Mediterranean and Africa

Barcelona works actively for the development of the Mediterranean region

For Barcelona, the relations with its Mediterranean neighbours are of great importance for geographical, historical, economic and cultural reasons, as well as for the growing population of people of Mediterranean origin who live in the city. 

Being Mediterranean has always been a defining characteristic of the personality of Barcelona and Catalonia. This Mediterranean spirit has led to the very active participation of the city in the construction of a common space between the two shores of Mare Nostrum.  Barcelona is the ideal city to lead Euro-Mediterranean cooperation, due to its symbolic value and for this double aspect of Mediterranean and European that characterises the Catalan capital.  This Mediterranean vocation has been seen to be recognised at an international level with the designation of hosting the headquarters of the Permanent Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM). 

Barcelona aims to be a city of reference within the framework of Euro-Mediterranean cooperation.  Only with collaboration, solidarity, and dialogues between the people who live together in the Mediterranean space is it possible to advance towards a future common, prosperous and stable space in the region.  In this sense, and beyond the necessary cooperation between states and between regions, Barcelona is convinced that the understanding between cities represents a key element which allows, in many cases and with much more efficacy, the limits imposed by State borders to be overcome.     

With this conviction, the action of Barcelona is the Mediterranean, is planned on the basis of four major goals: 

  1. To boost the dialogue between the people and the cultures of the Mediterranean as a basic element for mutual trust and coexistence.
  2. To strengthen the role of the cities as fundamental actors for the governability and development of the region, defending the principles of subsidiarity and local autonomy.
  3. To contribute to the goals and projects of the UfM, focusing on the need to be effectively and efficiently incorporated in the social, cultural and human fields. 
  4. To project Barcelona in the Mediterranean area as a gateway between Europe and North Africa, positioning us as an economic engine for the Mediterranean.

With the aim of making this Euro-Mediterranean commitment successful, Barcelona has acted in four directions: working on the decentralised cooperation between cities, boosting and providing support for the initiatives of the civil society and of the citizen institutions and strengthening the weight of Southern Europe in the European Union.   

  • Barcelona has boosted and participated in numerous bilateral initiatives which have led to twinning agreement protocols or agreements of friendship and cooperation with various Mediterranean cities. As such, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation has carried out cooperation projects in various cities of the region. 

    Parallel to these forms of bilateral relations, the cities of Barcelona, Marseilles, Genoa and Lyon signed, in 1998, a charter of alliance. The four cities boosted the experiences of the Summit of Cities of the Mediterranean and Congress of Cities of the Mediterranean as meeting spaces between cities of the various shores.  As a result of the initial initiative, a permanent relation has been consolidated between the cities by means of the creation of the Mediterranean Commission of the UCLG, and especially, through the Forum of Local and Regional Authorities of the Mediterranean.

    Cities twinned with Barcelona:
    Current/recent collaboration agreements:

  • Barcelona is an active member of various networks of the region, which function as meeting spaces between cities of the various shores of the Mediterranean.

    Barcelona City Council is member of MedCités. This is one of the most efficient and active networks in projects of sustainable urban development and in the strategic urban planning in the Mediterranean.  

    At an institutional level, Barcelona is the headquarters of the Permanent Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean and is member of the Regional and Local Mediterranean Assembly (ARLEM). Barcelona is also headquarters of the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed), a public consortium of which Barcelona City Council is one of the members, created with the aim of analysing the challenges of the region and elaborating proposals for tackling them.