Stop, reflect, and reinvent. This is the formula that the Barcelona Boat Show has followed after last year's pause due to coinciding with the America's Cup and the occupation of the space by the competition. After this hiatus, the show will once again fill Port Vell with boats, but it will do so with a reinvented format that will offer two events during the year. A version in October, as until now, which will also be refocused to be more professional and commercial and attract a more qualified audience; and another event in spring, the first of which will be held in 2026, focused on a more family audience and those who wish to start in maritime sports.
The purpose, according to the event director, Josep Antoni Llopart, is to become "a 360-degree platform" with the aim of professionalizing the event while bringing the sea closer to all citizens. According to Llopart, this will be "a pioneering model, unique in all of Europe, which will cover the two main seasons and aspects of the nautical sector: the purchase of the boat in October, and the start of the season in spring." The new format is part of its Strategic Plan 2025-2028, which aims to consolidate the Barcelona show as one of the great European nautical events. The event, in fact, is already positioned as the fourth most important in the world, after those in Düsseldorf, Genoa, and Cannes.
Thus, this year the Boat Show will celebrate its 62nd edition from October 8 to 12 with the forecast of attracting more than 22,000 people from all over the world. Figures lower than those of previous editions, since in 2023 more than 50,000 visitors were exceeded, but which the organization expects to be of a "more qualified and buyer" profile, with the focus on an audience with greater purchasing power, as Llopart has remarked.
The objective, therefore, is for this year's event to focus on the direct sale of boats and manage to become a "more commercial and less informative" edition, compared to previous years. The president of the show, Luis Conde, has also emphasized that the public will diversify, that is, "whoever does not come in autumn, will come in the spring edition."
To attract this highly qualified buyer profile, the festival will feature more than 220 direct exhibitors and 200 boats in the floating exhibition, one of the highest figures in recent years. This exhibition will include, in addition to the usual small and medium-sized boats, a greater presence of larger lengths, starting from 20 meters, designed to attract this more luxurious public.
"The show must once again be internationally relevant and excite the brands that were not coming to Barcelona again," said Jordi Carrasco, general director of the National Association of Nautical Companies (ANEN). In this edition, the event will focus mainly on the French, Italian, and Belgian markets.
The forecast is that the commercial area will exceed 12,000 square meters, occupying the Moll de la Fusta, the Moll d'Espanya, and part of Marina Port Vell. For the first time, it will also occupy part of the Moll de Barcelona to house the largest boats, those over 18 meters. To connect the docks and facilitate visits to all exhibition areas, a boat will also be activated.
In addition, new experiences will be offered to visitors, with the creation of the new 2,500 square meter village that will be installed in the Portal de la Pau area. The objective of this new space is to offer a networking place, set with an exclusive gastronomic offer. In parallel, attendees will also be able to attend conferences and activities within the framework of the Blue Tech Summit, linked to nautical innovation and the blue economy.
In spring 2026, the first edition of this second version of the show will be held, more recreational and aimed at a more family-oriented audience. This new event, also organized by Fira de Barcelona like the one in October, aims to bring the sea closer to all citizens, not just those who own a boat.
Thus, the practice of sports such as diving, fishing, or paddle surfing will be promoted in a new nautical event that still has no defined dates or exhibitors, as the organization is now working on finalizing its details.
Reactivating the nautical sector
The event will be held at a complicated time for the sector, with a generalized decline in sales worldwide, after record figures were reached after the pandemic. In 2024, registrations throughout Spain were around 5,000, a figure that represents practically 16% less than in the previous year, according to ANEN data.
In Barcelona, boat purchases followed the same trend, with a total of 550 registrations, 12.5% less than in 2023. However, Conde has been optimistic about the forecasts for this year and has assessed that the nautical sector is currently facing a period of "greater stability."
The president of the show, who has lamented "the lack of institutional support in recent years," has highlighted that the sector has already managed to overcome exceptional situations such as the pandemic and 1-O which, for Conde, caused "visitors from Madrid to stop coming to Barcelona," an audience that the event now seeks to recover.