Alimentaria expects more visitors this year than Mobile World Congress

BarcelonaThe Alimentaria and Hostelco trade fair for the agri-food, restaurant, and hospitality industries will increase the number of exhibitors this year compared to the last edition and expects to reach 110,000 visitors, organizers announced on Thursday. With this figure, the event would surpass the total number of visitors to the Mobile World Congress (MWC) and ISE, the two most attended events held this year at Fira de Barcelona. The congress, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, will be held next week at the Gran Via venue of Fira de Barcelona, ​​in Hospitalet de Llobregat. In total, it will occupy seven pavilions with an area of ​​100,000 square meters. Organizers have highlighted the international nature of the event. "It will be by far the most international Alimentaria in history," declared Antoni Llorens, president of the trade fair, at the press conference presenting the congress this Thursday. "A congress comes of age when an international visitor comes to visit an international exhibitor, because borders are transcended," added Pere Taberner, president of Hostelco. In total, some 3,300 companies will participate in the 2026 edition, 1,200 of which are from abroad. Thus, the number of exhibitors from outside Spain represents a 30 percent increase compared to the previous edition, although the increase in exhibition space occupied by international companies will be 40 percent.

Despite the current international context, heavily influenced by the war in Iran, the organizers do not anticipate major disruptions in the number of participants. In total, only seven of the 3,300 exhibitors come from Persian Gulf countries, as the vast majority of visitors and foreign companies are from Europe and the Americas, with a smaller presence from Asia, Africa, and Oceania, according to organizers.

Furthermore, an agri-food summit and a meeting of agriculture ministers, chaired by the Spanish Minister, Luis Planas, with his counterparts from the Mercosur countries, will also be held, coinciding with the recent free trade agreement (still pending ratification by European institutions) between this bloc of South American states.

Among the planned activities, this edition will place special emphasis on innovation in the food sector, with an area dedicated to the presentation of new products and trends, as well as events related to digitalization, sustainability, and food safety. Also, within the Hostelco framework, the award for the best bread in the world will be presented, and the first international cooking championship will be held.

As usual, the event will bring together major multinationals in the agri-food sector, such as Coca-Cola, Danone, and Nestlé, as well as Catalan and Spanish companies, such as Dani, Damm, Elgorriaga, Idilia Foods, and Noel, among others. Catalonia will be the autonomous community with the largest presence, followed by Castile and León and Andalusia.

More visitors than MWC and ISE

The director of the event, Anna Canal, has estimated that 110,000 people attended the double congress, some 10,000 more than in the last edition, which It took place in 2024Of the total visitors, approximately one in four will come from outside Spain. With these figures, Alimentaria and Hostelco would surpass the 105,000 attendees of MWC held this March and the more than 92,000 of Integrated Systems Europe (ISE), the international trade fair for the audiovisual sector that took place this past February.

"We've closed a quarter that has been very ambitious; we never dreamed of a quarter like this," said Constantí Serrallonga, CEO of Fira de Barcelona. Besides Alimentaria, MWC, and ISE, Barcelona also hosted Barcelona Wine Week, the Education Fair, and the B-Travel tourism congress in the first three months of 2026.