Just days before the Mobile World Congress (MWC) kicks off, Barcelona is gearing up for one of the winter season's flagship events, with over 100,000 attendees filling hotels and restaurants. This is the most vivid description of the business generated by the congresses hosted by Fira de Barcelona, ​​but the trade fair institution has put it in black and white and quantified the economic impact of the various shows held at its different venues. Fira de Barcelona's activity generated more than €6.1 billion in 2024, according to a report prepared by the Barcelona Institute of Economics (IEB) at the University of Barcelona (UB). This figure represents a 28% increase compared to 2019, the year before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, when many considered the trade fair sector doomed.

The peak season in Barcelona has been moving earlier for years, before summer and Easter. The Mobile World Congress (MWC), since its arrival in 2006, and especially after its expansion when it moved to Hospitalet de Llobregat, has evened out the seasonality of hotel activity and created a new peak at the beginning of the year with its 109,000 visitors. This has been further enhanced by the arrival of other trade shows such as Integrated Systems Europe (ISE), which will hold its fifth edition in the city starting this Tuesday. ISE doesn't attract as many delegates as MWC, but its attendance is growing year after year. The industry estimates that for every ISE booking, three are made for MWC. The audiovisual trade show, directed by Mike Blackman, welcomed more than 85,000 attendees last year and is registering 10% more bookings for this week's edition. The trade fair alone books around 8,000 rooms through its booking agency. "It's very good for hotels, both because of its scale and because it's held in February. Historically, it was a very bad month, and MWC and ISE have made it a good one," says Manel Casals, director of the Hotel Guild. Hoteliers know this and have been preparing for a week of high occupancy. This is the case at the Hyatt Regency Barcelona Tower, popularly known for the UFO that Richard Rogers placed on its roof. "It's not quite MWC, but it's getting close," confirms sales manager Silvia Bullich. However, unlike what happens with MWC attendees, those attending ISE are staying longer. Those attending Mobile World Congress, who already know the city after so many years, aren't coming the weekend before or are delaying their return to do some sightseeing, something that those attending ISE are doing, with stays of between four and five nights, and some even between six and seven nights.

A little more than usual, but the GSMA, the telecommunications trade association in charge of organizing the Mobile World Congress (MWC), has explained the first details of what the 2026 technology congress will be like, which will be held between March 2 and 5 at the Fira de Barcelona. The IQ EraAn event that will focus primarily on advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and the ethics surrounding this technology, as well as robotics, connectivity, and the quantum industry.

New step to retain the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. The fund has been reduced to €8 million annually until 2030, as previously promised. from the MWC until 2030 and with the intention of permanence. Until now, the financial contribution from each of the sponsoring entities was €5 million per year, a figure set in 2012. It was agreed to increase this figure to €8 million per year starting in 2025. The MWC, held in Barcelona since 2006, is very important for the economy and job creation in Barcelona and Catalonia, "in addition to placing the city and the country at the forefront of advanced digital technologies," according to the executive.

Antonio Torralba (Madrid, 1971) was fascinated by artificial intelligence (AI) from a young age. "I'd always liked computers; not for playing games or programming, I was really interested in AI in particular," he explains in a conversation with ARA. within the framework of the Talent Arena organized by Mobile World Capital Barcelona. At just 15 years old, he began working with some language models, and this obsession has led him to become a guru in this field. He is a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), directs the MIT School of AI, and was also co-director of the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab. He also serves on Spain's International Advisory Board on AI. He studied in Barcelona and France, but in 2000 he completed postdoctoral training at MIT and then settled in Boston.

Within the framework of MWC25, the Mobile World Capital Barcelona Foundation stand, in collaboration with CaixaBank, organised an event on Thursday 6 March to discuss the opportunities offered by technology to ensure effective socio-digital inclusion of senior groups. Under the title "Senior talent and the cities of the future: community and professional connections", the session addressed various aspects of how technology can be a key tool to strengthen the connection of seniors with their environment, as well as the training and adaptation of this group to a constantly changing labour market.

Imagine that you are a businessman and you have to make a financial decision. Instead of starting to gather all your experts, calling the managers and finding out about the situation of the markets, the competition and the geopolitical risks, you put on virtual reality glasses and, in front of you, the agents you need appear in the form of avatars: one summarizes the current news related to your problem, the other describes the situation.

A stand inspired by the classical agoras and porticoed squares in Hall 6 of the Fira is the gateway to Living in tech, The Mobile World Capital Barcelona (MWCapital) proposal at the MWC is to show in an immersive way how "technologies are transforming people's daily lives and shaping new urban environments." The MWCapital stand becomes a large digital agora where visitors can interact with innovations that drive social well-being, sustainability and economic growth.

The Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, has taken advantage of his visit to Barcelona, ​​​​in the framework of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) this Wednesday, to send a message of reassurance in case the US government of Donald Trump approves new tariffs: "From Europe and Spain we will not be naive; a," he said.

The Catalan digital and technology sector is experiencing a good moment. In 2023, it generated a turnover of 39,646 million euros, 14% more than in 2022, which is equivalent to 14% of Catalan GDP. This is revealed in an Action report presented this Tuesday at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) by the Minister of Business and Employment, Miquel Sàmper.

Although when you think of Apple you inevitably come to the figure of Steve Jobs, the technology giant would not be what it is today without its other father, Steve Wozniak (California, 1950). He is an electronic engineer, although he defines himself as an "inventor", and he marked a before and after in the world of technology with the development of the first personal computer in the 1970s. The Apple I would end up becoming the first computer launched by the brand with the bitten apple when, together with Jobs, they began to market it. I spent my free time drawing and designing computers, and when I finished high school I knew I wanted to be an engineer, but what I didn't know was that engineers designed computers, I thought they only made radios and fabrics; "I told my parents that my dream was to have a computer; I preferred to have a computer than a house," he explains.

It is not usual for an internationally renowned personality such as Garry Kasparov, the world chess champion and expert in artificial intelligence, to give a lecture in Barcelona open to the public. That is why this Monday afternoon at the Montjuïc venue of Fira de Barcelona, ​​​​where the Talent Arena organized by Mobile World Capital is being held within the framework of the MWC, not a single step could be taken. Hundreds of people have come to listen to the guru and his presentation. The nexus of human creativity and machine intelligence, in which an optimistic message predominated: "They are not replacing us, they are promoting us!".

The new president of Telefónica, Marc Murtra, has made his debut at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) with a direct appeal to the European Union to facilitate mergers between European telecos, and has asked the authorities to "adapt their regulations and objectives to allow technological and telecommunications consolidation." This is how Murtra was received by the global technology community at the opening conference of the largest congress on technology and connectivity, which will be held at Fira de Barcelona's Gran Via venue from 3 to 6 March.

The traditional dinner before the Mobile World Congress, with King Felipe VI and the country's main political and business figures, was held this Sunday night at the National Museum of Art of Catalonia (MNAC) to kick off the most important technology and connectivity congress, the Mobile World Congress (MWC), which has been held in Barcelona since March.

The most important event in the world of telecommunications and technology will once again put Barcelona in the global spotlight, with a new edition of the Mobile World Congress (MWC), which will be held between March 3 and 6 at the Gran Via venue of the Barcelona Fair. In addition, this year it will also feature the Talento Arena, an extension of the congress located in the Montjuïc venue with top-notch speakers from the world's leading technology companies and organized by Mobile World Capital Barcelona.