Spain ensures Mobile World Congress remains in Barcelona until 2023

This extension has been approved by the Board of Directors of the Group Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA) held in Shanghai. The bid to renew Barcelona as the mobile world capital was presented by the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism, the Regional Government of Catalonia, the City Council of Barcelona, the Barcelona trade fair association (Fira de Barcelona), the Barcelona tourism association (Turismo de Barcelona) and the Mobile World Capital Barcelona (MWCB) Foundation.

The Minister for Industry, Energy and Tourism, José Manuel Soria, described the renewal as wonderful news since, according to the minister, "the congress is not only a great tourist attraction, but it also places Spain at the highest level in terms of information technologies". The Mobile World Congress will continue to be consolidated in Spain as the leading technological and digital event in Europe".

For the State Secretary for Telecommunications and the Information Society, Víctor Calvo-Sotelo, this renewal is to be hailed as a great success, as a result of a joint effort and intense collaboration between all the institutions involved, with the support, at the highest level, of the Government of Spain.

From its creation back in 2006 up until 2014, it is estimated that the Mobile World Congress has had an accumulated economic impact of some 2.5 billion euros and created more than 60,000 temporary jobs. In its latest edition in 2015, it hit all-time records, with 93,000 visitors and more than 2,000 companies attending from all around the world.

On 26 June, the Government of Spain took a vital step in achieving this renewal through the approval by the Council of Ministers of a royal decree-law that strengthened the foundations for the mobile world congress to remain in Barcelona. This initiative highlighted the importance of the event for the government and showed the support of the whole political spectrum through its ratification in the Lower House of Parliament.

The city of Barcelona and the GSMA had a contract in force until 2018, and as a result of this renewal, the hosting of the MWC will now be extended to the period 2019-2023.