Tourism

The concession of the Barcelona International Convention Centre (CCIB) begins on 1 November, with Fira Barcelona to manage the facility for the next 25 years. The move should boost the city’s global strategy for fairs and congresses, with an institution managing three complementary sites and offering an overall capacity of nearly 500,000 square metres of exhibition floor space for organising and attracting more fairs, congresses and conventions.

The process began with the concession being awarded three years ago. The transition period has helped ensure that activity, the business model and the staff at the facility are maintained. A subsidiary company has been created and is headed by Marc Rodríguez, who has been the director of the centre since 2009.

Social and economic motor

The Barcelona International Convention Centre was inaugurated as part of the Universal Forum of Cultures in 2004. Since then is has become a leading facility in the organisation of large-format congresses and conventions in southern Europe.

The centre has 100,000 square metres of floor space, divided into two venues: the convention centre and the Fòrum Building, with an auditorium with a capacity for over 2,000 people. A hundred events are held there every year, between them bringing together half a million visitors.

Located in Diagonal Mar, in the area between Barcelona and Sant Adrià de Besòs, the CCIB can play a part in local development through support strategies and collaboration with the social and economic fabric of the surrounding neighbourhoods.