World Cup Winner Spain Succeeds With Soccer, Meetings

Spain sits atop the soccer world, winning its first World Cup title at long, long last in July. But there are other victories the Spaniards have been racking up that are of more interest to meeting planners. Spain placed third in the International Congress Center Association’s (ICCA) annual ranking of the number of international meetings held per country, just behind the United States and Germany. And Spain’s two major cities, Madrid and Barcelona, each ranked very high in ICCA’s city list.

Madrid

Madrid rose to thirteenth place in ICCA’s annual ranking this year.

Madrid is considered one of the top European destinations for art museums. Best known is the Golden Triangle of Art, located along the Paseo del Prado and comprising three museums. The most famous is the Prado Museum, known for such highlights as Diego Velázquez’s Las Meninas and Francisco de Goya’s La maja vestida and La maja desnuda. The other two museums are the Thyssen Bornemisza Museum, established from a mixed private collection, and the Reina Sofia Museum. This is where Pablo Picasso’s Guernica hangs.

Madrid is also known for its vibrant nightlife. Some of the most popular night destinations include the neighborhoods of: Bilbao, Tribunal, Alonso Martinez or Moncloa, together with Puerta del Sol area (including Opera and Gran Via, both adjacent to the popular square) and Huertas (barrio de Las Letras), destinations which are also filled with tourists day and night.

Barcelona

Barcelona took second place on ICCA’s list of cities that host the most international meetings. And that’s not the only accolade the city has recently earned. Barcelona is the fifth best city in the world for dining out. This is the finding of a survey of 10,000 people across 20 countries carried out for the Anholt- GfK Roper City Brands Index. The survey’s authors say that Barcelona’s seafood paella and traditional Catalan dishes like Escalivada have placed the city firmly on the world’s gastronomic map.

It isn’t surprising that Barcelona is popular among meeting planners and gourmets. Art, architecture, sport, and nightlife come together in this Mediterranean metropolis. It would be difficult to find a city better than Barcelona for strolling along sunny boulevards, dropping into lively bars for a couple of tapas and a glass of sangria, and generally just enjoying where the day takes you.

Barcelona is a city whose sandy Mediterranean beaches have not overpowered the culture of the city, defined by artists like Picasso and Miró, as well as its embrace of turn-of-the-century modernista architects like the utterly unique Antoni Gaudí.

Any group in Barcelona should be offered plenty of free time or a wide list of arranged activities, but there are a couple of other must-do activities for planners to set up. First among these is a private, guided tour of the Sagrada Família, the utterly unique cathedral designed by Gaudí, the uncontested master of the Catalan Modernista architects that began putting their mark on Barcelona in the 1880s.

Originally published Aug. 1, 2010

Comments

blog comments powered by Disqus