Wine is such a passion that it inspires generational succession, but making it a reality isn't always easy. Barcelona Wine Week (BWW), the professional trade fair for Spanish wine, which celebrated its sixth edition this week, explored in depth how wineries and winemakers manage to persevere through the decades. Almost everyone wants their wines to have their own character, something that might not be so easy when it comes to a family-owned winery. That's why some have projects outside the family business to make wine with greater freedom.

Today marks the start of another edition of Barcelona Wine Week, an international gathering for the wine sector, so important economically and culturally in our country. In a context of changing consumption habits, of hoppy New Year's Eve celebrations, of lumping vodka and cheap wine together, this fair is a brilliant and elegant, suggestive and attractive, positive showcase of this part of our culture, which in the case of the Mediterranean has very, very ancient roots, without which we simply "are not." The landscape of Catalonia, from sea to mountains, cannot be understood without the vineyard. The religion that has accompanied and shaped us over these 2025 years, precisely, celebrates the Eucharist with bread and wine, commemorating the Last Supper of Christ with his disciples, where he gives them wine to drink, which is his blood, and bread, which is his body (and which serves, if you'll excuse the joke, as the... peaks that we nibble on today when we go to the tastings). The Gospels are full of wine. Please don't miss Roser Omar's brilliant and extraordinary translation ofGospel of MatthewPublished by Blackie Books, and you'll see that in one passage, Jesus' enemies call him a "drunkard."

Barcelona Wine Week, the Spanish wine congress held annually in Barcelona, ​​will once again grow this year in terms of exhibitors, visitors, and square footage, organizers announced Wednesday. The sector is meeting at a time of challenges due to climate change, trade tensions between the European Union and the United States, and concerns about declining wine consumption worldwide. A total of 1,351 wineries from across Spain are registered, a 5% increase compared to last year. the 2025 edition and 880 international buyers, 14% more than the previous edition. The fair, which will be held next week from February 2nd to 4th, will occupy 10,900 square meters, 800 more than last year, at the Plaça d'Espanya venue of Fira de Barcelona. With 320 wineries present, Catalonia will be the autonomous community with the largest presence at the event, followed by Castile and León, La Rioja, and Castile-La Mancha.