Two years improving new business launches with the Barcelona Fàcil Plan
The main mission of the Barcelona Fàcil Plan is to minimise difficulties and maximise guarantees for anyone looking to develop a business idea. The programme has achieved 41.6% of its goals in the first two years and managed to cut costs for businesses and improve access to information.
The most notable measures and actions in the five-year plan include joining the Finestreta Única Empresarial (FUE), a one-stop business service which has meant an annual saving of 12 million euros for businesses and the self-employed in Barcelona.
The City Council also eliminated the tax for starting a business activity in 2020 and managed to achieve an accumulated saving of 3.5 million euros, with total savings for companies estimated at 15 million euros.
Face-to-face procedures were reduced by 30% in 2022, while efforts to foster online procedures via the Virtual Procedures Office and digital channels have seen these rise from 59% to 80%.
The Barcelona Fàcil Plan contains 27 measures in the following categories:
- Easy and accessible information
- More agile procedures linked to the creation of economic activity
- Promotion of municipal innovation and the creation of business friendly regulations
- Coherence and uniformity of criteria for the creation of economic activity
- Broader range of business services
- Facilitate the link between business and talent in the city
Greater role for the OAE
Another important factor is the fact that the Business Support Office (OAE) has become a point of reference for economic activity in the city. After processing 18% of the 4,000 notifications of new business activity in 2019, the service went on to process 88% of these in 2022.
The OAE attended to over 16,000 companies and self-employed people between 2021 and 2022. This stronger role of the OAE follows the move to create offices specialising in certain groups, in this case, businesses, talent and the self-employed.
Coordination between the OAE and the districts has also been strengthened to facilitate access and proximity of services. In addition, since the 22@ Office was set up, it has handled over 650 requests for information in connection with the recent approval of the new changes to the urban plan for this area. The Barcelona International Welcome Desk has also been set up to welcome international talent and has helped 1,000 people to date.
Competitiveness in a global environment
Improving mechanisms for companies to save time and resources is a key challenge in terms of global competition. Because of this, intensive work will continue over the next few years to make Barcelona an entrepreneurial city and offer business initiatives for macro and micro economies.
