Barcelona Catalonia, formed by the Generalitat de Catalunya, through INCASÒL, the Barcelona City Council and the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (AMB), attended the MIPIM 2024 real estate fair, the 17th edition in which they will participate. This year the real estate fair, one of the largest property and investment trade fairs in Europe, was held in Cannes (France) from 12 to 15 March.
In this year's edition MIPIM looked to influence and accelerate the transformation of the urban environment. It also focused on becoming a space where concrete solutions can be put forward and connect the international real estate community to create more sustainable, liveable and prosperous places for people. In this context the fair was an opportunity to explain the strategic projects that are being developed in Barcelona, in the metropolitan area and throughout Catalonia.
Under the slogan "Making IT happen!", Barcelona Catalonia presented projects from all over Catalonia with different investment opportunities for all sectors, presenting Barcelona and Catalonia as an ideal area for investment and new projects and reaffirming its commitment to inclusive, sustainable and cohesive development models.
Barcelona Catalonia Conference: The Science & the City
Within the framework of MIPIM and as a conference of the official programme, Barcelona Catalonia organised, for the sixth time, a meeting to debate on the attraction of talent and reindustrialisation linked to innovation. On this occasion, the conference explored the dynamic intersection of scientific innovation and urban development in Barcelona, its metropolis and in Catalonia. It presented investment opportunities at the cutting edge of innovation, from life sciences to semiconductors, driving the reindustrialisation of the territory and the development of sustainable urban ecosystems.
The session was be led by Mercè Conesa, CEO of Barcelona Global, who defended that "semiconductors in Parc de l'Alba is a very strategic project not just for our territory but for Spain and Europe as well". The debate also included the participation of José Luis Garrido, ICREA research professor and @ICN2 group leader, for whom "Barcelona has a rich ecosystem of scientists and entrepreneurs, providing an excellent pool of talent to support innovation and a high concentration of hospitals". On the other hand, Eva Jodar, senior director of Client Care & Client Solutions at CBRE Spain, recalled the audience that "1,000,000 sqm will come to the market in the next years, which shows the great commitment Barcelona has with life sciences".
The Real Estate Market Outlook 2024 report from CBRE indicates that Barcelona will experience a revival in real estate investment throughout the year, especially in the second half, projecting growth of more than 10%, exceeding 2,000 millions of euros. A fact to take into account after the 49% drop in investments during 2023. The hotel sector led the investment with 578 million euros, followed by the industrial and logistics sector with 555 million.
Investment in housing fell by 68%, registering 323 million euros in Barcelona, although coliving and other flexible modalities increased significantly. The conversion of offices is suggested to increase the supply of housing. Greater vacancy of offices and their adaptation for residential and hotel uses is expected.
Barcelona will focus on specific technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and health sciences, taking advantage of its powerful technological fabric and foreseeing significant developments in the coming years. The importance of the life science sector is highlighted, which has numerous startups, university hospitals, research institutions and jobs.
In summary, Barcelona anticipates a reactivation in real estate investment, with emphasis on the hotel sector and the need to adapt obsolete offices. In addition, the city aims to consolidate itself as a technological hub specialized in AI and health sciences, taking advantage of its available infrastructure and resources.
Barcelona City Council's Commissioner for International Relations and City Promotion, Pau Solanilla, participated in the Political Leaders Summit 2024, which brought together city leaders from all over Europe and the world to share perspectives on how to achieve urban improvements. Attracting investment in the current macroeconomic and geopolitical environment, decarbonisation and net zero, the innovation economy, transformative infrastructures and affordable housing was the focus of the round tables.
Public-private collaboration as a lure for foreign investors
The Mipim stand brought together companies with an international vocation and municipal, metropolitan and supra-municipal administrations that collaborate on urban development projects in Catalonia. On this occasion, the B-Tec Foundation of the Diagonal-Besòs Campus, Catalonia Trade & Investment and the University of Barcelona are collaborating with Barcelona Catalonia. More than 30 private partners, made up of engineering firms, architects, lawyers and real estate services based in Catalonia.
Showing that the collaborations between regions inside Iberia is also something to fight for the Barcelona Catalonia and Greater Porto stands came together to strengthen their relations, and to prove MIPIM is not only a place to do business, but also a place to meet up with old friends and to have time to enjoy
In addition to the official programme of the fair, the Barcelona Catalonia stand organised a series of meetings, talks and presentations to discuss Barcelona and Catalonia as a space for innovation, investment and establishment. In this edition, Barcelona City Council goal was to highlight its profile as a city for science and innovation with areas such as 22@ North, and projects such as the Port Olímpic, focused on the blue economy sector, or the Citadel of Knowledge, with greater weight of the life sciences sector. INCASÒL presented the Alba Park project in Cerdanyola del Vallès, located around the Alba Synchrotron, a new urban district designed to host the most advanced scientific, technological and entrepreneurial platforms, as well as the creation of more than 5,300 homes in a sustainable, balanced environment connected to its surroundings.
The AMB's Economic Development Agency once again took part in the fair, accompanying eight metropolitan municipalities to promote municipal urban developments on an international scale: Cerdanyola del Vallés, Cornellá de Llobregat, Esplugues de Llobregat, Gavà, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Sant Adrià de Besòs, Sant Boi de Llobregat and Viladecans. Under the slogan 'Discover the Metropolitan Projects', the Barcelona Catalonia stand presented investment opportunities in Gavà (Els Joncs project, Ponent Sector), Esplugues de Llobregat (Porta Barcelona project), Sant Adrià de Besòs (Las tres chimeneas project), Sant Boi de Llobregat (Casernes - Distrito Z project) and Viladecans.
Barcelona awarded as the best city in Europe for attracting investments
For the third consecutive year, Barcelona received the award for the best European city in terms of future investment attraction strategy at MIPIM. fDi Magazine, of the Financial Times group, has ranked Barcelona as the city with the best strategy for promoting and attracting investment in Europe, ahead of London, Berlin and Dublin. The ranking highlights Barcelona's work in promoting the growth of clusters in supercomputing, artificial intelligence, health and biotechnology.