Talento Gran Canaria gathers in Barcelona 60 professionals “proud” of the level of qualification of people from Gran Canaria

The initiative Talento Gran Canaria brought together in Barcelona 60 people from Gran Canaria who reside in the city and who were able to get to know each other and connect professionally in a relaxed environment at the 4th Afterwork gathering organised by the Gran Canaria Island Council (Cabildo) through the Corporation for the Economic Development of Gran Canaria (SPEGC).

Though many people from Gran Canaria work in Barcelona, most of those who attended had never met but many were “proud” of the fact that “there is so much talent from the island” in this city, where people such as Raúl Cabrera, in charge of the VIP areas and special clients of FC Barcelona, among others, works.

For Raúl it is “fabulous” to meet people who have moved away from the island and from such a wide variety of industries: A/V, telecommunications, law, banking, renewable energy and even health, represented by professionals such as Raúl himself, or Pedro Padrón, who has been in Barcelona for just over two years, and who is currently working as purchasing engineer for SEAT.

“When you meet other people from Gran Canaria you feel quite a strong bond”, according to Pedro, who was also able to meet, among those from Gran Canaria, possible future suppliers for the automotive company for which he works.

In this sense, the gathering, which had high female representation, met the expectations of the Cabildo and managed to connect very diverse profiles opening up the possibility for establishing future professional relationships.

Most of the professionals who attended the event in Barcelona left the island years ago to study or to work. Many hold positions and do work that cannot be easily found on the island, which means that despite “itching to return” they are not considering doing so in the short term.

This is the case with Taida Martínez, producer for Gestmusic Endemol, who after 18 years in Barcelona and having worked on programmes such as Boom, Tu cara me suena and Ahora caigo, is currently deeply involved in preparing the next edition of the programme Operación Triunfo. Despite the temptation, on various occasions, to look for professional opportunities in Gran Canaria, Taida says she will not make that move until she finds something “creatively and financially” similar to what she is presently doing in Barcelona.

Of the same opinion is María José Rodríguez, who has been living in the Catalan capital since 2010 and has been working in the communications and public relations department at Atrápalo since 2015: “I still want to continue growing professionally and the island for the moment does not offer this possibility”, she explained, although convinced that “in a few years” she would again be able to “enjoy” Canteras beach.

Regardless of whether or not they want to return to the island, rendezvous such as this afterwork gathering do not just give rise to professional opportunities among the members of the network; they also bring about business opportunities in Gran Canaria, which also gives meaning to such events, aiming to encourage the exchange of experiences, contacts and synergies among people from Gran Canaria.

Rendezvous such as this are linked to the Uvas de Talento gatherings, which the SPEGC holds at its facilities in December, when people from Gran Canaria return to the island for Christmas, the purpose of which is to make known the view that professionals who work outside Gran Canaria have of the island.