Sant Cugat

Introducing Sant Cugat

Sant Cugat is a small, vibrant city located a few kilometers away from Barcelona, across the mountain and the Collserola Park. It can be easily reached from the city center of Barcelona, but the existence of a natural park in between has allowed it to maintain a completely independent character.

Most of the city centre is for pedestrians only, what gives the town an enchanting atmosphere, full with cafes and shops.

Sant Cugat is both, a historic place with medieval reminiscences (the jewel being one of the best-conserved Benedictine Monasteries in Europe, known to exist since 878); and a thriving modern town hosting several high-level education facilities (among them ESADE) as well as technological, bio, Internet, and software companies.

Among the most important of such companies are HP, Sharp, EDS Electronics, GFT Iberia Solutions, Group Intercom, Ferrer, Roche, Boehringer Ingelheim, Delphi, Lubrizol, Conei, Indo, Gestetener, Spanish Radio & TV, and many others. There are several entrepreneurship areas in the city (among them Creapolis and @Sant Cugat) and it is one of the poles of the Catalonia Innovation Triangle, hosting several of its campuses and at a few steps from the Alba Synchrotron facility and the campus of the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Sant Cugat also hosts the olympic athletes’ training center and the Historic Archives of Catalunya.

Unemployment in Sant Cugat is among the lowest in Spain. Sant Cugat is also one of the youngest cities in Europe, with an average age in the early thirties. A complete demographics and economic analysis of the city (indicators evolution) is published every year by the association of the local-companies CEOs, Sant Cugat Tribuna.

The city’s emphasis is put too on keeping it environment-friendly and green: there is one tree for every 1.4 citizens, and has immediate access to the forrest where to walk in one of the countless trails. Sant Cugat is one of the few Smart Cities of Europe, where technology is put to the service of recycling, reducing pollution, and noise.

The city was recently distinguished for having one of the most advanced administrations in Europe (2009 European Prize for Public Administration, 2011 Spanish Prize for Quality in Public Services) and for being the most transparent Spanish city (2009 & 2010 City Transparency Award).

Its I+D+i focus, together with its hospitality and the quality of its services, make of Sant Cugat an excellent place for thought.

Some summary numbers

* 51% of the population has university studies * 89% of the houses are connected to Internet * 25% of the population has less than 18 years * Highest natality in Spain * Age average of 36.5 years * 1.3 (urban) trees and 20 m2 of park area per inhabitant, with more than 50% of the Sant Cutat area being either a urban park or part of the forrest (source: City Hall).

The places of the Forum

The old benedictine abbey of Sant Cugat was the most important Monastery of the county of Barcelona. The cloister was constructed by 1190, by Arnau Cadell. The current church construction started in the XII century, and as others, progressed slowly. The facade was to be finished in 1337, but several chapels inside were finished around 1700. Thus, its style starts being romanic and ends being gothic. Its name honor Cugat (Cucuphas, in English) a Sicilian who preached the Christian faith in what is nowadays Catalunya, around the third century, in the midst of the cruel Diocletian Persecution (303–11), and is supposed to be martyred at the spot. The cloister is extremely well preserved, and most capitals (featuring aspects of the monks’ lives and stories from the Bible) can be appreciated today almost as they were about a thousand years ago. The Monastery is now a national monument, and hosts a very interesting museum. The cloister of the Monastery usually hosts the welcoming cocktail. The Teatre Auditori (founded in 1993) hosted the Inaugural Talk of the Forum, with a capacity for 788 persons in two floors. Usual house for the Sant Cugat Symphonic Orchestra, it presents many other shows, concerts, and operas, throughout the year; check the corresponding program while you are here.

Right in front of the Monastery, surrounded by trees, the Casa de Cultura is the local place for small-sized concerts, meetings, and art exhibitions. The Casa de Cultura usually hosts the sessions of the Forum.

A google map with the usual places of the Forum meetings can be accessed here.