The Municipalities of Barcelona and Tunis signed a Twinning agreement on 1959. Currently, both municipalities are willing to translate this political relation into concrete actions. Aside from this initiative, the Barcelona Plan for International Cooperation for Development, Solidarity and Peace sets Tunis as a cooperation priority.

From 27 February until 1 March, a delegation of the Municipality of Barcelona visited the city of Tunis for a technical diagnostic mission in order to identify new possibilities of collaboration. The delegation involved Ms. Cristina Corredoira from the Global Justice and International Cooperation Direction and Mr. Toni Pujol, from the Urban Ecology Direction, who were accompanied by a representative of MedCities.

After successful meetings, technical visits and exchanges with different Municipal Directions as well as other local stakeholders such as the ASM Tunis (Association de Sauvegarde de la Médina), possible opportunities of collaboration in the fields of urban planning, green and public space, public markets management, waste recollection or public lighting were identified.

Finally, the two parts agreed on the definition of a visit of representatives from the Municipality of Tunis in Barcelona before April in order to further develop the fields of collaboration between both municipalities and define concrete actions.

This mission showed the willingness of the two cities to work for a stronger partnership and to establish a concrete framework for cooperation. MedCities welcomes these types of bilateral cooperation among its members.