Hospitals, universities, research centers, science parks, biotechnological companies, pharmaceuticals, public projects, private initiatives, local and international investors… Barcelona and its metropolitan area have all of this and, moreover, of a very first level. The health and life sciences sector has been key for the Catalan capital for years. And it is also one of its main bets for the future. The existence of a powerful ecosystem, the densest in Europe at the moment, shows its current weight, with almost a quarter of a million workers in Catalonia and a contribution to the economy of 39,000 million euros annually (including 1,350 companies and the various public and private services), a volume that wants to grow with new projects, a few already underway.
This scenario is the launch pad for positioning the Barcelona conurbation as the main European pole in the field of health. A report from the real estate manager and consultant CBRE and the international investment agency Barcelona
There are outstanding public and private initiatives, some in a very advanced state, such as the CaixaResearch Institute, under construction since October next to the Dalt roundabout, with an investment behind it of nearly 100 million. This centre, promoted by the La Caixa Foundation, will contribute 19,000 m2 dedicated to the research of neurological, oncological and infectious diseases through immunotherapy. The plan is to put it into operation in 2025. This initiative serves as an example of how this sector works through collaboration between different actors. The forecast is that it will have the participation of the Vall d’Hebron Oncology Institute (VHIO), the Barcelona Beta Brain Research (BBRC), the AIDS Research Institute (IrsiCaixa) and the Global Health Institute (ISGlobal ).
Other projects are still a bit green. This is the case of the Innovation and Health BioClúster of l’Hospitalet i Esplugues. This area already has the Bellvitge hospital, the Catalan Institute of Oncology, the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (Idibell), the Nestlé Health Sciences Innovation Center, the University of Barcelona (UB ) and the Sant Joan de Déu hospital, the latter with two future buildings and 15,000 m2 and an outstanding project dedicated to minority childhood diseases. This center is on the edge of another area, that of the Science Park, which will grow with the transfer of the Clínic hospital to the land at the top of Diagonal that now houses the UB sports courts. In fact, it could be considered to be part of both areas. The BioClúster has the largest area in the entire metropolis for life sciences and health to develop, more than 550,000 m2 concentrated in Bellvitge where 50,000 jobs could be created and generate 7,000 million euros annually.
The second area in size is precisely that of the Science Park, which has the UB and several hospital centers, among other actors. In this area there are 330,000 m2 for new projects, 19,000 m2 of which correspond to the future Clinic, a project for which there is technical and political agreement, but which due to its high cost – some estimates put it at 1,500 million – will require future agreements between the administrations that make it possible.
The other large area under development is that of the Ciutadella, which the administrations want to dedicate to different areas of scientific knowledge, including life and health. There is already the Hospital del Mar, the Biomedical Research Center or the Superior Council for Scientific Research (CSIC). In this area, the Fish Market project stands out, with 45,000 m2 distributed in three buildings dedicated to biomedicine, biodiversity and well-being, promoted by the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), the UB and the CSIC. The City Council, the Generalitat, the Pasqual Maragall Foundation, the UB and the Autonomous University (UAB) also participate. The planned investment exceeds 100 million euros and is expected to be ready in 2026.
“The different areas of development are at different times, but they all take advantage of the power that the life and health sciences already have in Barcelona”, highlights Montserrat Puig, CEO of Barcelona
Having enough surface area to give way to the different current and future initiatives is another determining factor to position Barcelona as a continental pole. And the fact that the available land is in a relatively concentrated area where the different centers and companies that are established are close to each other increases its attractiveness. “Having projects underway that reach close to a million square meters of roof with these characteristics is very significant,” adds Eva Jodar, senior director of Client Care
The Barcelona report
A recent example of the attraction of Barcelona is that the British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has chosen the Catalan capital to locate a large R&D hub of reference in Europe that will serve to develop new therapies in which it could invest up to 800 million euros and generate a thousand jobs. According to sources in the sector, the chosen site would be the Estel building, the former headquarters of Telefónica, located on Avinguda de Roma, which is being completely renovated to house offices where there will be the most extensive plants in the whole city .
“We have leading universities and research centers, companies go where the talent is”, adds the Barcelona CEO
