The Winter Olympics have not entered the campaign (yet). What it takes is the America's Cup, the European capital of architecture 2026 and a list of electoral promises of major events with which to promote the city in the coming years: from the Women's Soccer World Cup to the commemoration of the centenary of the Universal Exhibition of 1929, turning the Bruc barracks into a diplomatic center in favor of peace or creating the International Parliament of Barcelona.
What should the city's promotion policy be for the next four years? None of the electoral programs directly relates this facet to that of tourism promotion and only the PSC includes, in the promotion section, the need to expand the airport. What the parties do agree on is the organization of major events, the maintenance of appointments such as Mobile or the ISE and the promotion of international structures and networks. They draw a more ambitious Barcelona in the leadership linked to the Mediterranean area in which, except for BComú, the rest of the parties agree that weight and influence have been lost.
Without being the capital of any country, Barcelona has managed to establish itself as an international benchmark in areas such as urban planning, culture, sports or science. The Olympic Games marked that much-loved turning point, which in this campaign the PP and the PSC still claim in their electoral announcements. The celebration of this world reference event served to attract capital with which to finance the urban transformation. To a lesser extent, the Universal Forum of Cultures also had this effect. However, in recent years and up until the announcement of the America's Cup (a candidacy developed against the clock), a great event has not been the excuse to transform and promote the city, but rather the urban actions -even without counting on the political consensus– have become the main international flag of Barcelona City Council.
Thus, Mayor Ada Colau, who together with the Mayor of Milan holds the vice-presidency of the C40 global network (headed by the Mayor of London) has placed the Barcelona Superblock at the same level as the 15-minute City of Paris or the low traffic neighborhoods From london. Cities like Berlin, Vienna, Rotterdam, Bogotá and Los Angeles are adapting the Barcelona transformation model. And in its electoral program, BComú focuses its external action on the response to the climate emergency and claims for Barcelona a leading role as the capital of human rights in the Mediterranean. The commons agenda links international relations with social justice.
On the contrary, in its electoral program, Trias per Barcelona maintains that the international relations of the city have really been more "the international relations of the mayoress". The party considers that Colau has traveled little "and above all thinking about her promotion or for an ideological objective" and regrets the lack of expeditions designed to attract talent, economic investment or to promote international cooperation projects.
Even the PSC recognizes in its electoral program that in recent years the leadership of the mayoralty of the City Council in the international agenda "has been losing, despite the work carried out from the international area and promotion of the city", in socialist hands. The PSC advocates recovering leadership capacity and increasing "economic opportunities", with proposals such as the Barcelona Antennas in cities or strategic territories of the world, such as Boston, Seoul, Singapore or Mexico City, or expanding the activity of Barcelona International Welcome Desk to facilitate faster integration of talent coming from abroad and who decide to settle in the city to undertake, invest, investigate or train. The Socialists undertake to ensure the transformation of the airport, -a proposal that also appears in the PP, Ciudadanos or Valents programs, but not linked to an explicit policy of international projection, as well as "promoting a plan to multiply air connectivity from Barcelona".
“There are many ways to exercise international leadership, from working for economic promotion to working on the brand or being present in international networks. Not being a capital, the policies have to be powerful. Until the procés, Barcelona's international action was successful, and now it is more complicated due to globality", maintains the political scientist and Metropolis secretary general, Jordi Vaquer, who insists that "for major events to be successful, they have to simmer and several administrations have to be involved; the blows of the steering wheel do not go well ”.
The next mayor will host the last confirmed major international event in the city, the America's Cup, which is serving to accelerate the transformation of the seafront. “Other bets such as the Manifesta or the capital of architecture in 2026 provide knowledge and added value. You have to bet on new levers, invest in science and culture to position yourself internationally”, adds Mateu Hernández, former director of Barcelona Global.
