After five months of intense activity which has seen 45 major events hosted, the Barcelona International Convention Centre (CCIB), managed by Fira de Barcelona, says it is heading into the second half of 2025 with a surge in major international congresses, particularly in the medical and scientific fields. The upcoming congresses stand out for their larger scale, impact, and international reach compared to previous years, CCIB management reports.
Specifically, medical and scientific events are expected to bring a 55% increase in attendance compared to 2024. The CCIB expects to host nearly 80 events this year and welcome 450,000 visitors and delegates, representing a 10% increase compared to the previous year.
In 2025, 12 of the congresses slated for the venue will be in the medical and scientific fields. The medical events listing for the year includes the ESMO Gastrointestinal Cancers Congress in July; CIRSE (interventional radiology) in September; ECTRIMS (multiple sclerosis) in September; the World Stroke Congress in October; and EANM, on nuclear medicine, also in October.
These strong prospects align with the latest ICCA city ranking which places Barcelona as the global leader for delegate numbers and, for the first time, as the world’s number one city for medical congresses. In 2024, 56 medical congresses were held in the city, 17 of which took place at the CCIB.
Beyond medical congresses
The upcoming CCIB autumn calendar will feature major congresses in other fields, too, such as Mondiacult, UNESCO’s World Conference on Cultural Policies; the Biostimulants World Congress (BSWC), focused on agricultural biotechnology; and the International Congress on Archives (ICA), a key event for archival professionals.
And although congresses will define 2025, corporate events will maintain a positive trend and account for 45% of the venue’s activity. Among them are major tech gatherings like the Gartner IT/Symposium Xpo (November) and CineEurope (June), a leading film industry convention.
Congresses are still expected to generate around 50% of the CCIB’s revenue in 2025, compared to 42.75% in 2024, with the majority coming from medical congresses.
