Rod Hill says Barcelona could become global hub for active longevity

Barcelona has many of the ingredients Rod Hill says a global active-longevity capital would need: a city built for walking and cycling, a population that is already older than many European peers, and a fitness market beginning to chase the same audience. The harder question is whether those strengths can be stitched together into a real leadership position rather than a promising brand story.

Hill is well placed to make the case. El Periódico identifies him as the co-CEO and cofounder of Fit Brands International, a former rugby player and sports medicine expert who arrived in Barcelona in the late 1990s to help introduce international gym chains in Spain. Since then he has built a business footprint that includes Énergie Fitness Iberia and Zenergie Body & Soul with George Houtenbos. A 2020 master franchise agreement set out an ambition to develop 75 énergie Fitness clubs in Spain over 10 years, a sign that Barcelona is no longer just where Hill lives and works, but where he sees the market direction.

The demographic backdrop is unusually favorable. Barcelona’s life expectancy at birth stands at 83.9 years, with women at 86.7 and men at 80.7. About one in five residents is 60 or older, and projections point to a much larger elderly share by 2030. That matters for active longevity because it gives the city a built-in consumer base for strength training, mobility work, recovery, preventive health and other services aimed at extending not just lifespan but functional years.

The city also has the urban design and public-health pieces that many places still lack. The World Health Organization has highlighted Barcelona’s first Superblock, introduced in 2016, which reordered public space around pedestrians first, then bicycles and public transport. Barcelona City Council also maintains a citywide cycling network, while Activa’t als parcs has long offered group physical activity in public parks for older adults. Recent research has used Barcelona neighborhoods including Larrard, Barceloneta and Vila Olímpica as case studies in walkability for frail older adults, underlining how the city’s street plan already shapes daily movement.

The market is responding quickly. Barry’s entered Barcelona with a two-million-euro investment, Fitness Park opened its 35th gym in the city in June 2024, and Zenergie Body & Soul has been positioned as a longevity-focused boutique concept for people over 35. Barcelona Global, the private network of 281 leading companies, research centres, entrepreneurs, business schools, universities and cultural institutions, gives that activity a wider civic and business-policy frame. Hill’s thesis looks increasingly plausible. What will decide whether Barcelona leads is whether those assets stay parallel, or become one ecosystem that links city planning, older-adult health and premium fitness at scale.