Institutional information

Turisme de Barcelona organisational structure and names of the people in charge:

In order to perform its functions, and develop its activity, the Consortium of Turisme de Barcelona has an internal organisation. In this section, you will find information on the Consortium's organisation and management:

Organisation Chart of the Consortium of Turisme de Barcelona. See pdf (only in Catalan).

The current Director General of the Consortium of Turisme de Barcelona is Mr Mateu Hernández Maluquer, appointed by the General Council of the Consortium at its meeting of 18 December 2023. Mateu Hernández holds a law degree from the University of Barcelona, a Master's degree in Public Policy from Pompeu Fabra University and a PADE from IESE. Previously he has been Director of Internationalisation of Casa Batlló (2003), the first General Director of Barcelona Global (2011-2022), Manager of Economic Promotion of Barcelona City Council (2009-2022) and General and Executive Director of Barcelona Activa (2003-2009). He has also been an advisor to the strategic plans of NYC, Turin and Oslo.

In accordance with article 18 of the Statutes of the Consortium, the Director General is the highest body in the day-to-day executive management of the Consortium, and is appointed and dismissed by the General Council, at the behest of the Executive Committee.

Functions of the Director General:

• To administer and oversee the day-to-day management of the Turisme de Barcelona Consortium, in accordance with the provisions of the Statutes and the functions entrusted to them and powers given to them by the Executive Committee.
• To manage the services, works and buildings of the Consortium, under the authority and supervision of the Executive Committee.
• To execute the agreements of the Consortium’s governing bodies.
• To undertake all kinds of commissions, contracts and legal transactions that fall within their remit.
• To hire and dismiss staff, and to exercise the necessary disciplinary authority over them, without prejudice to the duties of the Executive Committee in accordance with article 15.9 of the Statutes.
• To prepare the documentation to be submitted to the Executive Committee for its deliberation and approval.
• To appear and act before all kinds of legal and administrative bodies and any local government or public bodies. In emergency situations, to exercise and implement judicial and administrative actions and appeals and take the necessary legal and administrative proceedings in defence of the rights and interests of the Consortium, without prejudice to their subsequent ratification by the Executive Committee during the next scheduled session.
• To inform diligently the governing bodies of the Turisme de Barcelona Consortium about the actions and matters concerning the running of the Consortium, which these governing bodies should be made aware of due to their importance. 
• All the other representative, administrative and management roles conferred on them in the Statutes as well as those entrusted to them by the Consortium’s governing bodies and the CEO of the General Council or Executive Committee.

In-house organisational structure naming the members of the General Council and the Executive Committee:

The Consortium's governing bodies are the General Council and the Executive Committee.

The General Council is the Consortium’s highest governing body, and has the capacity to adopt, within its remit, as many resolutions as it deems appropriate to ensure it is run efficiently and to achieve its goals and objectives. The General Council is chaired by the mayor of Barcelona. Today, the President of the General Council is the Honourable Jaume Collboni i Cuadfrado.

• Members of the General Council. See pdf (only in Catalan).

The Executive Committee is the permanent executive governing and administrative body of the Turisme de Barcelona Consortium, which has the broadest powers in the judicial and economic sphere, except for those powers entrusted to the General Council. The CEO of the Executive Committee is the CEO of the Barcelona Official Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Services and Shipping and they can delegate responsibilities to a member of the Plenary Assembly who is a General Council member. Today, the President of the Executive Committee is Mr. Jordi Clos i Llombart.

• Members of the Executive Committee. See pdf (only in Catalan).

Normative framework and functions attributed to the organisation through the publication of the Statutes  

Normative Framework

The Turisme de Barcelona Consortium is an independent associative legal entity, of a voluntary nature, constituted for an indefinite period of time and comprising Barcelona City Council, the Barcelona Official Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Services and Shipping and the Barcelona Promoció Foundation. 

It was founded on 8 September 1993 by the Barcelona City Council, the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Navigation of Barcelona and the Foundation for the Promotion of Barcelona.

