The Catalan Minister of Business and Labour and Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya President, Roger Torrent i Ramió, accompanied by the Circuit’s General Manager, Josep Lluís Santamaría y Romero, has presented the Strategic Plan of the Circuit, which aims at making it more environmentally and economically sustainable, with a clear commitment to innovation, digitisation, and for it to become a key infrastructure for the industry of the country. In order to modernise and adapt the Circuit to the new needs, an investment plan of about 30 million euros has been designed until 2024.
During the launch of the Strategic Plan, Torrent explained that the Circuit “will continue to be a world benchmark in the field of competition, as we have guaranteed with the renewal of the contracts with the Formula 1® and MotoGP™ World Championships until 2026“. “But at the same time -he added- we also want it to be a driving infrastructure for projects linked to green mobility, innovation and entertainment”. “A Circuit open and at the service of the country, connected to it”, through “a change that has to be boosted by an unequivocal commitment to sustainability, public-private collaboration and joint work with the territory”.
The new plan aims at turning Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya into the leader in environmental commitment and in the transformations that this kind of facilities have to carry out in view of the climate emergency. Currently, the Circuit is already a worldwide benchmark for its commitment to sustainability and respect for its environment, but the aim is to go further.
Three major investment projects aimed at this objective are planned: the installation of 18,480 square metres of photovoltaic panels in the control areas and in the buildings, including the roof of the Main Grandstand; the implementation of a pioneering storage system to guarantee the energy sufficiency of the Circuit and several investments in electric chargers.
In addition to environmental sustainability, the plan is also committed to diversification in order to generate new revenues. The aim, therefore, is to improve the direct generation of economic resources and to be more efficient through digitalisation. In addition to the 4,675 metres of track, the Circuit has 25 hectares of green areas that make it possible to organise singular events linked to the world of entertainment and healthy leisure. In this sense, the organisational capacity and the experience in holding mass events is an added value of the Circuit when it comes to diversifying the business lines throughout the year.
Likewise, the Circuit will become a tool for the dynamisation of the industry and technological innovation in Catalonia, especially those related to green mobility and the automotive industry, which is facing the challenge of decarbonising its production. A tool aligned with the Government’s objective of reindustrialising Catalonia.
The Plan defines 5 actions to take advantage of the uniqueness of the site:
- Reindustrialisation, transition towards sustainable and digital mobility and Industry 4.0 in the automotive sector. The Circuit offers a unique infrastructure, ideal to promote the transition towards sustainable mobility in the automotive sector and to seek alliances with the world of research and innovation to create a unique ecosystem.
- Trade fairs, congresses and business tourism. The Circuit can become a great test bench that enhances the user experience at trade fairs and congresses, a highly sought-after asset in today’s trade fairs. In this sense, the e-Mobility Experience will take place at the Circuit on the weekend of 29 and 30 October, where the main brands of electric mobility vehicles will be exhibiting their products and visitors will be allowed to test the vehicles on the Circuit’s track. The aim is to turn e-Mobility into the most important electric mobility fair in Southern Europe. This event will be held in conjunction with the World Rallycross, a competition that this year is 100% electric.
- Unique events linked to live music. The large capacity of the Circuit and its proximity to Barcelona make it a facility with great potential for organising large outdoor events.
- Activities to promote various sporting events such as cycling, climbing or running.
- e-Sports. An emerging field in which Barcelona’s leadership in the video game sector must be exploited to host top-level competitions, seeking alliances with the audiovisual and digital hub of the Three Xemeneies.
These five business lines, focused on the diversification of the offer, will at the same time make it possible to advance in the objective of making the Circuit a space more open to society, closer to the territory and to the citizens.
Impact of the Circuit
The Circuit has an occupancy rate of 83% (year 2021) and its main events are the Formula 1® and MotoGP™ World Championships, which generate a large volume of activity and attract a large number of visitors and users.
The activities carried out at the Circuit translate into income generation in different sectors, not only in one, but in the whole economy of the country, especially related to transport, accommodation, catering, commerce and leisure.
These are the main figures for a typical year of operation:
- The activities carried out in a year entail an output of 326 million euros and generate a GDP of 181 million and a total of 2,670 annual full-time equivalent jobs.
- A total of 68% of the employment and 62% of the GDP remained in Catalonia, which shows the country’s retention capacity.
- In the case of Catalonia, the Circuit is responsible for 0.05% of the country’s GDP and employment, percentages that increase to 0.13% of the GDP and 0.18% of employment in the case of the Vallès Oriental region.
- Moreover, it generates a tax return for the administration of 49.3 million euros.
