Fira de Barcelona is Barcelona’s trade fair institution and one of the most important in Europe. Every year, it organises numerous trade shows and congresses, which bring together leading companies from different economic sectors to showcase their new products, exchange experiences and promote business.
Information of interest
It hosts over 120 trade shows, congresses and corporate events per year with 30,000 exhibitors, both direct and represented, and receives 2 million visitors from over 200 countries. Its annual economic contribution to the city of Barcelona and its surroundings is estimated at over 2,600 million Euros and also brings added social and public value. Fira de Barcelona works to develop new opportunities for overseas business, especially in Asia and Latin America, geared to increasing the participation of Fira exhibitors in events in other countries, replicating some shows that are held in Barcelona and selling services, technology, management and advice to other organisers and exhibition centres. Fira de Barcelona has established itself as a global events organiser with and international positioning twinned with the unmatchable Barcelona brand, a city with over a century of tradition in the organization of big events.
Fira de Barcelona has over 400,000 m2 of exhibition floor space and is one of the largest in Europe, divided into two large venues: the emblematic Montjuïc and the modern Gran Via, designed by the Japanese architect Toyo Ito.
Shows
The main shows held in Fira de Barcelona are: Mobile World Congress; Alimentaria; Hispack; ibtm world; International Swimming Pool Show; Hostelco, International Catering Equipment Show; Barcelona Building Construmat; Expoquimia, Equiplast and Eurosurfas; Barcelona Bridal Fashion Week; Graphispag; Automobile Barcelona; Barcelona International Boat Show; Smart City Expo World Congress; IoT Solucions World Congress Other important events are Bizbarcelona, the show for business owners and entrepreneurs; Barcelona Meeting Point; International Logistics Show ; B-Travel; International Comic Show of Barcelona; Saló de l'Ensenyament; and Caravanning.
Congresses
Fira de Barcelona hosts numerous congresses and business, social, cultural and institutional events in the facilities of the Montjuïc and Gran Via exhibition centres, where the Palau de Congresos de Barcelona and the Centro de Convenciones are located, respectively. In July 2011, GSM Association, which represents the interests of over 800 mobile phone operators worldwide and over 200 companies in the extensive mobile ecosystem, chose Barcelona as Mobile World Capital for the 2012-2018 period, a title extended until 2023 in July 2015. Barcelona Mobile World Capital is an initiative to turn the city into the permanent world centre of mobile communications, where people, companies and institutions work together to exploit the potential of mobile technologies as an element to transform daily life and create new business opportunities. Promoted by the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism, the Catalan Generalitat, the Barcelona City Council and GSMA, it is based on the MWHub and MWCongress, concerned with industrial and business development, MWCentre and MWFestival that impact people and their social life. Among other important events, Fira hosted the World Cardiology Congress in 2006 and the European Cardiology Congress in 1999 and 2009, organised by the European Society of Cardiology; the 14th World AIDS in 2002, organised by the International AIDS Society; The International Rotary Club Convention in 2002, organised by Rotary International; the United Nations meeting on Climate Change in 2009 and ITMA, the world's largest international textile machinery exhibition held in 2011.
