Barcelona to invest €20m in Mobile World Congress

The Barcelona city council is to invest 20 million euros in the Mobile World Congress until 2022, in a move aimed at showing its commitment with the fair, one of the biggest in the world. Sources in the Barcelona city council confirmed that the grant will be approved on Tuesday, and will imply payments of up to 5 million a year. The investment comes a week after Barcelona Mayor, Ada Colau, met with the CEO of GSMA, John Hoffman.

The investment agreement says the money aims at promoting the "renovation of the designation of Barcelona as Mobile World Capital." The current contract, signed between the Barcelona council, the Catalan government, the Spanish Ministry of Industry and the Fair of Barcelona expires on 2023.

The world’s largest exhibition of mobile technology, Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress (MWC), welcomed some 107,000 attendees over the four days it was held this year, according to organizer GSMA. Around 55% of attendees to the fair were higher-ranking company members, including 7,700 CEOs, more than the 6,100 who came last year.

Attendees to the 2018 congress came from more than 200 different countries, with some 2,400 participating companies from the mobile sector and associated industries, such as the automotive, health and robotics. The impact of the fair on the local economy is estimated at 471 million euros, and the MWC provided temporary work for 13,000 people, according to GSMA. Over 3,500 media professionals and analysts also attended the fair.