Elisabetta Morrielli is Italian and has lived in Barcelona since 2009. She lived and studied in Rome, until she traveled to Montpellier to study a master’s degree. Her passion was project management and gender issues and she had the opportunity to go live and work with UNICEF in Bissau (Guinea Bissau). Upon having her first child, she moved to Paris and finally to Cali (Colombia) where she spent two years and where her second child was born. She arrived in Barcelona 11 years ago. Since 2020, she has been a HR consulting partner at Globalpacta, an international firm of lawyers, consultants and economists. “People are my passion and I am dedicated to providing services to companies in their talent management, HR projects and organizational changes,” she says.
Why did you choose Barcelona?
I came to Barcelona for the first time in 2009 as the wife of an expatriate, with a total ignorance of the culture and history of Catalonia. I immediately fell in love with this city and what had to be a parenthesis in my life became a stable project. Barcelona offered me the opportunity to train in a business school, have a professional life with local and international responsibilities, a social and cultural life and also enjoy day-to-day life as a family. Actually, it was in 2016, after having lived a year in Milan, when I chose Barcelona as my stable base: I decided to return for the quality of life, professional opportunities, friendships and because this is the city where my children grew up and where I know they will always see me again, wherever they live.
What aspects of the city would you highlight as positive?
From the first moment I felt at home. Spanish culture is very similar to Italian: being with the family, eating well, making the most of every moment of life, going out for a drink with friends. Barcelona is a relatively small city where it is easy to get around, well organized, culturally active and modern at the same time, with a charming historic center (its modernist architecture is fascinating). What struck me the most was that the people of Barcelona are very open to multiculturalism. Here you never feel judged by how you look, how you dress, your accent or the color of your skin.
What aspects of the city need to be improved?
Barcelona deserves more security and quality tourism. I would like to see the people of Barcelona enjoy the city center again; that the beach of Barcelona and its historic center are a place where you can take a quiet walk with the family by day or by night. That companies, tourists and locals coexist and enjoy their center together. On the other hand, we must take advantage of the talent we have in the city. I would like to see more initiatives for people of diverse origins to come work or develop their business.
What do you think are the strengths of the city to overcome the crisis generated by COVID-19?
It is the people who make the difference. The quality of life that we have in Barcelona makes it incredibly attractive for both young people and people with more experience. Barcelona is a creative city, which has all the potential to be a pioneer in innovating in many areas and developing a more sustainable tourism and economy.
What challenges do you think the city faces once the health emergency has subsided?
Many people have suffered and are suffering from the crisis, welfare policies have not been accompanied by initiatives focused on sustaining the economy. It is the companies that create jobs…. Let’s support hiring in this period of crisis, let us help the self-employed to maintain and develop their business, and the entrepreneurs to create the businesses that interest us for the Barcelona of the future.
What do you expect from Barcelona in the coming years?
I imagine a technologically advanced city, with hubs of startups in the medical sector, technology, the environment … The talent will allow the city to be transformed into a place where there will be tourism and a more sustainable economy, the city will be more of the people of Barcelona, whether they are natives or ‘Barcelonian by choice’.
What do you feel is your city? What do you miss the most?
It is difficult to answer this question. I surely feel Roman but my city is Barcelona. What I miss the most is, without a doubt, my family in Rome. All the rest I have here in Barcelona.
