Barcelona, eighth city with the highest reputation in the world

Barcelona is one of the cities in the world with the highest reputation. Specifically, it comes in eighth place on a list headed by the Italian city of Milan, which is followed by Toronto and Tokyo. According to a report released by the Barcelona Observatory, made up of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce and the Barcelona City Council, the Catalan capital is one of the world’s most attractive cities and a focus for foreign investment, especially in the field of technology.

In fact, Barcelona is also the eighth city in the world with the most foreign investment projects in the past four years, between 2013 and 2017. With reference to new investments, the report highlights that the rental price of offices and shops in Barcelona attracts new companies and investment, as it is lower than in other European countries. Despite rental increases in recent years, it continues to be a pull for many companies.

The deputy mayor of the Barcelona city council, Gerardo Pisarello, said that the figures show Barcelona’s wish to be “a leading city in the field of technology in southern Europe.” Yet, Miquel Valls, the president of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, a government-owned corporation that provides services and looks after the interests of companies, stated that despite ending a very good year economically, the political instability of the past few months "has ended up affecting the economy" of the city. Still, Valls stressed that Barcelona has already overcome this crisis and predicted that 2018 “will be a good year”.