Barcala Seeks Investments for Alicante in Saudi Arabia

The Alicante City Council has established collaboration lines to attract investments and other cooperation projects with Jeddah, the second largest city in Saudi Arabia, within the framework of the Arab-European Cities Dialogue Forum (AECD 2025), which runs until Tuesday in Riyadh, the Saudi capital. Mayor Luis Barcala met this Sunday with his counterpart from Jeddah, Saleh Ali Al Turki, to advance these agreements, and on Monday he will meet with municipal leaders and businesspeople from Dubai, Damascus, Rabat, and Tangier with the same diplomatic goal of promoting Alicante as an ideal destination for attracting investments and other social, tourist, economic, and cultural links.

Barcala leads the Alicante delegation at this Arab-European Cities Dialogue Forum, which also includes the general director of Aguas de Alicante, Sergio Sánchez. The forum gathers more than 120 mayors from both geographical areas and over fifty development organizations and financial institutions under the motto 'Connecting Cities, Building Futures'. Representing Spain, and by invitation from the Saudi organizers, the mayors of Madrid, Malaga, Granada, and Marbella, as well as the deputy mayors of Barcelona and Córdoba, are also participating in the summit.

"It is a great opportunity to build bridges and create meeting points and collaboration between European and Arab cities with the aim of continuing to improve the quality of life in large urban areas and emphasizing sustainability," highlighted Barcala. "This forum also serves as a great showcase to promote Alicante's innovative commitment to responsible water use management in an increasingly demanding and challenging climate context," he added.

During the inaugural session of the meeting held on Sunday, the mayor outlined the "privileged conditions and multiple possibilities" that Alicante offers for attracting investments that continue "the process of transformation and development" the city is experiencing. "In this initial contact among participating mayors, we have addressed the programs and actions that concern us most, as well as the greatest achievements; and in Alicante's case, we have presented the urban, social, and structural transformation process, in terms of wealth and employment generation, that the city is currently undergoing," explained Barcala.

"In particular, on the social aspect," he added, "we have highlighted our policies to address the problems of population aging, the digital and generational divide, with the aim that our elderly are not alone, for which we are applying artificial intelligence to virtual assistants that help combat unwanted loneliness." In this area of action, Barcala also held a working meeting with Agata Krause, a specialist from the United Nations Habitat program for improving quality of life in cities and communities.

Within the framework of these bilateral municipal diplomacy meetings, the mayor has already met this Monday with the heads of Expocity Dubai, which is responsible for organizing the upcoming Asia-Pacific Cities Summit from October 27 to 29 this year, and with the mayor of Rabat, Asma Rhlalou. Barcala will also hold meetings with the mayors of Damascus and Tangier, among other cities participating in the forum.

Additionally, Barcala will speak this Tuesday at the closing session in a local action forum, where the mayor will explain the municipal strategy 'Alicante Circular Water' for maximizing water resource utilization, which the City Council develops alongside its technological partner Aguas de Alicante. This local action forum offers an interactive space for participating mayors and municipal officials to learn about and discuss government measures and innovative initiatives that improve quality of life in cities.

This interactive AECD workshop is titled 'Multilateral Governance and Successful Co-creation Processes' and will focus on the presentation of 'Alicante Circular Water' and another urban project from Rabat, considered by the organization "as initiatives of two cities recognized for their exemplary participation in decision-making and as examples of effective governance structures and successful participation strategies that have generated positive results in improving citizen participation and local development."

The AECD Forum is a global and regional platform that fosters cooperation, improves communication, and strengthens relationships between representatives of European and Arab cities and municipalities, including mayors, presidents, secretaries, and governors, with the participation of key international development actors such as urban organizations, municipal unions, and donor institutions.