The President of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Pere Aragonès, stressed that the future Catalunya Media City complex, which will be located in the Tres Xemeneies area of Sant Adrià del Besós, “will enable Catalonia’s digital and audiovisual industry to become a driving force at European level.” “The Catalan Government has made Catalunya Media City one of the country’s major strategic commitments, because it is clear to us that we must strengthen and promote one of the sectors with the brightest future in order to become a benchmark as a creative power in Europe and to attract foreign investment with major international productions,” he added.

Catalunya Media City is a strategic project of the Catalan Government that will host audiovisual, digital and video game projects. It will house sets, recording studios and research and innovation spaces; it will be a hub for vocational training students and universities; and it will retain technical and creative talent, creating jobs in fields that are set to be first-level economic drivers.

Aragonès stressed the importance that this cultural industry that will be boosted through Catalunya Media City should “involve the creation of Catalan-language products, creating quality audiovisual content in Catalan,” in order “to strengthen the social use of Catalan, especially among the younger generations.”

13% of Catalan GDP

The digital and audiovisual sectors are currently two of the most dynamic economic sectors that generate and attract the most talent in Catalonia. According to the latest available data, in Catalonia there are more than 19,000 companies dedicated to the digital economy which already account for 13% of Catalan GDP. In addition, the last few years have seen an annual growth of 10% in the number of digital professionals, which now stands at 100,000, and a strong increase in the number of start-ups, of which there are currently 2,000, a growth of 75% over the last few years. For its part, the Catalan audiovisual sector is made up of 1,105 companies with a turnover of more than 6.7 billion euros and employs around 26,700 people.

Catalonia Media City aims to be a research and production centre for the audiovisual and digital content sectors, equipped with cutting-edge technology that is constantly updated, innovative and adapted to the needs of the market. It is a project open to everyone, and one of the tasks of the new director is to listen to all the actors involved: entrepreneurs, industry, universities, technology, research and vocational training centres, administrations and civil society.