Barcelona has inaugurated a pioneering new training centre in the Nou Barris district, designed to equip 1,000 people with disabilities with high-demand digital skills over the next four years. The project, named XTalent Digital, aims to bridge a significant employment gap and integrate more people into the city’s burgeoning tech sector.
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The centre, located in the Parc Tecnològic de Nou Barris, is a collaborative effort between the ONCE Foundation, the Barcelona City Council (through its economic development agency Barcelona Activa and the Municipal Institute for People with Disabilities, IMPD), and the regional Generalitat de Catalunya. The launch was strategically timed to precede next week’s MWC Barcelona, highlighting the city’s commitment to inclusive technological growth.
With a total investment of €1.2 million from the partner organisations, XTalent Digital has already been operational for nearly two months. This year alone, it will offer 25 specialised courses in fields such as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and data analysis. The model mirrors successful ONCE Foundation initiatives already running in Madrid and Valencia.
A Life-Changing Opportunity
The programme has already demonstrated its transformative potential through a successful pilot scheme. For Eva, a 50-year-old programmer with Crohn’s disease and a 68% recognised disability, it was a vital lifeline. She and her 21-year-old son, who is diagnosed with autism, both trained in programming at the centre.
“They have given me an opportunity to change my life and my son’s,” she explained in a conversation with 20minutos. “I have a lot of factors that everyone tells you are against you: having a physical disability and a neurodivergence, being an older woman in a sector that is the complete opposite, and I have shown that you can make it,” she said. “You just need the desire and to work hard.”
Bridging the Digital and Social Divide
The official inauguration on Thursday brought together key figures from politics and technology. Raquel Gil, the city’s Deputy Mayor and president of Barcelona Activa, emphasised the centre’s role in “guaranteeing real access to digital skills” and reducing both social and competency-based gaps. She framed the project as part of the municipal government’s goal to ensure that “all the talent that is born here can grow and find work here,” regardless of their capabilities.
Alberto Durán, executive vice president of the ONCE Foundation, stated that the initiative is crucial to prevent a new digital divide from compounding existing social inequalities. “We are not going to stop trying to ensure the new digital gap does not add to the existing social gap,” Durán affirmed, stressing that people with disabilities must be “protagonists in this type of training” to avoid greater social fracture.
Mònica Martínez Bravo, the Catalan government’s Councillor for Social Rights, hailed the project’s “transformative capacity” and urged people with disabilities to “not renounce their dreams.”
“This is not an isolated phenomenon, but part of a Catalan and Barcelona-based strategy to consolidate ourselves as a hub for talent and inclusion,” Martínez Bravo said.
John Hoffman, CEO of GSMA, the organisation behind MWC, also attended the launch. He called the centre a “powerful image” of an inclusive future of work. “We need you and we also need your skills,” Hoffman said, praising XTalent Digital as a prime example of public-private collaboration strengthening Barcelona’s digital ecosystem.
A Targeted Strategy for Inclusion
The creation of XTalent Digital aligns with the city’s Quality Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities 2025-2027. According to municipal data cited by Europa Press, people with disabilities currently represent 3.1% of the active population but only 2.8% of the employed. Their employment rate of 30.5% is 2.5 times lower than that of the general population.
This initiative also reinforces the city’s commitment to the Nou Barris district as a key player in Barcelona’s digital transformation. It joins other major training hubs in the Parc Tecnològic, including the 42 Barcelona programming school and the Cibernàrium technology centre. This focus on advanced technology complements wider regional goals, such as the ambitious plan where Catalonia Pledges €1 Billion for AI by 2030, ensuring everyone can access the benefits of this investment.
