostrum 5
3. Diagonal Gate
4. New Clinical Hospital
5. Barcelona Fraunhofer
6. Biopol
7. Mercabarna
8. Free Trade Zone Consortium
9. the Prat Rojo Marina
10. Hall 0 Gran Vía Fair
11. Bloc4BCN
12. Renovation of the Montjuïc Fair 2029
13. Sports Palace
14. the Rambla
15. Via Layetana
16. The Citadel of Knowledge
17. Glòries Square
18. Barcelona Maritime Technology Park
19. Olympic Port
20. Coastal Plan
21. New Paseo de la Mar Bella
22. 22 Urban Tech
23. Care Hub
24. Food Lab
25. Palo Alto Ship
26. Sagrera Station
27. Circular Hub
28. Diagonal Besòs Campus
29. Catalonia Media City at the Three Chimneys

During the presentation of the plan, known as Barcelona Impulsa, on Monday, Collboni admitted that the city must prepare for the impact that the tariff war launched by US President Donald Trump will have on the economy. However, he expressed optimism about Barcelona's strength to confront it, and before a Saló de Cent packed with representatives of the city's economic fabric, he called for turning this "strategic error" by the United States into an opportunity to attract investment in the Catalan capital.

City Hall considers this economic diversification plan to be "the best response" the city can have to the tariff crisis. However, they concede that the impact of this trade war on the city is less significant. The reason? That the productive sector linked to manufacturing is more established in the rest of the metropolitan area than within the city limits. However, they point out that it is necessary for the local economy to be "as robust as possible" in the face of the changes taking place.

Knowledge, the "fifth engine"

On this path to strengthening the city's economy, Barcelona aims to capitalize on the commitment made in recent years to research. "Our fuel is knowledge," the municipal government points out. During the presentation of the plan, Collboni summarized it by adding knowledge to the list of the city's economic drivers, along with the port, the airport—which the City Council is once again requesting to expand in this new economic strategy—the Fira (trade fair), and the Zona Franca (free trade zone).

Along these lines, the plan prioritizes ten strategic sectors—commerce and catering; healthcare; the care economy; science and innovation; the social and solidarity economy; the visitor economy; technology and digital; creative industries; agri-food; and the blue economy—and eight areas that should become economic hubs. In this classification, the City Council highlights the role of La Sagrera, which, with the work on the new station, is considered "the last major area of urban development" in the capital.

In addition to the change in this area, there is also the importance that areas such as 22@ (which is experiencing rapid growth in its southern part) must play; Sants-Montjuïc (with the renovation of the Fira (trade fair) and the transformation of the entire surrounding area); the city center (with the Ciutadella del Conocimiento as its spearhead); the commitment to the blue economy that has been made throughout the coastal area; the Diagonal-Salut axis (where the arrival of the new Clínic will be decisive); the Besòs (with the Tres Chimeneas audiovisual hub at its forefront); and the Zona Franca (Free Trade Zone).

With action on these and other areas of the city, the municipal government aims to transform up to 1.8 million square meters of land in the metropolitan area over the next ten years to "generate job opportunities" and "address the major challenges" facing Barcelona.

More than 200 million euros each year

Regarding the specific measures envisaged in the plan, they range from hiring aid for small businesses to the new €30 million venture capital fund recently launched by the city council to boost startups in strategic sectors. It also addresses all the actions aimed at attracting and developing talent in the field of care, support programs for scientific infrastructure, the city's global projection—including the airport expansion—and all projects related to the digital transformation and green transition of businesses. The plan also highlights the importance of tourism in Barcelona's economy, while emphasizing how to manage it and highlighting some of the actions taken so far to combat overcrowding in some areas.

For all these objectives, the city council plans to mobilize €890 million throughout this term. Of these, 246 have already been executed during 2024, and the rest are planned at a rate of about 215 million each year until 2027.