The Mayor of Barcelona, ​​Jaume Collboni, highlighted in an event held at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum the capital status that Barcelona already exercises in the cultural, social, scientific, technological, economic and sporting fields.

During the conference entitled “Barcelona is Capital” he made special mention of the change of course experienced to relaunch all these fields and defended that the city “has returned with strength, with enthusiasm, with projects, with determination, with complicity. It has once again taken up the common thread of the history of democratic Barcelona, ​​which illuminated a city in the world, open, cosmopolitan, dynamic, uninhibited and proud. It has returned to also restore self-esteem to the people of Barcelona. It has returned as the capital of Catalonia to give the best of itself to Catalonia, but also to give the best of itself to Spain and Europe”.

Boosting the scientific ecosystem

Jaume Collboni wanted to highlight the capital status that Barcelona already exercises within the field of science. In this context, he highlighted consolidated projects, such as the university and research network, or leading facilities with the example of the Mare Nostrum supercomputer, of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center. And also private centers such as Caixa Research, of the La Caixa Foundation. Overall, this dense ecosystem should enable 2.000 highly qualified researchers to come to work in Barcelona over the next 5 years.

At the same time, the mayor highlighted the relevance that strategies such as the Ciutadella Knowledge Hub or the inauguration, this Thursday, of the new AstraZeneca research and development headquarters will have for the city, in a building that had been inactive for 10 years on Avinguda Roma, and which will create jobs for 2.000 new researchers.

On the other hand, and at a technological level, Collboni has very positively assessed the commitment that Barcelona has made in recent years to attract projection and talent, and which has now been consolidated with the celebration of events such as the Mobile World Congress, or with the status of 2nd city in Europe, only behind London, for hosting Startups.

Fight against global warming

Another of the missions that the mayor highlighted during the event is the fight against the effects of global warming. Collboni has assured that many actions are being carried out, such as putting shade in children’s parks or gardens, to combat the heat, and that the return of the tourist tax, among other things, is used to air-condition, with renewable energy, the 170 public schools in the city.

Collboni has affirmed that “Barcelona believes in itself again and dares to look to 2035 with projects, and with a public investment of more than 10.000 million euros, comparable to that of the Olympic transformation of 1992“.