Act I:Barcelona Takes the Stage

For Day 1, even the simple moment of meeting at the correct terminal already brought some drama, because of how complex Munich Airport can be. At that moment, excitement and the fear of missing the flight mixed together. We finally felt relieved as we sat in our seats on the plane — and voilà, we were on our way to Barcelona.
As I saw the Mediterranean Sea and heard the captain speaking Spanish, the excitement grew bigger and bigger. Then, there we were, landing at Aeroport de Barcelona-El Prat, in the Catalan capital: Barcelona.To be honest, I was already tired just from all the excitement, so we went straight to the Residència Universitària SIL. There, I took a nap and prepared for the mandatory dinner at Mirablau at 19:30.The dinner was absolutely fabulous. It was not only the food that made the evening special, but also the atmosphere, and especially the location of the restaurant. Mirablau is situated on a high point, which allowed us to enjoy a panoramic view over Barcelona as the sun went down.From there, the city seemed to unfold in layers: the buildings of Catalan Modernisme, the Gothic-inspired verticality visible in the Basílica de la Sagrada Família, and the contemporary shape of W Barcelona near the sea. Watching the sunset while enjoying seafood with colleagues in the restaurant was a feeling that cannot really be translated into words. It was rather a sensation seen in the eyes — and a motivation for the next adventure.
After dinner, the evening walk to Parc del Turó del Putxet gave the day a calmer ending. It was a simple walk, but it helped us arrive mentally in the city.The first day had started with airport tension and ended with Barcelona stretching out beneath us.

Act II: The Epic of Barcelona Activa

The next day, after getting our coffee on Carrer de la Llacuna — which, quite frankly, was one of the five best espressos I have ever had — it was “los geht’s” to Barcelona Activa HQ.
There, we had the honor of meeting Marc Sans Guanyabens, expert in international economics and economic diplomacy at the Catalonia Council. Discovering with him the history of Barcelona and Barcelona Activa, and understanding how the city is working to become “the Silicon Valley of Southern Europe,” was truly impressive.
What stood out to me was how Barcelona maintains this position through talent
management, both locally and internationally. It inspired admiration and emulation in me —, but not envy and jealousy ; ¡Dios no lo quiera! ; Rather, it was the kind of fire that comes from seeing something impressive and wanting to learn from it, contribute to it, and one day help build something similar. There was also a sense of compersion while walking with Sir Guanyabens through the corridors and offices of the startups located at Barcelona Activa, seeing how it supports young and talented people, gives them opportunities, provides them with financial support, and encourages them to become part of a world-leading ecosystem, especially in areas such as artificial intelligence, AI integration in marketing, medicine, factories, and digitalisation.
As I said, it is truly something to be proud of for Sir Guanyabens , for Barcelona Activa and Catalunya. For me, it created a feeling of admiration, together with the wish to one day have the same kind of opportunity, blessing, and competitive environment.Although I wished we could have spent more time there at Barcelona Activa, our stomachs had already started growling from hunger. So I went with my friends Timur, Koray, and Phat to have lunch: a Catalan chicken bocadillo ¡Qué rico! .
After that, the city tour gave us a different feeling of Barcelona. We passed through Gran Clariana, saw the Sagrada Família from the outside, and continued to the Recinte Modernista de Sant Pau. The Sagrada Família immediately caught our attention, even without going inside. Sant Pau, on the other hand, felt calmer and showed another elegant side of Barcelona’s architecture.

Act III — La Salle & Montjuïc: Where Knowledge Meets Landscape

Wednesday began with the pleasant shock of a city already fully awake. We arrived at La Salle Universitat — a private institution tucked into Barcelona's university quarter — to find a place that carries its reputation lightly, without needing to announce it. Dr. Joan Carles Peiro Ruiz, Director for Digital Transformation at VHIR, received us with the ease of someone who enjoys what he teaches. His first session unpacked the university's curriculum philosophy; his second pulled back the curtain on its deepening specialisation in Data Science — a field the institution has clearly decided to own.
What made the greatest impression, however, was not any single module or methodology. It was the institution's deliberate refusal to be inward-looking. La Salle has built ties with universities on several continents and maintains active partnerships with major companies in Barcelona and across Spain. The result is that students graduate into something more than a job market — they step into a network already moving, with employment not so much hoped for as expected. There is a quiet confidence in that promise, and it showed in every room we walked through.
The afternoon offered a different kind of lesson. We ascended Montjuïc and climbed to the summit, where the palace gives way to open sky and the full arc of Barcelona's coastline opens beneath you. The harbour, the sea, the horizon dissolving into haze — after a morning spent in lecture halls, there was something almost necessary about standing there, the city spread out below like a map drawn by someone who genuinely loved it. It was the kind of view that puts things in proportion.

Act IV — SEAT & Abat Oliba: Industry, Culture, and a Rooftop with a View

Thursday took us out of Barcelona entirely. The drive to SEAT headquarters takes roughly two hours, and the scale of the facility makes the journey feel earned. The plant receives visitors the way a cathedral receives pilgrims — with order, with purpose, and with the faint suggestion that something important happens here. Staff guided us through the full production sequence: individual components arriving, being assembled, refined, and eventually emerging as finished vehicles bound for the Port of Barcelona and the wider world beyond.
The degree of automation was the day's real revelation. Nearly every stage of the process has been entrusted to machines — robotic arms, precision systems, movements calibrated to the millimetre. Only a small number of tasks still require a human presence: interior finishing, certain elements of paintwork, the details that apparently still resist full mechanisation. Watching the line move with such quiet, relentless efficiency was a vivid reminder of where manufacturing is heading, and how little time that journey is taking.
The excursion ended at Abat Oliba University, a private institution founded thirty years ago with its focus on media and social sciences. The campus surprised us pleasantly — a photography studio, a handcrafted chapel, a generous open auditorium ideal for large events. Everything had been designed with attention, as though the people who built it had taken their time and meant what they made. But the detail that stayed with everyone was simpler than any of that: the rooftop café, open to the air, unhurried, looking directly out to sea. It was the kind of place that quietly persuades you to stay a little longer than you planned.