The Barcelona Institute of Economics (IEB) and the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce were the joint organizers of the conference “Drivers of the Catalan Economy,” which took place on 24 November. The event featured the participation of Alícia Romero, Minister of Economy and Finance of the Government of Catalonia, and Jordi Valls, Deputy Mayor for Economy, Housing, Finance, and Tourism of the Barcelona City Council.

The purpose of this conference was to explore future projects and the relationships established within the Barcelona Metropolitan Area, a space where two key infrastructures for the Catalan economy converge—the port and the airport—along with support platforms such as the Zona Franca Consortium, Fira de Barcelona, ​​and the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, and in which the knowledge economy also plays a fundamental role.

The conference was opened by Josep Santacreu, President of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, and Martí Parellada, President of the IEB. Among those who participated in the event were Pere Navarro, the central government’s Special Delegate to the Zona Franca Consortium; Pau Relat, President of Fira de Barcelona; José Alberto Carbonell, President of the Port of Barcelona; Eva Valenzuela, Director of Barcelona Airport; Andreu Mas-Colell, Professor at Pompeu Fabra University; Joan Busquets, architect at Harvard University; Alicia Casart, Director of Infrastructure Studies at the Chamber of Commerce; and Javier García Arenas, economist at CaixaBank Research. IEB researchers who participated included Anna Matas, Elisabeth Viladecans, Javier Asensio, and José María Durán Cabré.