Last Wednesday 6^th November, GSM invited students to  visit the Chamber of Commerce in Barcelona. The Chamber’s building is located at Diagonal Street near the metro station. Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Navigation of Barcelona was created in 1886 to protect the public interest and achieve the common good of trade, industry and shipping. Manuel Girona in Agrafel was the first elected president.

Until now, the Chamber of Commerce has been part of the economic life of Catalonia and it’s history can be divided into three distinct phases: first, up to 1912, characterized by the lack of representation and lack of economic resource, secondly, between 1911 and 1967, when the institution was divided into Chamber of Industry and Chamber of Commerce and Navigation and was positioned to the events that marked the life of the country (Primo de Rivera, II Republic, Civil War and Francoism), and a third phase, from 1967, when the Chambers were reunited again.

We all gathered at 10 o’ clock at the entrance door. When we went inside, one of the staff guided us to the presentation room. Fortunately, the speaker started to talk about their business in English.

Here is a brief summary about the field of their activity:

Currently, the corporation provides support for entrepreneurs and looks after the interests of the companies against the government. It also  works with the aim of contributing to the development of human capital, the internationalization of enterprises and the promotion of the information society. Among the objectives of the Chamber are:

• Promotion of economic activity
• defense of the general interests of business
• study and analyze the economic and territorial
• make proposals for action on infrastructure and land use
• internationalized businesses
• inform and advise companies
• using trade and tourism
• innovate and promote new services
• train business people
• be in constant communication with businesses
• be a meeting point for companies

The presenter told us all the documents in the website are in Spanish or Catalan. That’s a negative point for an international organization which is trying to communicate with global companies. Otherwise, Students got useful information about doing business in Barcelona and Economic conditions which are helpful for starting the internship.

The Chamber offers many useful services to small and medium sized businesses and self employed individuals looking to expand abroad and foreign companies wanting to trade in Spain. Membership is free but companies pay for most of the services provided. There are collaborative events for many businesses at once but also made to measure agendas adapted to the specific needs of a company.

They also offer some of their seminars to introduce companies into the first steps to internationalise their business for free. This is a very useful resource for anyone wanting to do business abroad.

Last Tuesday, October 16, we had an outgoing activity with GSM Barcelona students. The program was planned by the university. 

In the morning, all the students gathered in Plaza España. Unfortunately some students didn’t arrive but there were still plenty of us to enjoy the trip. We arrived at the Freixenet factory at 9:30. That was located near Sant Sadurni D´Anola . It had a beautiful garden outside the building. The most interesting thing was a car in the shape of a wine bottle.

After half an hour, we went inside, there was a tour guide there. She welcomed us and asked us to watch a short video. they showed us a brief history of Freixenet, explaining when it was established and who were the founders of company.

We were taken to the old underground cellars where thousands of bottles were kept. She explained all the processes of how they make Cava, a sparkling wine.

The brand is exported to all parts of the world, over 100 million bottles a year from 3 wineries in Spain, Mexico and California. The company uses famous actors and singers in it’s worldwide advertising campaigns from Liza Minelli, Rachel Welsh, Pierce Brosnan, Meg Ryan, Shakira and many others.

We were taken for a ride on a small train to see the new underground cellars, build in the 1990s, that house over 150 million bottles. At the end of the tour, they gave us a taste of one their wines, called “Cordon Negro”. There was also a shop there, so we could buy their products like books on wines, gifts, clothing etc. and of course, bottles of wine.

After our tour we took the coach to Tarragona. Tarragona is a small and ancient town located about 100km from Barcelona. We enterered the old part of the city, surrounded by the remains of the Roman walls from 2,000 years ago when the city was founded. Terraco, as the city was then called, was the first Roman city in the whole of the Iberian Peninsula. It is believed that if you touch the wall and make a wish, you will receive good luck so everyone did it.

Inside the walls we saw Tarragona Cathedral, a very impressive building with beautiful moldings. We passed through the narrow streets until we entered the National Archaeological Museum located in Passeig sant Antoni.   There were many monuments from the Roman and Medieval period. Some of them were in a deteriorated condition due to the passage of time. We went up to the top of one of the building with a tower and we could see a local Forum which was used by the Romans as a place for political discussions. On the other side there was a Roman circus where chariot races would take place and gladiators would fight.  We then went to another monument by the sea, an Amphitheatre, where the Romans would watch plays and other entertaining acts. From there we had a marvelous view of the sea with the reflection of sunshine.

By this time we were all feeling a little hungry but our Director Dr. Tatiana Kompaniets had invited us all to her house for a buffet lunch. She has a lovely house with a beautiful garden right beside the beach. She had organized everything for us, we spent an unforgettable time together drinking and eating and talking about our personal experiences. Finally the bus returned to Plaza España and that was the end of our tour but we had our memories and a few bottles of Freixenet cava