The return of the black vans anticipates a high-level Mobile

There is a thermometer that allows us to know the magnitude that Mobile will have before it starts: the number of black vans hired by large companies to make available to their senior managers 24 hours a day.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
25 February 2023 Saturday 16:25
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The return of the black vans anticipates a high-level Mobile

There is a thermometer that allows us to know the magnitude that Mobile will have before it starts: the number of black vans hired by large companies to make available to their senior managers 24 hours a day. The thirty vehicles with tinted windows that piled up this Saturday at noon at the door of the W hotel are the best certainty that this edition will be like the ones before the pandemic. Drivers in black suits, immaculate ties and a confidentiality clause sit behind the wheel of vehicles from the rest of Spain and other European countries.

Their presence on the streets of the city gives clues to the number of congressmen – some 80,000 are expected this year – and the level they represent. Those who get into a black van usually have some bombastic position that begins with the C of 'chief' in English (boss in Spanish) and their destination at night is always a hotel of no less than four stars. The return of this profile, which was still scarce last year, and the progressive return of Asian attendees raises the expectations placed on the MWC of the definitive recovery and the consolidation of a success story with Barcelona after signing a contract last summer practically life.

It will be big, but not quite at the level of 2019 yet. For that, more congressmen from Asia are needed, who play a fundamental role in the economic impact of the congress because, together with the Americans, they are the ones who spend the most. The still recent opening of borders and the scarcity of flights from China has caused the more than 5,000 congressmen from the Asian giant to do so in a more studied way and without being accompanied by their families. "They have optimized the visit in terms of spending and time," says Juan Gallardo, a partner at the real estate consultancy 3Capital.

They do not extend the weekend before or after and that also explains why there have not been long queues in the most luxurious shops on Passeig de Gràcia as happened in the most glorious editions of the MWC. Nor do they abound in the access to Casa Batlló. Tourists taking photos with their mobile phones don't seem like they're related to the tech industry, but you never know... The thermometer of black vans is skyrocketing around the Majestic Hotel and the Mandarin.

The good sensations but without being exultant are ratified by the data of the Guild of Hotels of Barcelona. With the 18,500 rooms reserved through the official Mobile agency and those who have done so on their own, occupancy is between 90 and 95%. On the central days of the congress (Monday and Tuesday) they hope to reach full occupancy of the hotel floor. The same happens with tourist apartments, according to data from the Apartur association. The prices, yes, do not reach the follies of other years, far from it. The average price of a three-star hotel is 330 euros (36% less than in 2019), "the highest average rate since October 2019", according to Gallardo, although rooms can still be found for around 150 euros .

Despite the fact that the vans act as thermometers and are the most visible indicator, the subway will be filled with congressmen on Monday morning. Its users sleep in cheaper hotels, like the pair of young Frenchmen who buy a jacket in a store in the Glòries shopping center for the party to which they have been invited on Tuesday night in a nightclub on the seafront. When the sun goes down, the private parties in this area are one of the hot spots in Mobile, while during the day the only congressmen who drop in here are a group that has thrown their sneakers in their suitcases and gone for a run. . The daily cost per person in restaurants and nightlife is estimated at around 300 euros and Monday and Tuesday nights will be the busiest days, according to the Gremi de Restauració.

There are also those who go further with the express will to buy at a good price compared to their country. La Roca Village is one of the favorite destinations in that sense. "We expect to double visitors this week, with China, Korea and the Middle East as the main nationalities and a sophisticated traveler profile that spends five times more than the average on average," said Elena Foguet, business director at Value Retail.

While some go shopping, others have to work over the weekend preparing for the fair before it opens its doors. Dressed in a yellow helmet and vest as mandatory elements, the staff of the more than 2,000 exhibiting companies put the finishing touches on some stands in whose assembly a worker died on Monday. Friends and relatives gathered yesterday at one of the staff entrances to observe a minute of silence and demand better protection for workers.