Fira de Barcelona has completed the first month managing the city’s CCIB (Barcelona International Convention Centre).
The Fira is now running three large venues with an exhibition area totalling nearly 500,000sqm and hosting of more than 250 events a year, some of them global leaders.
With this new licence, awarded by Barcelona City Council for a period of 25 years, Fira de Barcelona now has full management of the city’s main trade fair facilities (Montjuic, Gran Via and the CCIB).
Deputy mayor Jaume Collboni believes that Fira will now reinforce its position within Spain and Europe “as one of the leading institutions for the organisation of trade fairs and congresses, a sector that is key to the future of Barcelona and one to which we remain committed so as to attract new events to improve the city’s standing. The recovery of trade fairs is a key factor in finding a way out of the crisis that leaves no one behind while contributing to the creation of high-quality employment, one of our priorities as a city. Everyone knows that Barcelona is one of the best cities in the world for holding congresses, a sector in which we’re global leaders, and in the coming months we’ll show that we’ll be even stronger in the post-pandemic era”.
Constantí Serrallonga, the managing director of Fira de Barcelona, expressed his satisfaction at taking over the management of the CCIB, saying: “It’s a flagship facility for holding congresses and meetings which we’re convinced will reinforce the institution’s leadership in the international trade fair market and the projection of the city as a pole of attraction for major events. Similarly, its management will promote Fira even further in its role as the economic and social driving force of the city and the territory”.
Fira de Barcelona takes over management of the CCIB after a handover from the previous management, GL events. Fira CCIB, whose general manager is Marc Rodríguez, is now part of the Fira group.
The Barcelona International Convention Centre, opened in 2004 and is located in the Besòs area, in the technological and business district known as 22@. It consists of two buildings: the Convention Centre and the Fòrum Building, which houses the Auditori Fòrum, linked by an underground boulevard. It has a surface area totalling 100,000sqm.
