Dynamic and lively, Barcelona has always promoted art and innovation. Proof of this are places like Barcelona's creation factories, real factories for artistic creation, and centres like ESCAC, reputed to be one of the best cinema schools in the world.
Fun art is another city asset: festivals like Loop, dedicated to video art, and Sonar, an internationally renowned showcase for advanced music and multimedia art, are the backbone of this audacious innovation.
And Barcelona also occupies a privileged position in the realm of avant-garde architecture and design.
The new Disseny Hub Barcelona building, the Torre Agbar, the new Encants market in Glòries, festivals like FADfest and organisations like the Escola Elisava are benchmarks in architecture and design in a city that is always open to change.
Fashion is another of the city's big assets. That's why leading international companies such as Custo Barcelona, Mango and Desigual are located here, as well as fashion shows like 080 Barcelona Fashion. Even cuisine, based around the Mediterranean diet, has experienced its own artistic revolution thanks to chefs of the highest standing, such as Ferran Adrià, a pillar of creative cookery renowned as being the best chef in the world in recent times.
Nurturing talent
Barcelona has also become a breeding ground for talent and businesses in the video games and online games market. Growing numbers of international firms such as King, the creator of the immensely popular Candy Crush, see business opportunities and the possibility to grow in the city. What's more, the city is committed to quality university training in this emerging sector, which offers many job opportunities. It is, in short, a city that has managed to integrate its ancestral artistic heritage with new, more innovative forms of creative expression.
