MWC kicks off amid international chaos: attendees fail to arrive and activities are cancelled

L'Hospitalet de LlobregatThe Mobile World Congress (MWC) opened its twentieth edition this Monday at the Gran Via Fairgrounds, in a context marked by international tensions, after Israel and the United States attacked Iran early Saturday morning, killing its Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. It was inevitable that the event, which expects to host more than 110,000 attendees over its four days, would be affected by these events, given its status as an international meeting point, as has already happened with other international conflicts it has coincided with, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine just four years ago.

The war in Iran already overshadowed the speeches of King Felipe VIThe speeches by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Catalan President Salvador Illa during the Mobile World Congress opening dinner on Sunday night were disrupted. And it wasn't just the speeches that were affected: Middle Eastern airspace closed, leaving passengers stranded in Qatar and Dubai, and most airlines that fly through the region canceled their flights. In this regard, the cancellations were particularly noticeable at El Prat Airport, the main gateway for MWC attendees. As reported by Aena, airlines operating in the Middle East canceled 18 of the 20 flights scheduled for Monday, including connections to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Jordan, and Qatar. Some high-level executives opted to charter private jets to reach the event. This affects not only travelers from the Middle East but also those with connecting flights, as is the case with many flights originating in Asia. It's important to note that some of the leading companies at this congress (Xiaomi, Huawei, LG, Samsung, SK Telekom, among many others) are Asian. Travel difficulties have already begun to affect hotels, tourist apartments, and restaurants in the city. Many of them, normally full during MWC, have already received cancellations for this reason. The leisure sector is also feeling the impact. Joaquim Boadas, Secretary General of Fecasarm, estimates that 10% of reservations will be lost, given that the majority of attendees were already in the city. This impact was particularly noticeable early Monday morning, when the halls of the Gran Via venue were not as crowded as in previous years. Companies like Huawei and Xiaomi, among the main exhibitors at MWC, have already acknowledged that some of their attendees were unable to travel to the Catalan capital. "Between 20 and 30% of my colleagues haven't been able to arrive," explained Prateek of Xiaomi India, in statements to ACN. "Some executives are stuck," added Deepak. Another absence, also due to the conflict, was that of the European Commission's (EC) Executive Vice-President for Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, who was scheduled to hold a press conference at the congress on Monday. This event was canceled after EC President Ursula von der Leyen convened an extraordinary meeting of the College of Commissioners to address the attack on Iran. Telefónica had also planned to hold a roundtable discussion on Monday afternoon, organized in conjunction with the European Commission, which was initially to include the EC's Executive Vice-President for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, Henna Virkkunen. Finally, the vice president has also had to cancel her presence for the same reasons as Ribera.

One of the key issues surrounding this edition was the presence of both Israeli and Palestinian companies at Mobile World Congress. John Hoffman, CEO of GSMA Ltd. – the congress organizer – had assured attendees that they would be present, touting the event as "a unifying space" in the face of geopolitical tensions. Ultimately, however, it appears that the presence of Middle Eastern countries will be limited, which will be particularly noticeable for Israel, a country that has long been a major player in technological innovation.

The authorities downplay the impact

The president of Fira de Barcelona, ​​Pau Relat, described the impact of flight cancellations on the Mobile World Congress as "small," since most attendees had already arrived in Barcelona. "The impact will be much less than expected given the early arrival of attendees over the weekend. The forecast is that the impact will be small," he stated on Monday in an interview with RAC1. Similarly, the GSMA ruled out a major impact, stating that they have "a small number of attendees, exhibitors, and speakers from the Middle East who may be affected by the transportation problems." The president of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Salvador Illa, also confirmed that the impact is "very limited," since, although some attendees and officials were unable to reach Barcelona, ​​the majority had already arrived in the preceding days.