Consortium for Future Clínic – University of Barcelona Health Campus Launched
Barcelona, January 12, 2026 – A decisive step forward for the future Clínic – University of Barcelona Health Campus has been taken with the formal constitution of the Consorci Porta Diagonal – Campus Clínic. This body, which will govern and coordinate the project’s development, held its inaugural session on Monday at the Saló de Sant Jordi of the Palau de la Generalitat. Its mission is to pilot and execute all necessary actions to bring the new campus to fruition.
The meeting was presided over by the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, accompanied by Albert Dalmau, Minister of the Presidency; Sílvia Paneque, Minister of Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition; Olga Pané, Minister of Health; Núria Montserrat, Minister of Research and Universities; Eva Giménez, Secretary General of the Presidency; Juli Fernández, Secretary General of Economy and Finance; and representatives from other consortium members. Also in attendance were Jaume Collboni, Mayor of Barcelona; David Quirós, Mayor of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat; Eduard Sanz, Mayor of Esplugues de Llobregat; Josep Maria Campistol, General Director of Hospital Clínic Barcelona; Joan Guàrdia, Rector of the University of Barcelona (UB); Lluïsa Moret, President of the Barcelona Provincial Council; Alfredo García, Director of the Catalan Health Service-CatSalut; and Damià Calvet, Vice President of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (AMB), among others.
Strategic Project for Catalonia
The consortium builds upon the work already accomplished by the Joint Monitoring Commission and sets the course for the construction of the new Clínic – University of Barcelona Health Campus. This ambitious project will encompass a new hospital, the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of the University of Barcelona, and other healthcare, university, scientific, and research facilities. It is deemed a strategic initiative that will position Catalonia as a leading European country in the field of health, with a firm commitment to quality healthcare, biomedical innovation, university education, and research.
The constitutive session also served to initiate the work begun in recent months, address upcoming milestones, and define the objectives for the current year. The consortium will play a central role in the tenders and operational management of the development phases for the various projects to be undertaken. It will also function as a technical, operational, and management office to drive its implementation and material execution at all levels.
Land Acquisition and New Pharmacy Faculty
In addition to the consortium’s launch, a significant development is expected tomorrow. The Executive Council will approve the protocol signed by the Generalitat and the University of Barcelona for the acquisition of the properties located at Avinguda Diagonal, 695-797 (the current UB Sports Service), where the new Clínic-UB Health Campus will be situated. This approval greenlights an essential step for the construction of the complex.
The protocol stipulates that the purchase will be formalized before December 31 for an amount of 135.25 million euros. The UB will retain possession of the properties and the activities carried out there until 2030 – or one year earlier if the Generalitat requires it – at which point construction is expected to commence.
Furthermore, the Government will grant a direct subsidy of up to 17.5 million euros to the UB to partially finance the construction of the new Faculty of Pharmacy, valued at over 152 million euros. The new faculty will not be located within the new campus complex but will be situated nearby, on university land, and will work closely with it. It will be unique in the Catalan public university system, becoming a strategic facility to strengthen training and research in a key sector for the pharmaceutical and biomedical industry, featuring modern spaces, state-of-the-art laboratories, and a clear international vocation.
International Architectural Competition and Urban Planning
A highlight of the consortium’s 2026 Action Plan is the international project competition for the new campus, which has been brought forward. In recent months, the Government has accelerated efforts to launch the call next July, six months earlier than initially planned. This process aims to attract the best proposals and ideas from architects worldwide for the architectural and urban planning implementation of the future campus’s various functional programs. It will coincide with Barcelona being the World Capital of Architecture, and its terms will incorporate proposals from the Master’s in Hospital Architecture organized by Hospital Clínic, the University of Barcelona, and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia.
The process will begin shortly with the publication of a prior indicative announcement detailing the scope of the call, with the formal call in July. The first phase, involving team presentations and technical accreditation, will run from September to November. Subsequent elimination stages will follow: ten teams selected to develop initial proposals until April 2027, five teams with detailed proposals until December 2027, and, if necessary, a final phase with two teams for corrections and improvements. The winner will be decided in the first quarter of 2028 and awarded a contract worth approximately 109 million euros.
Participating teams must be multidisciplinary, with profiles in architecture, engineering, and specialists in sustainability, energy efficiency, BIM, logistics, neuro-architecture, medical equipment, and other key areas to ensure an innovative, functional, and humanized project. The jury will consist of ten people (six architects, three engineers, and one CatSalut representative) and will be supported by over 35 technicians and institutional representatives from the Generalitat, CatSalut, Hospital Clínic, UB, IDIBAPS, ISGlobal, and the involved municipalities.
The Generalitat is also working on the Urban Planning Master Plan (PDU) that will regulate the future campus and its surroundings. This instrument will be drafted and processed between this year and 2027. Subsequently, the construction projects for the new campus would be developed between 2027 and 2028, leading to the tendering and execution of works, which are expected to begin in 2030. The PDU is inspired by preliminary studies conducted by Barcelona Regional on behalf of the involved municipalities, the Provincial Council, and the AMB. These provide structuring criteria for defining the area with a vision of sustainable and resilient metropolitan centrality, with the new campus as a major catalyst for transformation.
