Barcelona holds the title of being the European city that has the best quality of life for employees according to the European Cities Monitor, a position it has has held for the past 14 years. The city offers a pleasant Mediterranean climate with over 2,400 hours of sunshine per year; parks; 4 kilometres of unspoiled beaches; an extensive network of public transport; world-renowned tourist attractions; Mediterranean cuisine and excellent connections with the rest of Europe and the world. It also has a high-quality education system; excellent medical coverage that is universal for residents; a full network of shops and shopping centres; one of the best and most extensive cultural offerings in Europe (78 museums, including the Picasso Museum, Fundación Miró, 46 theatres and one of the most famous palace opera houses in Europe) as well as a wide variety of sports and leisure activities (Barcelona is home to "Barça", the world's most famous football club) .
The Port of Barcelona is still the busiest cruise ship port in Europe. Barcelona welcomed 2.6 million cruise passengers in 2013, more than Civitavecchia (Rome); Palma is the sixth busiest port in Europe with 1.2 million passengers | In 2014, 7.6 million cruise passengers and 3,702 cruise ships arrived in Spanish ports. (Source: La Vanguardia, Foto)
The city has recently been promoting new strategic sectors such as mobile technology, smart cities, green energy, biomedicine and the nautical industry, among others. This is why Barcelona was named the 2014 European Capital of Innovation. (Source: La Vanguardia)
Barcelona is currently Europe's fifth best city and eleventh in the world for scientific production, having climbed more than twenty positions in only a few years. (Source: bcn.cat)
With over 7.6 million visitors and 16.5 million overnight stays per year, Barcelona has become one of the main urban destinations in Europe and the first in Spain. It currently occupies sixth place in the European cities most preferred by tourism ranking, and 23rd in the world, according to a Euromonitor International report. In addition, other studies such as the 2013 MasterCard Index of Global Destination Cities, place the Catalan capital as the tenth city in the world and the third in Europe - only behind London and Paris - in terms of visitor numbers and international tourist spending; while for TripAdvisor it is the world's fifth most attractive for tourists.
The city also occupies an important place in business tourism: according to the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), Barcelona is the first city in the world in number of delegates and the third in number of international conferences organised during the 2008-2012 period. It is also been acclaimed as the most popular European city for cruise passengers: 2.6 million passengers in 2013. (Source: bcn.cat)
Growth indicators in the Spanish economy - added to the feeling among the population that the deepest part of the economic crisis is over - have generated renewed interest in the real estate sector. Thus, the housing market has been energised, while the rental market will continue to spur ahead in the coming months. (Source: Barcelona.cat)
There were 35,210,735 airport users throughout 2013. In December alone, 2,307,667 passengers used the airport, up 5.4% from the same month the previous year. The months that saw the highest numbers of passengers were July with 3,837,605 passengers, 0.3% more than the year before and August with 3,905,840 users, 0.8% more than in 2012. The most significant growth in passenger numbers is in international traffic from non-European Union countries, this group saw an increase of 12.9% over the previous year. In the case of intercontinental passengers, the increase was 11.2%. (Source: Expansión.com, Foto)
For more information: https://www.arrivaldep.com/airport/BCN
IE Business School ranks as the 2013 best European business school, according to an industry ranking carried out by the Financial Times (FT). The other two big Spanish institutions, ESADE and IESE, were placed in the third and sixth place, respectively.The Mobile World Congress (MWC) is an annual conference in the world of mobile communication, currently being held at the Feria de Barcelona in Barcelona. It is the most important event in its sector. This conference focuses on global technology and the R&D platform to promote international cooperation in wireless mobile communications. It was founded by the Delson Group Inc and is now strongly supported by authorities in China and major industries. (Source: Expansión.com)
The Mobile World Congress (MWC) is an annual conference in the world of mobile communication, currently being held at the Feria de Barcelona in Barcelona. It is the most important event in its sector. This conference focuses on global technology and the R&D platform to promote international cooperation in wireless mobile communications. It was founded by the Delson Group Inc and is now strongly supported by authorities in China and major industries.
