Zaragoza imposes itself on Barcelona and will be the headquarters of the State Agency for Public Health

BarcelonaBarcelona will not be the headquarters of the State Agency for Public Health (AESAP). The president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, announced this Tuesday that Zaragoza will host this newly created body, which aims to become the reference point for coordination in the face of future health crises like the one experienced during the covid-19 pandemic. Sánchez justified the choice by stating that it is part of the "decentralization process" of public bodies that his executive is leading, as has already been seen with the Spanish Space Agency in Seville or the Spanish Agency for the Supervision of Artificial Intelligence (AESIA), in A Coruña.

Up to eight cities, including Barcelona, wanted to host this body, which falls under the Ministry of Health. "I believe this is another example of what it means to bet on territorial cohesion in our country," Sánchez assured. Among the cities that had taken the step of applying to become the headquarters of this new body were Toledo, Granada, Murcia, León, Oviedo, Lugo, and Barcelona.

In fact, the city council of the Catalan capital had planned for this body to be installed in the Ramon Llull building, located in the grounds of l'Escola Industrial, a building declared a national heritage site and currently disused, which, according to the municipal government, is well-connected by public transport and is located in an emblematic area of the city, in the Eixample. Specifically, the City Council highlighted that the space is close to Sants station, which guarantees connection with high-speed trains and El Prat airport. Ultimately, however, Zaragoza's bid was the one that most convinced the Spanish government.

Jorge Azcón, president of Aragon, has celebrated this news as "historic," and has assured that it will mean a "before and after" for Aragonese and national healthcare. The headquarters of AESAP will be located in the Aragon Pavilion within the Expo 2008 complex, which will be adapted for its new function with an investment by the Aragonese government of approximately 20 million euros over the next two or three years.

The Barcelona City Council has acknowledged that the creation of this body is a major milestone that will allow the State to manage future public health threats more efficiently and jointly, and has congratulated Zaragoza while reiterating that "Barcelona had a very solid candidacy". As the City Council points out, a headquarters of the AESAP in the city would have allowed synergy between the Diputació de Barcelona, the Generalitat, and the City Council with the city's rich "scientific and academic ecosystem".

Furthermore, the City Council has guaranteed the development of the capital's Public Health Agency, the ASPB. The future headquarters of the entity will be located in a new building in La Llosa de la Vall d'Hebron, and will have an area of more than 12,000 m².

AESAP is a strategic body that was born from experiences such as the covid-19 pandemic and recommendations from international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) or the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) to address responses with guarantees in the current context of climate change and its impact on health, as well as new emerging diseases, according to the Spanish government.

In fact, the general public health law established its creation since 2011, taking into account that Spain is a state in which health competencies are transferred. In the field of health, the lack of data and coordination can hinder the containment of infections and the work of health professionals. According to the state executive, AESAP must serve to have a strong epidemiological surveillance system, capable of tracking many cases and identifying possible threats. The more and better information is available – and if the criteria for collecting data are unified for all territories – the easier it will be to anticipate pathogens and emerging diseases.