Relaunching Barcelona to the world. From the Plaça de la Rosa dels Vents - the "wind rose square" on the Barcelona waterfront, Xavier Trias, Jaume Giró and Victòria Alsina have sketched the horizon lines for the international agenda of the Catalan capital if the Trias for Barcelona team governs the city after May 28th. All three stressed the importance of reorienting Barcelona in this matter with a strong message: "People are waiting for us to come back, and go out into the world". In this regard, at the campaign presentation held this Tuesday, the mayoral candidate highlighted the importance of "believing that the city has extraordinary potential" to be able to "compete with the greatest cities of the world", a fact that with the government of Ada Colau and Jaume Collboni "has not worked": "We have the city half asleep."
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In addition to the international agenda, Trias postulated Barcelona as the "capital of catalanitat" that is, of Catalan identity and culture, which gives the city the ability "to influence the rest of the country's municipalities, with it being understood that Barcelona is there to serve the rest". At the same time, the former mayor of Barcelona embraced the city's "Mediterranean vocation" and, taking advantage of the presence of Dr. Toni Trilla, positioned the city's major public medical centre, Hospital Clínic, as a reference point for the "leadership" that must be shown to give Barcelona an identifiable place in the world: "The Clínic has a physical structure that is a disaster, but they believed they were the best, this made them excel and now they can compete with anyone in the world. This is exactly what we have to do".
The three lines proposed by Jaume Giró to boost Barcelona
The former Catalan economy minister, Jaume Giró, took part in the internationally-focused Trias for Barcelona event and presented three "ideas or elements" that Barcelona should have, in his opinion, to "promote" the Barcelona brand: "Talking about the Barcelona brand means reducing a very complex reality such as the city to a unique dimension such as the brand. We are much more than a brand", he claimed. Giró made a reflection on other cities: "Think of New York, London, Paris or Berlin, in the end we would be to define them by saying three ideas". For this reason, the former head of the Generalitat's economy and finance department sought to define the city of Barcelona in just a few elements. According to Giró, it is necessary to ensure that Barcelona is seen as an "attractive city to live in", making "people feel at ease living in the city and that, whoever comes from outside to settle here, sees it as a privilege and not a burden"; that the Catalan capital is a "research, university and talent ecosystem", making it a "magnet for all the young people of the world" and positioning Barcelona as an "innovative city with urban and architectural solutions". Jaume Giró lamented that "Barcelona had been a global laboratory for the best urban planners and architects and that is no longer the case", a fact that, he asserted, need to be reversed.
Giró affirmed that Trias provides "the opportunity" to "relaunch" Barcelona: "We must position the city as the economic capital of progress and well-being in the Mediterranean, there have been so many years lost with the city government of Ada Colau and Jaume Collboni that we can't waste any more opportunities." The former minister highlighted the city's "strong capacity for resilience": "For years it has been playing in a league that it does not really belong to, and despite everything, things are working out", but he noted that this is happening because "firstly, we who suffer the problems know of them and we know them from the inside" and because "not all the attributes of the city depend on the municipal government".
Victòria Alsina wants Barcelona back at the top of all the rankings
The number 4 member of the Trias for Barcelona candidature and ex-foreign minister for Catalonia, Victòria Alsina, urged a "change of course, of 180 degrees, in the international agenda of the city council". "We will have city diplomacy, we will construct it with civil society and we will do it at the service of our country to have more Barcelona in the world," she announced. Among the key measures, she highlighted working to get the city back to the top of all world rankings, building foreign action with the so-called Exterior District, and for the capital of Catalonia to "return to benefit the entire country with an international dimension".
In this regard, Alsina also highlighted the need to show the "Mediterranean and European" anchorage of the city, to make the city trade fair consortium, Fira de Barcelona, able to host "multilateral events" and receive "business missions" to attract investments. As well, the former minister emphasized that they will make the commitment to turn Barcelona into an international capital of sport to attract European and international competitions, as well as "recovering its role as the capital of mediation". Epidemiologist Toni Trilla also took part in the event, urging a "commitment to knowledge, education and the work of the universities". "To do that, what's needed is will, leadership and teamwork, it's in your hands to make it possible," he told the Trias team.