Barcelona Wine Week will gain space to avoid criticism over capacity restrictions

The organization of the Barcelona Wine Week (BWW) show has already decided how to expand the exhibition space for next year's edition and avoid the controversial attendance restrictions due to capacity limitations due to security issues of the last edition.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
10 April 2024 Wednesday 16:27
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Barcelona Wine Week will gain space to avoid criticism over capacity restrictions

The organization of the Barcelona Wine Week (BWW) show has already decided how to expand the exhibition space for next year's edition and avoid the controversial attendance restrictions due to capacity limitations due to security issues of the last edition. Finally, after breaking the record of 21,000 professional visitors, the exhibition will expand to pavilion 1 of Montjuïc from February 3 to 5, 2025. Until now the BWW has only occupied pavilion 8 (with capacity for 7,000 people). All spaces will be divided between the two pavilions, but it is still unknown where the gastronomic area will be located.

A notable number of winemakers and also regulatory councils criticized the fact that access to the room was limited at the last minute this year, despite the fact that quite a few attendees had already paid for plane or train tickets and made hotel reservations. It is the edition that has raised the most criticism from some exhibitors who ended up seeing how the fair space was not as full as in 2023. In this year's edition there have already been 15% more wineries (a total of 952), 12,000 business meetings, 1,000 national buyers and 650 international importers.

The president of the BWW, Javier Pagés, states that the success of this edition "obliges us to resize ourselves, to grow to welcome more wineries and more buyers, but without losing the essence of exclusivity and quality of the event." The general director of the Spanish Wine Federation, José Luis Benítez, believes that the expansion and development of the BWW “will contribute to the necessary improvement of the image of Spanish wines.” He understands that the BWW will become an ideal showcase thanks to the great program of national and international buyers.”

For his part, the president of the Catalan Vinícola Association, Valentí Roqueta, says that “we maintain a firm commitment to the consolidation of the BWW as the reference show for quality Spanish wine.” He adds that the new objectives of the 2025 edition include increasing spaces and buyers.