Iberian Peninsula WTCA Members @ Inaugural Meeting
Every World Trade Center business has an amazing story to tell. And this was confirmed with the decades-old tales that were shared during our latest sub-regional meeting: the first-ever meeting of the Iberian Peninsula WTCA Members on Wednesday, January 24. WTC businesses that have been around for dozens of years, as well as others that have newly joined a few months ago, gathered for fantastic discussions and to exchange ideas.
The day started with a visit to World Trade Center Almeda Park, an international trade, service and business park located in CornellĂ de Llobregat, Spain. WTC Almeda Park has been in operation since June 2004 and is made of 7 properties owned by UBS, Merlin Properties Socimi and Abrdn. Their facility manager, Cushman & Wakefield, has been particularly active over the past few years in organizing events for all tenants on its main square, and in implementing SDG-focused initiatives such as blood donations, clothing drives with Humana and fun activities with the elderly.
The group was then welcomed at World Trade Center Barcelona for a tour of the premises and a roundtable discussion. With the Port of Barcelona as a major shareholder and original founder, World Trade Center Barcelona’s location is exceptional with views of the Catalan capital and the sea. Renovations are currently taking place for the facilities to look their best for the upcoming Copa del América — the famous boat race that will take place in Barcelona this summer.
The Iberian Peninsula is made of three countries, Spain, Portugal and the UK, where 8 WTC licenses are located — WTC Zaragoza, WTC Sevilla, WTC Barcelona, WTC Almeda Park, WTC Madrid, WTC Malaga, WTC Lisbon and WTC Gibraltar. With an influx of newcomers as well as the continued interest of long-time partners, the Peninsula is now trying to build new connections with the mainland as well as with Latin America. In this regard, we also introduced the group to Carlos Ronderos, the WTCA Regional Director, Latin America, to strategize and create connections together.
The main challenges our Members are faced with — apart from the complex geopolitical and financial tensions the world is currently facing — are in-office attendance and climate change. Such topics will surely be at the heart of future collaborations.
The WTCA European region keeps getting stronger every day as our Members collaborate, share experiences and create joint initiatives bringing value to the entire global network. We look forward to presenting the initiative that the Iberian Peninsula group of World Trade Center businesses will come up with, from Iberia to the world.