Economy of Barcelona

Barcelona has long been recognized as an industrial city par excellence. Endless fields of manufacturing and service were established in the city during the past centuries. Today the factories have moved to the periphery, allowing the old industrial areas to gradually be converted into new residential areas and services. The most representative sectors of the economy in Barcelona are the textile, chemical, pharmaceutical, automotive, electronics and printing services.

The Fira de Barcelona trade fair featured numerous exhibitions, some of which were among the first in Europe. This breakthrough made it one of the most important fairs of the world and certainly  in Spain with more than 3.5 million visitors annually. The city has various facilities for congresses and holds numerous national and international events throughout the year.

The port of Barcelona has become, in recent years, one of the major ports of the Mediterranean in freight tonnage and number of containers. It is also the first port for the Mediterranean cruise ships that stop at the city. The airport, which in 2006 had a turnover of 30 million passengers, is the 2nd highest trafficked of Spanish airports.

The city is also now linked to Madrid by a high-speed railway line. The high speed line will be extended to the French border, where it will continue to connect with the current French high-speed network, which will also establish a rapid rail link between Barcelona and Paris.

Despite the continuous growth of the metropolis of Barcelona, it has lost financial status in the last quarter of the twentieth century to its traditional rival, the economic capital of Madrid. This downturn was due to the saturation of infrastructure, increased foreign investment in Madrid to Barcelona, and the transfer of decision-making centers and tax offices.

The growth of Barcelona and the other large Spanish cities has been marked in the past 30 years by transfers of capital to finance the rest of the Spanish provinces. This transfer process has allowed some development of the poorest areas; however, it has also permitted some public services to deteriorate as the financial transfer system is not always governed by clear and measurable benchmarks.

In many instances, less funding is allocated per capita in the richest areas leading to a deterioration of services and citizen grievances in these areas. A recent study by the ministry of economy assessed the contribution of the autonomous communities through fiscal balances.

In the division of institutions, the traditional headquarters of the accumulation of public entities, including the theoretically independent of the government in Madrid, which have benefited both economically and politically, a distribution process began with the transfer of the regulator of telecommunications to Barcelona. Protest was communicated from both government employees and the community of Madrid along with automated complaints received from Leon. It also highlights the location in Barcelona’s national computing center, with the purchase of Spain’s largest supercomputer, the Mare Nostrum.

Barcelona in the industrial field has had serious problems of relocation, primarily due to the relocation of industries to countries with cheaper labor. Companies most involved in this outsourcing of labor included Braun, Phillips and Samsung.

Companies have been prone to move from the region because of the high costs in its industrial areas, known to be second only to London. Still, foreign investment and other company locations keep Barcelona an industrial capital for Spain generating 25% of Spain’s exports.

In recent years, thanks mainly to the dynamism of the service sector, tourism and construction, the region of Barcelona has climbed to nearly 100% employment and resurged in the manufacturing sector due to strong immigration from Latin America, Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe. Barcelona’s economy in 2006 grew by 3.5%, the highest percentage of the last five years, according to the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, although below the national average of 3.8% for the whole of Spain in 2006.