Málaga, March 25, 2025 – The Málaga City Council’s Councillor for Innovation, Digitalization, and Investment Attraction, Alicia Izquierdo, today presented a preview of the 2025 calendar for FYCMA (Trade Fairs and Congress Center of Málaga). This year is marked by the celebration of San Diego Comic-Con Málaga, which is being held outside the United States for the first time and has chosen Málaga as its European venue. This event represents a significant leap in terms of visibility and the global reach of its content, and reflects the evolution of a stable, diverse calendar aligned with the international projection of the city of Málaga.

In 2025, more than one hundred events—including trade fairs, congresses, conventions, forums, and other gatherings—are scheduled to take place, with a forecast of at least 200,000 visitors, representing a 20 percent increase compared to 2024. Within the category of trade fairs, congresses, and conventions—considered the most relevant in terms of duration and visitor profile, with higher spending capacity and potential for overnight stays—more than thirty events are already confirmed, with the possibility of reaching up to fifty if pre-booked meetings are finalized.

Additionally, 2025 will see the implementation of FYCMA’s new Strategic Plan, which will run through 2027. Its main objectives include revenue growth and space optimization, increased efficiency and profitability, territorial impact, sustainability, enhanced customer experience, talent management as a key lever of competitiveness, and the integration of digital innovation into the overall strategy.

New Events and a Consolidated Calendar in 2025

Some of the events have already taken place, such as professional forums and trade shows organized by FYCMA including H&T – Innovation in Hospitality Trade Show, and Transfiere – the European Forum for Science, Technology and Innovation. Both events set new attendance records in 2025. Other early events include the Employment Fair organized by IMFE (Málaga’s Municipal Institute for Training and Employment), and a new edition of Retro Auto&Moto Málaga – the Classic, Vintage, and Collectible Vehicle Show.

On the congress side, FYCMA has hosted major gatherings like the 40th Congress of the Spanish Society of Aesthetic Medicine, a regular at the venue since 2014, which this year coincided with the global summit in the same field; the Congress of the Spanish Society of Hair Restoration; the 1st Euro-American Congress on Silver Economy; and the Hyrox Málaga 2025 fitness competition.

This is just the beginning of a busy season. Still to come in March are the debut of the Gamma Connecting trade fair for professionals in construction, renovation, and building materials (March 26), and the Andalusian Congress on Environmental Sciences (March 27–28).

In April, FYCMA will host the fourth Cybersecurity Congress (April 2–3) and the Clinical Nutrition Congress of the Spanish Society of Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (April 23–25). May will bring the European Congress on Obesity (May 11–14), followed by meetings of the Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases (May 22–24), and the Spanish Pain Society (May 28–30). Also in May, the second edition of Guadalindie—the leading independent video game fair in Southern Europe—will be held on May 16–17, organized by FYCMA and MálagaJam.

In June, the fair calendar continues with the DES – Digital Enterprise Show (June 10–12), one of the world’s largest events on digital transformation. This will be followed by the Mediterranean Economic and Social Forum (June 18–19), eCongress (June 20), and the international Forum Acusticum Euronoise (June 23–26). The first half of the year will close in July with Motor Málaga, the national pre-owned vehicle fair, now firmly established in FYCMA’s calendar and moved up to July 3–6. During this first semester, the venue will also host annual conventions and corporate meetings for multinational companies.

Activity will pick up again in September with San Diego Comic-Con Málaga, taking place from the 25th to the 28th. October will feature major events including Greencities – Urban Intelligence and Smart Mobility (October 1–2); the Spanish Society of Emergency Radiology Congress (October 2–4); the second edition of the Global Photonics Economic Forum (October 7–8); the National Hospital Pharmacy Congress (October 15–17); the 20th Málaga Bar Association Congress (October 23–24); and the second edition of Expo Agritech – Smart Farming Fair 4.0 (October 28–30).

From November to December, FYCMA will also host Turitec 2025 – 15th International Congress on Tourism and ICTs (November 6–7); Fruitnet Tomato Congress (November 11); Simed – Mediterranean Real Estate Exhibition (November 13–15); Andalucía Management (November 20); and Talent Land Spain 2025, which will bring the year’s major events to a close from December 2–4.

This programming reflects a clear trend toward professionalization and internationalization, which have been the key pillars of FYCMA’s growth in recent years. It’s also worth noting that this is just a summary of a much broader calendar, with additional events to be added in the coming months. These include further business conventions, seminars, smaller-scale meetings, as well as concerts and entertainment shows.

More Exhibiting Companies in 2024

Current projections indicate that the 2025 calendar will exceed the main performance indicators from 2024, when a total of 133 events were held, attracting 166,792 attendees. Nearly 80 percent of these events were professional in nature. With revenue of €12.7 million, the center generated an economic impact of €193 million, according to industry standards established by the AFE (Spanish Trade Fair Association) and the Spain Convention Bureau, using metrics referenced in the 2024 Study on the Meetings Industry in Málaga.

In addition, 2024 saw a nearly 70 percent increase in the number of exhibitors participating in trade fairs and congress exhibitions, reaching a total of 4,119. The effective use of space within the venue also improved, with occupancy exceeding 80 percent during peak periods.

More information available at www.fycma.com