Eight major debate topics, eight local expert tips to analyze them, and a final gathering that brings them all together in Valencia’s City of Arts and Sciences today, Wednesday, June 26, and tomorrow, Thursday. The Valencia capital hosts this event as the culmination of six months of deep reflection aimed at unpacking the economic, social, and cultural details of a region that groups eleven provinces, home to forty one percent of the country’s population and generating forty percent of the national GDP. This Mediterranean arc seeks to establish itself as an international reference through the Mediterranean Economic and Social Forum, a bold initiative led by Prensa Ibérica in collaboration with the FundaciónLa Caixa.
Eight councils have been led by each one of the eight newspapers where Prensa Ibérica operates along the Mediterranean coast. These publications include El Periódico, Diari de Girona, Levante-EMV, Información, Mediterráneo, Diario de Mallorca, La Opinión de Murcia, and La Opinión de Málaga. All of them publish their conclusions in Valencia. About 1,500 participants are expected, including academics, national and international speakers, business leaders, political figures, and civil society representatives who will share insights to promote solid and sustainable progress in the region. The forum will welcome the participation of the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez.
Governments, companies, and civil society converge in a single event to propel the Mediterranean’s economic and social development with a comprehensive vision: territory, progress, and people. The forum will address timely topics affecting all communities in the Mediterranean arc, such as water, energy and industry, tourism and climate change, the real estate market, the city of the future, mobility, and the blue economy.
These communities lead in water reuse. The Valencian Community stands out as the autonomous community with the highest amount of reused water, while the Region of Murcia leads in the share of treated wastewater reuse, reaching up to ninety percent of treated wastewater depending on local measurements. In 2023 the region welcomed fifty five point two million visitors and its logistics are strengthened by ports like Algeciras, Valencia, and Barcelona. Four of Spain’s five busiest airports also serve the Mediterranean axis, including Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat, Palma de Mallorca, Málaga, and Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández. The axis concentrates a large share of international real estate investment and acts as a driving force for Spanish exports alongside the Community of Madrid.
The Mediterranean axis faces significant challenges despite its strengths, notably the completion of the promised Mediterranean Corridor by 2030 after years of delays, the delicate balance of regional financing in national politics amid ongoing negotiations between the PSOE and ERC and Junts for the formation of the state government and then the regional administrations, and the push for renewable energy to support ecological transition along with the effects of mass tourism. The meeting follows Barcelona city’s decision to phase out all tourist housing in 2029 and the tightening of new tourist housing licenses in Málaga.
The Mediterranean axis is also touched by global phenomena such as immigration and climate change, which affect agriculture and accelerate drought. Just last month Catalonia emerged from a drought emergency and began easing water-use restrictions thanks to recent rainfall. Reservoirs in Catalonia’s inland basins sit at thirty six point nine percent of capacity, and many coastal towns in Catalonia will be able to use public and private pools with some exceptions like Roses and Cadaqués. The regional government maintains exceptional rules for inland towns in Girona.
The Mediterranean Corridor, set to become the future backbone of these communities by linking rail with Europe, is a historic demand that has united politicians of various stripes, business leaders, and civil society to bolster freight and passenger transport. The I Mediterranean Economic and Social Forum will provide a firsthand view of the status of this major infrastructure. The Algeciras to Stockholm corridor covers three thousand five hundred kilometers, connects two hundred forty five million people, and accounts for sixty six percent of the European Union’s GDP.
This investment seeks not only to complete high speed rail and freight connections between the French border and Algeciras but also to connect future cities by prioritizing citizen-centered mobility. Cities that combine attractive employment with cultural, sports, and educational offerings needed to create wealth and growth. At the core, education stands out with up to twenty six universities spread along a corridor rich in present and future opportunities.
Ponencias y mesas de debate
Led by Prensa Ibérica’s president, Javier Moll, and Fundación La Caixa’s director of Institutional Relations, Sergi Loughney, the event opens with Valencia’s mayor, Maria Jose Catalá, and the president of the Valencian Generalitat, Carlos Mazón. The economic ecosystem will be represented by Francisco Reynés, executive chairman of Naturgy, in dialogue with Albert Sáez, Prensa Ibérica’s director general of Contents. Sáez will also converse with Ángel Simón, Chief Executive Officer of Criteria. Among the speakers are renowned intellectuals such as Robert Kaplan, historian and journalist, and Mariana Mazzucato, professor at University College London.
The gathering will also feature a significant public sector presence. Beatriz Corredor, president of Redeia, will discuss with Gemma Robles, head of Prensa Ibérica’s content network. Maurici Lucena, chief executive of AENA, will speak with Robert Kaplan and Martí Saballs, Prensa Ibérica’s economic information director. José Bogas Gálvez, Endesa’s CEO, will address progress networks, while Iberdrola’s chief executive, Mario Ruiz-Tagle, engages with Juan Carlos Lozano, head of the Activos economic desk. Antonio Garamendi, president of the CEOE, will also participate.
European and cross-border perspectives will be represented by Nadia Calviño, president of the European Investment Bank, in conversation with Martí Saballs. The academic sector will play a major role as Hortensia Roig, president of EDEM business school, talks with Gemma Martínez. Javier García, a professor of inorganic chemistry at the University of Alicante, will discuss with Natàlia Ríos, head of the Activos newsroom. The program will also feature Shlomo Ben Ami, historian, politician, and diplomat, a member of the Royal Spanish Academy of History and cofounder of the Toledo International Centre for Peace.
All the experts who contributed to the councils will present their conclusions in Valencia. Málaga will present La ciudad mediterránea del futuro, led by La Opinión de Málaga. Murcia will present El Agua y la Energía, with La Opinión de Murcia at the helm. The Alicante council Desafíos inmobiliarios sostenibles will be showcased by Información. Castellón will present La nueva energía para la industria with Mediterráneo. Valencia will present Las nuevas redes de movilidad, led by Levante. Balearic Islands will tackle El turismo y el cambio climático with Diari de Mallorca. Barcelona will address La Economía azul, presented by El Periódico de Catalunya. Girona will cover Personas, prepared by Diari de Girona.
Although the topics vary, some shared conclusions emerge. There is a call to strengthen public-private collaboration, to establish long-term strategies, to reduce bureaucracy that hampers project execution, and to immediately implement plans for education, innovation, and technology that enable progress.
The event is made possible through the collaboration of Mercadona, Cepsa, Naturgy, Statkraft, Iberdrola, Avoris, Red Eléctrica, Agbar, Endesa, Boluda, Facsa, Renfe, CaixaBank, Pamesa, Fundación Pacha, Repsol, Aena, beBartlet, Generalitat de Catalunya, Ibiza, Govern de les Illes Balears, Región de Murcia, Generalitat Valenciana, Junta de Andalucía. It also has support from CHS, Ocean Ecostructures, Aedas Homes, Hozono Global, Sando, Aligrupo, Underwater Gardens, Goya Real Estate, TM Grupo Inmobiliario, Consell de Mallorca, and Ajuntament de Palma.