The campus will bring together healthcare, teaching, and research in a single 300,000 m² space, aiming to position Barcelona among the leading biomedical hubs in Europe and worldwide. This complex urban operation involves the reconversion of the current UB sports fields and the creation of a mixed urban environment with housing, facilities, green spaces, and economic activity linked to life sciences. The project seeks to transform an urban void into a vibrant city area.
Proposed criteria include improved accessibility with extensive public transport options, a new L3 metro station, and the transformation of major road infrastructures into metropolitan avenues, shifting from barriers to civic axes. A network of civic axes and green corridors connecting Collserola with the city is also planned, promoting active mobility and reducing environmental impact. The project advocates for an integrated energy system, carbon-neutral, and a resilient neighborhood against climate emergency, with efficient water cycle management, reduction of the heat island effect, and presence of greenery.
Concurrently, the aim is to foster synergies with hospitals, research centers, and companies in the sector, consolidating the Diagonal Health Axis and connecting with the Bellvitge Innovation and Health Biocluster. This metropolitan network will link institutions such as Sant Joan de Déu, the Barcelona Science Park, the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, and biomedical companies, generating a hub of innovation and specialized economic activity. The future campus will not only be a healthcare space but also a driving force for training, research, and technology transfer, with an urban structure capable of accommodating mixed uses and productive activities linked to the health ecosystem.
Metro Works and Urbanization in 2028
The project timeline reviewed today highlights a significant moment: the second half of 2028, when two major interventions are scheduled to begin. One is the metro works. Currently, an update to the project for the extension of metro Line 3 from Zona Universitària, in Barcelona, to Esplugues Centre is being drafted to serve the new campus in the Diagonal avenue area. Last November, the Department of Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition awarded its drafting for 4.5 million euros. The document is expected to be ready by the end of the year for works to begin in the second half of 2028.
The first phase of this extension will be approximately 2.5 kilometers long and will include two new stations in Esplugues de Llobregat: Sant Joan de Déu and Esplugues-Centre, in Santa Magdalena square, opposite the City Hall, as well as a maneuvering track as the end of the line. The project, with an estimated overall budget of around 500 million euros, is part of the Barcelona Metropolitan Region Infrastructure Master Plan 2021-2030 and is crucial for strengthening metropolitan connectivity and responding to the new mobility demand associated with the future campus in the Diagonal area. In this context, the project update will allow for the analysis of possible route adjustments and ensure railway access to this new health and knowledge hub, with the extension expected to enter service coinciding with the commissioning of the new hospital facilities.
The second half of 2028 is also when the execution of the necessary infrastructure and urbanization works are expected to begin, in preparation for the campus construction to start in 2030. This step is crucial to prepare the ground and ensure that all basic services – mobility, energy, telecommunications, and environmental management – are coordinated and adapted to the needs of the future Clínic – UB Campus.
The actions include improving road and public transport connectivity, deploying efficient and sustainable energy networks, strengthening telecommunications, optimizing the water cycle and waste treatment, and designing green and accessible public spaces. All of this should enable an orderly transformation, with sustainability criteria and urban integration that responds to healthcare, teaching, and research functions.
Functional and Space Plan by July 2026, Campus Operational by 2035
Another document being developed is the functional and space plan for the new Clínic – University of Barcelona Health Campus, essential for establishing healthcare, teaching, and research needs and ensuring the overall coherence of the project and the interrelation of all its components. Preliminary studies are already available to guide the drafting of the definitive plan. The plan will organize a projected area of 300,000 m² and will be developed under criteria of innovation, sustainability, and efficiency. According to the established timeline, the definitive document will be completed by July 2026.
Overall, the planning of the surroundings and the construction of the hospital and research and academic centers outline a timeline for the inauguration and commissioning of the future campus in 2035. All of this, with a global investment forecast for the campus itself currently estimated at around 1.7 billion euros. In the same year, the new metro station in the vicinity of the new campus should also be completed and operational. Until then, Hospital Clínic will progressively and adaptively transform its current headquarters on Villarroel Street and its surroundings, as well as other buildings used by the Hospital Clínic Consortium, depending on the definition of the future overall healthcare program and the needs of other municipal facilities.
The transformation will allow Hospital Clínic to consolidate its current position as a reference facility, with maximum clinical and high-tech capacity, closely linked to university education and scientific research, making it one of the most important healthcare complexes in the country and Europe. In addition to the facilities of the new Hospital Clínic Barcelona, the Diagonal Health Axis will host the new Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of the University of Barcelona and several leading research centers. Along with the Sant Joan de Déu Campus, the UB Barcelona Science Park, and the Zona Universitària, the Clínic Campus is one of the most ambitious strategic projects Catalonia faces over the next decade. This makes it a backbone of society from the perspective of excellence in the conception of public services, and gives it an institutional reference position that extends beyond the healthcare framework.
Source: clinicbarcelona.org
