The Vallès Occidental is a region located within the Barcelona province, formed by 23 municipalities which cover an area of 583 Km2 and has a population of 836.000 people.

In parallel with its demographic importance, the Vallès Occidental has also a significant economic importance: the region represents the 11% of the Catalan GDP, and the 3% of the Spanish GDP. In the last years, the economy of the Vallès Occidental has experienced a growth with a similar trend as the GDP registered in Catalonia.

The current strengths of the Vallès Occidental economy are its excellent geographic location within Catalonia, Spain and the Mediterranean Arc; the population growth, which increases the working population of the region, young population with a high training level; an important amount of small and medium companies and outstanding business dynamism. It has historically been, and still is, one of the economic driving forces of the country.

It is worth pointing a high level of diversification and sectorial specialization of the economy, mainly in industry; an outstanding exporting vocation; and, finally, a first level university net, which guarantees that the region generates innovation and high level and added value knowledge, boosting an economy which is more and more focused on knowledge and state-of-the-art technology.

The most important industries in the region are textile, mechanic, metallurgist, electrical equipment, construction, chemistry, paper, graphic arts and food products.

The regional industry is concentrated in the southern area. The main cities are Sabadell and Terrassa (which share the provincial capital), Rubí and Sant Cugat del Vallès.