10.3989/estgeogr.201401 Barcelona has been since many years ago the functional centre of a vast territory, beyond the strict scope of Catalonia. From this fact, the aim of the study is to determine whether the regional capital of Barcelona and the general process of tertiarisation, two phenomena almost contemporary, have reinforced its centrality and if they have done with greater intensity than in other cities from the Catalan urban system. In agreement with this, we have divided this work into two sections. The first one analyzes the evolution of jobs of Barcelona and the Catalan cities of over 50,000 inhabitants from the late 1980s and the first decade of the 21st century and their distribution by activity branches. The second part, as an example of this tertiarisation process, we analyze the functional change and valorisation of a Barcelona's old obsolete industrial area for its renewal into an advanced tertiary sector use, known as district 22.