Barcelona boat show will have ‘largest’ floating display to celebrate 60th edition

The Saló Nàutic boat show in Barcelona will celebrate its 60th edition from October 12 to 16 with the "largest" display in years. For the first time, the fair will take place at three different Port Vell docks: Moll de la Fusta and Moll d’Espanya, as well as the Marina Port Vell dock.

The exhibition will welcome up to 700 boats, 200 of them in the water, and 200 exhibitors. 

This year’s exhibit will be similar to that held in 2017, one of the most successful editions, as Luis Conde, the president of Barcelona’s boat show, explained during a press conference on Tuesday. 

There is a "clear and current interest" in sea activities after the two years of the pandemic, he reasoned. 

The goal is to "consolidate the show as the largest commercial naval display in Spain," the event organizers explained. However, they will also be focusing the 60th edition on innovation, digitalization, and sustainability. 

This year, the Moll de la Fusta dock will be the 'Innovation Dock' with the world's "most disruptive" naval start-ups and technologies. Among them will there will be two prototypes of sustainable boats, one of which uses hydrogen and another which is electric. 

The naval sector has "started a new age pushed by a paradigm shift," Josep Antoni Llopart, the fair director, said. 

Both Conde and Llopart agreed that the pandemic has "strengthened" the industry with several tourism-related changes that have helped with its recovery and increased the interest in the sector. 

On the other docks, the Moll de la Fusta - which will be called ‘Sea Boulevard’ - will display sailing yachts, equipment, and accessories, while at the Moll d’Espanya and the Marina Port Vell docks, the organizers will showcase catamarans and yachts.