It is undoubtedly a source of satisfaction, both institutionally and personally, to write this general introduction to the report "Migration Flows: Demographic Analysis of Territorial Settlement Processes in Barcelona and the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona."

In the executive summary, which we have prepared at the Barcelona Economic and Social Council (CESB), readers will find a synthesis of its content and the most relevant conclusions of the study.

I say it is an institutional satisfaction in my capacity as President of the CESB, since among the functions assigned to it in its Statutes are "to prepare studies, opinions, and proposed resolutions on economic and social matters at the request of municipal government bodies or on its own initiative at the proposal of any CESB member," and "to analyse, promote debates, and develop proposals on socioeconomic issues of interest to the city. To promote actions aimed at improving the economic, social, and civic life of Barcelona." I don't think there can be any doubt about the importance of understanding the reality of the population diversity in Barcelona and the Metropolitan Region (RMB), and how it has changed and reshaped the daily lives of our residents, with much greater intensity in our city, which, according to the latest available statistics, is home to people of 182 different nationalities.

Barcelona, ​​as I stated in my inaugural address as President on March 19th, “...is a city fully open to the world, a city of men and women with many hopes, interests, concerns, joys, and disappointments, and from which many cities and regions wish to learn,” and that “the richness of our city lies in the melting pot of cultures and languages ​​that we see daily throughout much of it, while this also entails a need to adopt measures that allow the citizens of Barcelona to benefit from all this richness and prevent it from becoming, at least for some of them, a problem. This is not an easy task for those who govern the City Council, and the Council has already prepared studies, and I hope will continue to prepare them, to formulate proposals along these lines.”

With this report, we aim to continue contributing to the understanding of our population, how it has changed in recent years, and to the debates on what measures must be adopted to adapt to this new reality.

This reality is faithfully reflected in the CESB's 2024 Annual Report, recently approved at its plenary session on September 29th, from which I would like to reproduce the data that supports the statements made previously. In my presentation, I stated that “Barcelona is increasingly becoming an international city, with 182 nationalities represented, attracting a significant portion of the migration to Spain. Of particular interest, and the data published by the Municipal Data Office clearly demonstrates this, is that a significant part of this migration has a high level of academic and professional qualifications. The city faces yet another challenge: to reconcile the diversity of the incoming population with the reality of those who have lived, and to a large extent, worked there for many years.”

These are the 2024 figures:

“The city’s natural growth remains negative, with 11,091 births and 14,680 deaths during 2024. The birth rate stood at 6.5 births per thousand inhabitants, while the fertility rate reached only 0.88 children per woman (below level 2). This natural deficit is offset by a positive net migration.

For the sixth consecutive year, the number of people born outside the city exceeds the number born within, and the foreign-born population reached 35.4%, with 612,529 residents. Of this 35%, 29% (1 in 3) hold Spanish nationality.

All city districts experienced growth, and there were 91,564 changes of address between districts and neighbourhoods, 12% fewer than the previous year. Looking at the relative figures by nationality, foreign residents have They change their address almost three times more often than people with Spanish nationality”. 

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As I have already indicated at the beginning of this presentation, it is a personal satisfaction, since I have dedicated a good part of my research activity as a university professor, and as a person, I believe, with social sensitivity, to the study of the migratory phenomenon, since back in 1992 (remember, the Barcelona Olympic Games, which put our city in the spotlight worldwide) I wrote a lecture on the reality of migration in Spain when it did not exceed 2.5% of the total population, and always with special attention to the existing legal frameworks, highlighting the need to advance in policies that would allow all people arriving in our cities to do so with full rights and duties, something that today, and it must be regretted, has not yet been achieved, so we must continue fighting to make it possible. The creation of the Chair of Immigration, Rights and Citizenship at the University of Girona, of which I was the first director from its creation in 2002 until 2008, was an undeniable point of reference for the analysis of the migratory reality, precisely from the perspective of the full application of human rights to all people.

