The metropolitan area of Barcelona is about 66% of the population of Catalonia, one of the richest regions of southern Europe - Catalonia has a per capita GDP of 126.4% over the average GDP of EU 27 in 2009 ( PPP, purchasing power parity. the average GDP of EU 27 = 100%), while the GDP of Spain, including Catalonia, is of 103.1% .
Barcelona has a long mercantile tradition. Less well known is that the region was among the first to initiate industrialization in continental Europe, from the textile industry since the mid-1780, but actually gaining momentum in the mid-nineteenth century, when it became an important center for the production of textiles and machinery. Since then, manufacturing has played an important role in its history. The importance of traditional textiles is reflected in the repeated attempts to Barcelona to become one of the biggest fashion centers. In the summer of 2000 the city became home to the prestigious Bread & Butter fashion fair city, but in 2009 it was announced to be held again in Berlin. This was a blow to the city and the fair brought 100 million ? to the city in just three days, and the specialized media attention.
But the sector of fairs and conferences in many different areas is a major source of income for the city, thanks to the influx of affluent visitors in each month of the year, so the city has large conference rooms, including the "Fira de Barcelona" (Fair), which accommodate a growing number of national and international events each year as the show's 3G mobile telephony, which has also meant the opening of new hotels each year. However, the economic crisis and cutbacks in business travel are affecting the arrival of new exhibitions to the city.
Building on its tradition of creative arts and crafts, Barcelona is nowadays also known for its award-winning industrial design, and try to win the post of design capital, based on support to companies in the sector, organizing major exhibitions in this segment a careful selection in the street furniture in the city, and a powerful and permanent international campaign to establish Barcelona as a brand image.
As in other modern cities, the manufacturing sector has long been overtaken by the services sector, although still very important. Today the region is a leader in the textile, publishing, chemical, pharmaceutical, motor, electronics, printing, logistics, advertising, telecommunications and information technology.
Barcelona has one of the highest costs of living in Spain, and occupying position 49 in world rankings according to a report by Mercer Human, but also the Spanish city with the best quality of life, at position 44 of mundial ranking.