The Consortium's actions fall within the framework of its applicable regulation:

• Statutes of the Consortium of Turisme de Barcelona, published in the Official Gazette of the Province (B.O.P.) of Barcelona, of 19 November 2021. See pdf (only in Catalan).
•  More specifically, article 60 of Law 22/1998, of 30th December, of the Barcelona Municipal Charter: articles 269 to 271 of Legislative Decree 2/2003, of 28th April, which approved the rewritten text of the Municipal and Local Law of Catalonia; by articles 312 to 324 of the Regulations Governing Works, Activities and Services in Local Bodies, approved by Decree 179/1995, of 13th June; and Law 9/2017, of 8th November, on Public Sector Contracts.

The Turisme de Barcelona Consortium has its own legal status distinct from that of its members, with separate assets, and has the full capacity to act to attain its objectives and goals.

Without prejudice to raising its profile in Spain and abroad, the Turisme de Barcelona Consortium’s preferred field of action is the city of Barcelona and its area of influence as a tourist destination.

Functions

In accordance with article 5 of the Statutes of the Turisme de Barcelona Consortium, its objective is to carry out promotional activities and to foster tourism and the visitor economy in the city of Barcelona and its area of influence as a tourist destination, taking into account sustainable tourism criteria.

The Turisme de Barcelona Consortium is able to take the appropriate actions of procurement, administration, recruitment and other provisions in order to fulfil its final objectives and goals, in accordance with the Statutes and applicable legislation. To this effect, and without limitation, the Turisme de Barcelona Consortium is authorised to undertake the following duties:

• To manage its assets.
• To enter into commitments.
• To acquire, have possession of and lease rights and moveable and immoveable assets, to have access to them, to encumber them, mortgage them, make pledges and provide other guarantees.
• To accept inheritances, legacies and donations, pure or onerous, and to obtain grants and subsidies from public and private persons of any kind.
• To approve the issuing of loans, with or without a guarantee, investments, and to arrange different types of credit operations.
• To recruit staff, issue tenders for building work, services and supplies.
• To award prizes, grants and subsidies and implement all the promotional actions and initiatives deemed necessary.
• To have recourse to and to exercise the necessary judicial and administrative actions to defend its rights and interests.

Moreover, and to better achieve its objectives, the Turisme de Barcelona Consortium is able to:

• Pursue commercial and industrial activities associated with its objectives and goals.
• Set up mercantile companies as well as any other kind of legal entity, in Spain or abroad, and/or to take part in them.
• To undertake all kinds of agreements with public and private administrations, entities and institutions, from Spain or abroad, in pursuit of its objectives.

In general, the Turisme de Barcelona Consortium can carry out the functions mentioned in the Statutes, either directly or indirectly, though mercantile companies or any other type of legal entity, in accordance with the applicable legislation.

The Consortium can approve the internal regulations it deems appropriate.

List of executives:

The current Director General of the Barcelona Tourism Consortium is Mr Mateu Hernández Maluquer, appointed by the General Council of the Consortium at its meeting of 18 December 2023. Mateu Hernández holds a law degree from the University of Barcelona, a Master's degree in Public Policy from Pompeu Fabra University and a PADE from IESE. Previously he has been Director of Internationalisation of Casa Batlló (2003), the first General Director of Barcelona Global (2022-2022), Manager of Economic Promotion of Barcelona City Council (2009-2022) and General and Executive Director of Barcelona Activa (2003-2009). He has also been an advisor to the strategic plans of NYC, Turin and Oslo.

Code of Good Practice:

Turisme de Barcelona's Code of Conduct and Responsible Practice was approved by the consortium's executive committee at a session held on 3rd October 2018. See pdf (only in Catalan).

The objective of the code is to determine the principles, ethical values and standards of behaviour the consortium and all its members have to uphold in performing their duties, and to regulate the system for following up and assessing the code in order to guarantee its efficiency.

The aim of the code is to guarantee the impartiality, transparency and ethical behaviour of the consortium in carrying out its respective professional duties and responsibilities. It is also used to regulate the respective relationships and interactions with other professionals, associates, clients, etc., and in the wider domain.

Institutional declaration against fraud in the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. See pdf (only in Catalan).