The Business Year Special Report
GLOBAL CITY
Catalonia’s diplomacy model features a number of organizational bodies and initiatives that promote ties between the region and the rest of the world. This chapter is opened by Alfred Bosch i Pascual, the former regional Minister of Foreign Action, Institutional Relations, and Transparency, who spoke to us about the ministry’s goals, strategies, and desired outcomes.
The chapter also features interviews with other notable diplomatic figures, including Laura Foraster i Lloret from the Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia (Diplocat), Anwar Zibaoui from the Association of the Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce (ASCAME), and Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau, providing a good roundup of the region’s wide-reaching diplomatic efforts.
According to Foraster i Lloret, citizens have an equally important role to play as diplomats. For example, one of Diplocat’s main plans is to encourage citizens to create relationships of trust between citizens of Catalonia and the rest of the world. The drive is particularly interesting because Catalonia is not an independent state, which means it lacks both the power and resources that independent states enjoy. Despite that, the region’s effort to brand itself through a number of regional government agencies and private organizations is nothing short of impressive. This is further helped by the fact that both the public and private sectors are in sync and creating an identity for themselves that is both unique and different from the rest of Spain.
One aspect of this identity is maintaining Barcelona’s status as a global city. This explains the Ministry of Foreign Action, Institutional Relations, and Transparency's presence in 12 countries, where it works to shape public perception of Catalonia and encourage trade and collaboration. Such delegations mostly exist in Europe, with an important focus on Brussels to cultivate representation within the EU. It must be noted that these diplomatic missions are not without their challenges. For example, due to the recent political situation, the Catalonian government's plans to send new delegations to Tunisia, Argentina, and Mexico were put under a cautionary suspension by Spain’s courts.
Even still, efforts to promote Barcelona’s identity as a global city continue. Bosch i Pascual, for instance, was a strong promoter of the city on a global scale as “a dynamic and talented society that is peace-loving, hardworking, and freedom-loving.”