Many years ago, back in 2008, I wrote an article entitled “Immigration: an opportunity and not a problem.” There are passages that, logically adapted to the current reality, fully retain their value in my opinion, and which I will reproduce here:

“When some Autonomous Communities exceed 10% foreign population… it seems an exercise in intellectual hypocrisy to continue debating the merits or drawbacks of immigration, because what needs to be done is to manage the situation correctly and know where we want to steer it. Immigration is often perceived as a problem, as demonstrated by the CIS barometers, and to deny that this can sometimes be the case would be to deny reality. But even worse would be to fail to recognize that a large part of the country's economy, and specifically some productive sectors, could hardly function as they do today without the work, regular or irregular, of immigrants… There is no doubt that we must commit to improving the quality and competitiveness of our productive fabric, and this cannot be done through a labour policy that opts for precariousness, deregulation, and non-compliance with the law. We need to commit to a labour policy…” of work that enhances the training and qualification of the workforce. Therefore, the integration of immigrants into the labour market must be done in a way that allows them to fully utilize their knowledge and skills.

... The regulations governing immigration cannot operate independently of economic and social realities; nor can a State, or an Autonomous Community, implement an immigration policy that fails to consider the EU and international context... In Spain and Catalonia, the objective to be achieved—and all levels of government and social actors must be actively involved in this—is the full legalization of the work performed by immigrants. It is obvious that this is very easy to say and even more difficult to implement, but a significant part of the social cohesion we must have is at stake... Immigration challenges us, questions us, creates problems, but it also contributes (it brings us) economic, cultural, and human wealth (because it is also important to remember that immigrants are people and not merely labour). It cannot be denied that there is an increase in the economic needs of the competent authorities to address new realities, for example, in the health or education sectors. But who can deny that productive activity, whether self-employed or working for others, improves the country's growth rate and, at the same time, can be an important mechanism for promoting co-development policies with countries of origin?

It is time to stop debating immigration as if it were a still relatively undeveloped or underdeveloped reality in our country. The debate now is no longer about immigration itself, but about the integration of immigrants. And we must move from debate, from words, to action, to measures that facilitate this regular integration. ...

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In preparing this presentation, I have had the opportunity to discuss the migration phenomenon, based on the content of the Report now being presented, both with the CESB team and with people directly involved—I dare say very directly—with the migration reality of Barcelona, ​​from their vantage point in the City Council's Department of Interculturality and Religious Affairs.

From this very rich exchange of ideas, I want to highlight in this presentation some points that I consider especially important, always from the perspective of the measures and actions that can be undertaken by municipal authorities to address population diversity.

Immigration is a very diverse reality. In debates about the migrant population, it is wrong to frame it as "us" and "them." If such a distinction is made, we stop implementing policies of inclusion and instead implement policies of "separation." We are talking about people. Seeking answers to the problems of each individual is a responsible exercise in citizenship.

Immigration is an opportunity. It is not a problem and therefore cannot be treated as such. It is a reality that must be managed for the benefit of all citizens, always from the perspective of the full application of human rights to everyone.

This reality is demonstrated in Barcelona, ​​in addition to the data presented above, by the existence of 37 religious denominations and 300 languages, and an immense variety of gastronomic cultures that enrich this diversity and also generate employment in the restaurant sector.

Undoubtedly, the legal framework regarding access to regular administrative status must be taken into consideration, but this in no way prevents the respective Local Corporations from ensuring, within their municipal powers, the economic and social rights of all people who arrive in Barcelona and throughout the Barcelona Metropolitan Region. Measures must be considered that will positively impact the employment situation. This requires adopting measures that enable people arriving in our cities to acquire, as soon as possible if they do not already have it, the documentation that proves their legal status and, consequently, the full exercise of their rights and obligations.

We must commend the efforts of those who have worked to strengthen inclusion policies in the workplace, ensuring that all people, regardless of their origin, have the same working conditions and access to all the rights and obligations regulated by law. In this area, public authorities should promote policies developed by social partners in the workplace that are supported by measures that facilitate integration, such as funding training courses in the official languages ​​of the community where they are located.

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I conclude this presentation by encouraging you to read the Report. There will undoubtedly be those who fully agree with its content, and also those who express their disagreement with some of it, or perhaps with all of it.

This should not be considered negative in any way. Indeed, the value of the reports presented by the CESB, as we who are part of it believe, lies in opening debates on all issues of economic and social interest that affect our citizens daily; and certainly the increasingly perceptible population diversity in Barcelona and the RMB deserves our attention, and ever-increasing attention. This is our purpose, and we hope it will be successful.

At a time when some are trying to focus on the separation between “us” and “them,” inclusion and integration take on paramount importance. Immigration is an opportunity, not a problem, and that is how we must act.

Eduardo Rojo Torrecilla

President of the Economic and Social Council of Barcelona