Barcelona rises in ICCA; Madrid holds firm under competitive pressure
10 June, 2026Barcelona has risen to third place worldwide in the ICCA ranking of international congresses, with 166 meetings in 2025, compared with 142 the previous year. The city is behind Lisbon, the new leader with 188 congresses, and Paris, second with 174.
Barcelona’s progress strengthens its position as a MICE destination in a context of greater global competition between cities. According to ICCA, the Catalan capital also leads scientific congresses and ranks second in medical meetings.
Madrid, for its part, drops from 11th to 13th place despite growth in activity, with 108 international congresses, three more than in 2024. Its fall is due to the greater dynamism of other destinations such as Berlin or Copenhagen, which have climbed positions in an increasingly tight ranking.
The ranking reflects the full recovery of the MICE segment after the pandemic and the intensification of the battle between major cities to attract international congresses. In Barcelona, all meetings together attracted 683,783 delegates and generated a direct economic impact of 1.24 billion euros.