President Salvador Illa begins California tour focused on tech and audiovisual ties

Salvador Illa begins an official four-day visit to California on Wednesday, aimed at building links with Silicon Valley and Hollywood, as his government seeks to position Catalonia as a hub for technology, artificial intelligence and audiovisual production.

Speaking on arrival in San Francisco, Illa said the delegation's "packed schedule" would focus on building cooperation in the technology, research and audiovisual production sectors.

"There will be an important agreement that we will sign in relation to the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, another agreement on cooperation in water resources, a visit to California government authorities, as well as a meeting at [Stanford] University and several important meetings with companies in the audiovisual and technology sectors," he said.

In addition, he aims to reaffirm, update and strengthen the memorandum of cooperation that Catalonia and California signed in 2015, with "a spirit of collaboration and not confrontation."

Agenda

Salvador Illa travels to California alongside Catalonia's foreign affairs minister, Jaume Duch, and research and universities minister, Núria Montserrat, marking 40 years of institutional ties and cooperation between the two territories.

In San Francisco, he will meet tech executives and visit companies including Plug and Play, Super Micro Computer, NVIDIA and SiFive, as well as several startups in Silicon Valley.

He will also meet students and researchers at Stanford University, including the Stanford Mussallem Center for Biodesign, which collaborates with Barcelona's Hospital Sant Joan de Déu.

The second day will focus on institutional meetings, including talks with California Senate leader Monique Limón and Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis, with the aim of renewing and updating cooperation agreements first signed in 2015.

He will also visit the Institute of Water Resources and the Berkeley Artificial Intelligence Research Lab, as well as Artesa Winery, owned by Catalan producer Codorníu.

In Los Angeles, Illa will meet film and television industry leaders including Lionsgate and The Walt Disney Company to promote Catalonia's Catalunya Media City project as an audiovisual hub.

He will also visit Catalan pharmaceutical company Grifols, meet Higher Ground Productions – founded in 2018 by Barack Obama and Michelle Obama – and conclude the trip at the Getty Center before meeting members of the Catalan community in Los Angeles.

Teachers' strike

Speaking in San Francisco, Illa also said he hoped talks between the Catalan government and teachers' unions would help resolve the ongoing education strike dispute, while urging caution about expectations for the negotiations.