Barcelona now has a City and Tourism Council. The body is a pioneering initiative which brings together 60 representatives from a variety of institutions and entities to debate, agree on and define what model of tourism the city should follow.

The new body is the result of the first full council session of the current municipal government, which set out new participatory governance tools on tourism as one of its priorities. Because of this, the City and Tourism Council has been set up as a stable participatory body with an advisory role.

The Mayor, Ada Colau, chaired the first meeting and stated: “This council must be an instrument to regulate and manage current and future tourism”, adding: “The tourist sector represents 12% of Barcelona’s GDP, but also has imbalances which need to be tackled together, with all parties involved”. Colau called on the members of the council to contribute to the debate on making tourism more sustainable”.

The main tasks of the City and Tourism Council entail advising the municipal government on initiatives and action relating to tourism, proposing measures to guarantee sustainability and producing annual studies, or others at the request of the Mayor’s Office, on matters in this sphere.

Tourism, everyone’s business

The new council is made up of representatives from entities from a wide range of sectors such as hotel and catering, tourism, cultural and sports sectors, residents’ and social entities and more. As tourism is at the heart of an ongoing debate in Barcelona, City Council wanted to include entities and sectors in the new body which otherwise would not play a part in this debate.