Barcelona’s iconic post office building becomes a new tech hub for 150 startups

After over two years of talks between the Barcelona City Council, the Postal Service and the Zona Franca Consortium, an agreement on the future of what used to be Barcelona’s central post office building at the beginning of Via Laietana Street has finally been given the green light. This emblematic city centre location is now to become a hub for business and economic activities, with emphasis on technological and digital sectors.

The 100% public initiative aims to boost the economy of the inner-city area, dynamizing its business ecosystem and creating added value employment. With some 30,000 square metres for housing 150 startups and eventually creating jobs for some 1,500 people, it will contain a business incubator with space also for a wide range of services such as entrepreneurial assistance, training sessions, research work, digital and green economy, as well as reserving an area for cultural and civic activities for the neighbourhood.

The new hub is yet another step in Barcelona towards consolidating the city as Europe’s digital capital. In the words of the Barcelona’s City Council’s first deputy Mayor, Jaume Collboni, one of the driving ideas behind the project is "We want Barcelona to go further, go out to win and go on the offensive to be the digital capital of southern Europe."

Furthermore, this initiative aims to act as a stimulus for innovation in this city centre area, diversifying the local economy as well as attracting new employment possibilities in order to create a more balanced economic structure in the future. An additional benefit of the hub, apart from also boosting local businesses such as shops and restaurants, will be the attraction of new residents to the area which, over recent years, has suffered from a fall in local population due to increased tourism.

Source: Barcelona City Council