FIRA DE BARCELONA
        
        
          | 2013 REPORT
        
        
          Barcelona International Motor Show
        
        
          11-19/May
        
        
          Montjuïc. 37th event
        
        
          Few events in Spain are as attractive to the
        
        
          public as the Barcelona International Motor Show.
        
        
          In 2013, it also established itself as an industrial
        
        
          benchmark and catalyst of the automotive
        
        
          market, in a particularly complicated moment
        
        
          for the sector.
        
        
          Besides the large number of visitors and
        
        
          the significant sales volume, it is worth
        
        
          mentioning that this year the Spanish government
        
        
          committed to the show by choosing it to host
        
        
          a summit led by president Mariano Rajoy with
        
        
          the executives of automobile manufacturers based
        
        
          in Spain.
        
        
          Visitors enjoyed 30 novelties presented
        
        
          by the 22 exhibiting brands, including two world
        
        
          premieres (Renault Twizy Sport F1 and Volkswagen
        
        
          e-up!) and four European premieres (Audi A3
        
        
          sedan, Mercedes Benz GLA, Nissan Juke 1.5 Dci,
        
        
          and Range Rover Sport), along with the many
        
        
          activities organized by the show, among which
        
        
          stood out an exhibit devoted
        
        
          to the 50 years of the «Car of the Year» award,
        
        
          which brought together, for the first time,
        
        
          the 50 winning vehicles.
        
        
          The exhibit, distributed for decades between
        
        
          two venues, was inaugurated by the president
        
        
          of the award’s jury, the Swedish journalist
        
        
          Hakan Matson, who praised the enormous
        
        
          merit of recovering those 50 vehicles,
        
        
          especially since some of the brands disappeared
        
        
          decades ago.
        
        
          As an addition to the show, other activities
        
        
          took place during the week, such as live concerts
        
        
          by Spanish artists David Bustamante, La Unión
        
        
          and Blaumut.
        
        
          The fact that two other events were going
        
        
          on during the same week –the Formula 1 Grand
        
        
          Prix and the X-Games (considered the Olympic
        
        
          Games of extreme sports)– turned Barcelona
        
        
          into the world’s motor capital. The city hosted top
        
        
          automobile brands, top single-seater racing teams
        
        
          at the Circuit de Catalunya, and the
        
        
          AREA
        
        
          150,000 m²
        
        
          EXHIBITORS
        
        
          22 brands
        
        
          TYPE
        
        
          Professional and public
        
        
          ACTIVITIES
        
        
          Awards, technical
        
        
          seminars, «Nit de
        
        
          l’Automòbil», conferences,
        
        
          «50 years of Car of the
        
        
          Year» exhibition, live
        
        
          concerts, demonstrations
        
        
          and driving circuits,
        
        
          «La Fórmula 1 al Saló» talk