Barcelona hopes to be site of new European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts headquarters

The Spanish government announced on Friday that it would be backing a bid to make Barcelona the site of the new European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) headquarters.

If successful, the center would initially employ 150 people and then up to 250 in subsequent years.

Spain's cabinet selected Barcelona for the bid as it believes it would be able to house the organization due to its scientific and innovative conditions, which would include support from the Barcelona Supercomputing Center.

The new center would assist with the ECMWF's weather forecasting service, atmospheric and climate change assessments for the EU's Copernicus Programme, as well as forecasting floods, fires, and droughts.

The ECMWF was founded in 1974 and currently already has two other sites – one in Reading, United Kingdom and another in Bologna, Italy.