Prominent business leaders and a former mayor have renewed calls to significantly expand the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB), arguing that a larger, more integrated region is essential to confront pressing challenges like housing shortages and strained transport infrastructure. The proposal, championing a future “Barcelona of five million inhabitants,” was the central theme at an event hosted by the influential Foment del Treball business association.

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Foment framed the discussion around the presentation of the fifth ‘Repensar la Metrópoli’ (Rethink the Metropolis) report, published by Foment’s think tank, the Societat Barcelonesa d’Estudis Econòmics i Socials (SBEES).

Held at the Foment headquarters in Barcelona, the event marked the 15th anniversary of the law establishing the modern Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona (AMB). This public body currently comprises 36 municipalities and just over 3.3 million people across 636 square kilometres.

A Call for Greater Ambition

Former Barcelona mayor Joan Clos, who led the city from 1997 to 2006, was a keynote speaker and offered a stark critique of the AMB’s origins.

“I think it was born with little ambition,” Clos stated, according to reports in El Periódico.
“In size and population, it is exactly the same as the municipality of Madrid.”

Clos argued that this limited scope was an “original sin,” creating an instrument unable to efficiently solve the wider region’s real problems. He pointed to Catalonia’s demographic trajectory as a key driver for change.

“We have gone from a Catalonia of six million to one of eight, and now we are on the way to nine,”

he warned, urging attendees not to be alarmed but to plan accordingly.

The Five Million Inhabitant Metropolis

The SBEES report, echoed by its president Josep Sánchez Llibre, outlines a vision for a metropolitan area encompassing up to 165 towns and cities, uniting a population of five million.

“The metropolis is the true framework from which to face the challenges of the present and our future,”

Sánchez Llibre declared, framing the expansion as an inevitable evolution.

Fèlix Riera, director of SBEES, described the metropolis as a “pre-political fact,” a living entity that exists beyond “strictly legal, administrative, or partisan constructions.” He argued that issues like mobility, security, housing, tourism, and healthcare have evolved over the last 15 years in a way that demands a coordinated regional response. The report suggests this larger scale would “facilitate a better response to common challenges in an area cohesive through the constant relationship between its different cities.”

Housing and Mobility at the Forefront

To address the burgeoning population, Clos called for an ambitious public housing programme. He advocated for a public housing stock of one million homes, which would represent about 25% of the total, insisting that there is sufficient space within the 4,000 square kilometres of the broader metropolitan region to accommodate them.

Mobility emerged as the other critical challenge. The report calls for a target of 85% sustainable journeys, with a renewed focus on the Rodalies de Catalunya commuter rail network and interurban buses. Clos specifically highlighted the urgency of rethinking key infrastructure in the face of climate change. He cited the R1 Rodalies line, which runs along the Maresme coastline, as a pressing concern.

“Whether it has to stay on the beach or move to the second line of the sea, work must be done now, even if it takes 15 years to adapt the line,”

the former mayor cautioned, as reported by El Nacional.

A Familiar Political Hurdle

The push for a ‘Greater Barcelona’ is not a new concept; other major civic and business groups, including Barcelona Global and the Cercle d’Economia, have also backed it. However, it has repeatedly stumbled over political hurdles.

Former mayor Ada Colau raised the issue six years ago but met resistance from many of the Socialist mayors in the surrounding municipalities. Her successor, current mayor Jaume Collboni, has also embraced the proposal but has similarly struggled to build a consensus. Perhaps underlining the topic’s continued political sensitivity, no current elected officials or AMB representatives attended the Foment del Treball event.

As the debate continues, proponents argue that the functional reality of daily commutes, economic ties, and shared social challenges already defines a metropolis far larger than its administrative borders recognise.