Barcelona to host Mobile World Congress until at least 2030

The Mobile World Congress (MWC), the world's leading mobile communications trade show, will take place in Barcelona until at least 2030.

GSMA, the company behind the event, announced the decision on Monday morning after initially stating they would remain until 2024, highlighting the fair's "resounding success" and describing the city as "a critical element in making MWC the mobile ecosystem's must-attend tech event."

"Recent global circumstances have created some of the toughest challenges we’ve faced with MWC, and the strength of our partnership with the Host City Parties was a critical element in our being able to bring the show back," said Mats Granryd, the director general of GSMA. "In fact, Barcelona is so intertwined in the MWC experience, it’s hard for me to think about one and not the other."

"Barcelona is so much more than the city where MWC occurs," GSMA CEO John Hoffman said. "We've not just grown the event since our move to Barcelona but evolved it to include an entire ecosystem."

"Excellent news"

Catalan president Pere Aragonès reacted to the announcement by calling it "excellent news." "This positions us as a global technological benchmark," he Tweeted.

His cabinet's vice president, Jordi Puigneró, who is also the Catalan digital policies minister, echoed Aragonès' sentiment. "Catalonia and the city of Barcelona are consolidating themselves as the world capital of mobile phones," he said, adding that he was "happy that joint efforts had paid off."

Similarly, Barcelona mayor Ada Colau attributed MWC's decision to stay in the city to local and Catalan authorities' ability to work together alongside GSMA.

Impact of MWC Barcelona

MWC moved to the Catalan capital in 2006 and has established itself as the most important trade show in Barcelona, bringing in an estimated half a billion euros this year. 

This year the event attracted over 60,000 attendees of almost 200 different nationalities – down from the 2019 figure of 109,000, but, according to GSMA, still "phenomenal" given the pandemic – and 1,900 exhibitors.