There are cities that organise events and there are cities that turn them into something more. Seville has been trying to cross that line for years, and the data suggests it is succeeding.
For the first time in its 24-year history, the Latin Grammy Awards in 2023 were held outside the United States, at the Palacio de Congresos y Exposiciones de Sevilla (FIBES) on 16 November.
Before that, in 2019, the Andalusian capital had already hosted the MTV Europe Music Awards (whose channels stopped broadcasting in 2025), and in the same year the Goya Awards chose it again as the venue.
These are milestones that are not improvised: they respond to a policy of attracting events that the city has been cultivating since at least the 1992 Universal Exposition.
FIBES has become an international think tank that incorporates concern for sustainable development into every initiative it undertakes. The Palace covers an area of 50,000 square metres and has a capacity for 3,200 people in congress configuration.
In addition, the Estadio de La Cartuja, with a capacity for 80,000 spectators, has gone from being an underused sports venue to becoming a recurring venue for the country’s most massive events.
The list of major events held in the city includes the Dior Fashion Show in the Plaza de España, the World Travel & Tourism Council 2019, the Tourism Innovation Summit, several editions of the Ibai Llanos Evening of the Year and, now in 2026, the first CTx Tech Experience Hub, the most ambitious technology and innovation congress organised in southern Europe.
A 2026 calendar that says it all
March 2026 brought to Seville an event that a few years ago would have seemed improbable. CTx Tech Experience turned Sevilla TechPark into a technological epicentre with more than 250 speakers and 400 hours of content, backed by the Junta de Andalucía and Seville City Council.
The event brought together more than 15,000 visitors, more than 1,000 startups, 250 companies, 200 investment funds and more than 150 international speakers, spread over 11 stages and 50 simultaneous events.
Jose Paradelas, Andalusian Regional Government Minister for Industry, Energy and Mines, made it clear during his speech at CTx Tech Experience that Andalusia and in particular these three cities are the most prosperous in the region: “Granada, Malaga and Seville. This triangle is the triangle with the greatest critical mass in the digital economy in Andalusia, which is the third largest digital economy in Spain.”
The organisers estimated that the direct economic impact on the city exceeded €10 million, with the potential to activate more than €80 million in capital operations between startups and investors.
The stated aim of its creators was to take the Spanish technology map beyond the traditional hubs. The choice of Seville as the headquarters responds to a strategic commitment to expand this map of Spanish innovation.
In July, a phenomenon of a different nature, but of comparable dimension, will be added to this commitment. Ibai Llanos’ “Velada del Año 6” will reach an unprecedented dimension: for the first time, the show will feature 10 fights on the same night. The 80,000 tickets on sale were sold out in just over two hours.
The event will be held on 25 July at the Estadio de La Cartuja, which already hosted the 2025 edition. The previous edition registered more than nine million simultaneous streaming viewers.
Two events with radically different profiles, an innovation congress and a boxing match between content creators, with a common denominator: they chose Seville.
Pros and cons compared to the rest of Spain
Seville ranks fourth in the national ranking of MICE cities, behind Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. According to a 2023 report by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), Spain occupied third place in the world ranking for the organisation of international events, with Madrid and Barcelona among the top 10 cities in the world. Seville aspires to close that gap, and it has arguments to do so.
The first is price. Seville has always been more competitive than Madrid and Barcelona, although hotel costs have risen in recent years with some restraint, without becoming a port of first arrival. For the organisers, this difference in price can be decisive when the budget is not unlimited.
The second argument is heritage. No other Spanish city can offer the Alcazar, the Casa de Pilatos, the Plaza de España or the banks of the Guadalquivir as settings for welcoming events, gala dinners or parallel activities. Such spaces are not replicated, and the organisers of international events know this.
At the Latin Grammy Awards, the Latin Academy distributed the previous events between the Lope de Vega Theatre, the Real Alcázar, the Casino de la Exposición, the Artillery Factory and the Casa de Pilatos. This combination of historical heritage and modern infrastructure is difficult to find in a single city.
In fact, Manuel Abud, director of the Latin Grammys, highlighted in an interview for Euronews the likelihood that the Latin Grammys will be held in Seville again in the next two years.
The third point in favour is rail connectivity. The AVE high-speed train puts Seville two and a half hours from Madrid and four hours from Barcelona, which allows for attendee profiles that combine same-day travel with a short stay.
However, there are cons, and they are not minor. Direct air connectivity with international destinations is still inferior to that of Madrid-Barajas or El Prat. For congresses with a massive participation of delegates from outside Spain, this factor can make the choice between the capital and Barcelona. The high-end hotel offer, although it has grown in recent years, has not yet reached the density required for events with several thousand simultaneous attendees.
Madrid and Barcelona have first-class infrastructures such as IFEMA or the CCIB and the Fira de Barcelona, two of the largest and most modern venues in Europe. Seville cannot compete in terms of total surface area or volume of events per year. But neither does it need to for the segment it is conquering: large events with a high media impact, with added cultural value, which seek to differentiate themselves from the standard congress format.
The model that Seville is building
What Seville is doing is not replicating the model of Madrid or Barcelona. It is something else: a commitment to unique events, with a high brand component, which need a setting that forms part of the story. It is not just where the event is held. It is the place itself that communicates.
Seville stands out as a destination for hosting meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) thanks to its modern infrastructure, versatile spaces and high quality auditoriums, with excellent connectivity through an international airport and a high-speed network that connects it quickly with Madrid.
As the Andalusian Regional Minister of Industry, Energy and Mines, Jorge Paradela, commented during CTx Tech, which took place on 19 and 20 March in Seville, it is not just a question of offering events or tourism: “Attracting international talent generates investment opportunities, builds new alliances and contributes to positioning Seville and Andalusia as an emerging technology hub throughout Europe”.
The risk of this strategy is irregularity. A city that is committed to events with a global impact needs a constant flow of attraction, not just one-off milestones every two years. The Seville Convention Bureau knows this, and data from the MICE industry point to increasingly longer planning timescales, which means that a portfolio of future events needs to be built now.
In March, Seville held its biggest technology congress. In July, it will host the most watched Spanish-language streaming event of the year. That two such different events have converged in the same city in the same year is no coincidence. It is the result of years of quiet work to put Seville on the radar of those who decide where the things that matter are held. It is becoming increasingly clear that, to quote Los del Río, “Seville has a special colour” and more and more every day in the professional environment.
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