Barcelona International Community Day welcomes 5,000 of city's global talent

More than 5,000 people registered to attend Barcelona International Community Day at the Maritime Museum in the capital on Saturday.

The event brings together the city's global talent and is a place for locals and internationals to share their own experiences while promoting the perfect balance between work and personal life.

This year's slogan follows the motto: 'Unique work-life balance,' which is one of the city's most valued attributes among its international community.

There trade fair included around 80 exhibitors, including Catalan News, alongside other companies, public institutions, foreigners' associations, and clubs. Around 30% of these exhibitors were participating in the event for the first time.

The event programme offers more than 60 activities for all audiences, including informative talks, workshops, panel discussions, networking activities, musical and other types of performances and children’s activities. The activities are conducted primarily in English and feature around 90 speakers and experts from a variety of nationalities. 

Global city on a human scale

At the event, Barcelona mayor Jaume Collboni said the city was "the capital of technology, rights and progress, a global city that knows how to maintain a human scale, a cosmopolitan city with its own roots and identity." 

The mayor remarked that Barcelona City Council has a strategy to serve the international talent in all phases of their journey, "a 360º plan, from when they are considering coming to the city, to when they arrive and settle, and also when they develop their full potential." 

'Something new'

Dennis, an atendee originally from the US, told Catalan News he has been coming here for the last five years.

"I enjoy it because inevitably I come away with something new and something worth exploring."

Sonya, from Indonesia, said it was "surprising" just how many people there were.

"I didn't think there would be this many people," she said, adding that she "went to a couple of sessions" which were "really good."

Tamsen, a US citizen living in Barcelona for over a decade, told Catalan News that there are "so many things" that if she had them 11 years ago her "transition in Barcelona would have been so much easier."

She said the day was "really interesting. I would have loved that when I first arrived."

Catalan News Quiz

Catalan News also tested attendees' knowledge with a current affairs and general knowledge quiz hosted by Lorcan Doherty from 13:45 to 14:30.

"Test your knowledge with news trivia" is the title of the quiz, which took place in Room 4, open to all participants. 

The day runs from 10 am to 7 pm and free tickets can be obtained by registering on the website barcelona.cat/internationalcommunityday.