ABSTRACT
Barcelona is the capital and economic engine of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia. Over the last decades, Spain’s second city has established an international reputation for its dynamic and forward-looking governance that has attracted foreign investment, promoted entrepreneurship and tourism and put the city ‘on the map’. The ‘Barcelona model’ is built on the city’s history as a major Mediterranean port and centre of commerce, which – despite the recent recession and Eurozone crisis – is still alive today. This chapter identifies the major initiatives, interventions and policies that were put in place from the mid-1980s onwards that have transformed Barcelona’s economy into one of Europe’s most productive over a thirty-year period.
