A day after the United States and Israel attacked Iran, placing world safety in verify, the welcome dinner for the Mobile Word Congress (MWC) was held on the National Museum of Art of Catalonia. This time the congress celebrates its twentieth anniversary in Barcelona – from Monday to Thursday – with the uncertainty of not realizing, for the second, how the escalation of conflict will impression the technological congress, however with dozens of flights suspended and cancellations of some congressmen.
Both King Felipe VI and the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa and the Mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, have taken benefit of their public interventions on the inaugural dinner to ask for an finish to the armed battle. In truth, requests for peace have appeared in all congressional speeches.
The monarch recalled, in his speech (in Spanish, Catalan and English), the conflict in Ukraine: “Four years after the start of Putin’s aggression, there is still no clear path to peace. We must remain firm in our defense of the ethical dimension of humanity, its values and its principles, which are universal.” He then referred to the scenario in Iran: “As we speak, the Middle East is once again sliding towards a critical moment, with a clear risk of regional escalation and unforeseeable consequences. We ask for maximum restraint in the use of force; respect for the lives of civilians and the search for a diplomatic solution to this current logic of confrontation. We ask to do so to avoid a chaotic situation and open repression, and to reestablish dialogue in an honest search for peace.”
Pedro Sánchez has warned that the “world is at a crossroads” between conflict and peace. “Spain is clear. Yesterday two countries attacked Iran without taking into account the international community. They beheaded a terrible regime that represses women and girls. The actions of both violate international law and cause innocent victims. All of this will lead us to a greater disaster,” he maintained. “Today more than ever, it is essential to remember that one can be against a hateful regime but also against an intervention outside international legality,” he concluded, demanding an “immediate” de-escalation and resuming dialogue “as soon as possible.” The president of the federal government has taken benefit of his intervention to assault the “technological oligarchs” and defend insurance policies to manage social networks in adolescents.
He president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, has begun: “The government of Catalonia calls for de-escalation and a rebuke of diplomacy, negotiation and respect for international law. We cannot tolerate more wars, more conflicts and more violence. We cannot tolerate the law of the strongest winning.” He president He has referred to as for “hope, trust and cohesive societies.”
Collboni maintained in his speech: “Barcelona is a city committed to peace, the defense of Human Rights and international cooperation.” The first mayor highlighted: “We cannot remain impassive in the face of the extreme suffering of other sister cities in Ukraine and Palestine.”
Effect on Mobile
A spokesperson for the MWC assured EL PAÍS this Sunday that the escalation of conflict and the closure of airports brought on by the assault on Iran “will affect a small number of visitors and exhibitors and some speakers at the congress.” The administration has not made a forecast on the impression that it could have on the MWC. Until the assault on Iran, the organizers’ forecast was to exceed 109,000 attendees, which was a file for the 2025 version. Something that now, and with worldwide transportation lower off to the Middle East, won’t be achieved. In truth, Qatar, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Israel, Kuwait, Bahrain and Iraq have closed the airspace. In addition, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Lebanon have affected and restricted airspace.
At the Barcelona airport, a number of flights have been affected and lots of of them have been filled with congressmen. El Prat airport has canceled flights with Kuwait and Tel Aviv, in addition to connections with Doha, Abu Dhabi or Dubai. In addition to different flights that join Barcelona with Asia or Australia and that use a few of these airports corresponding to hub connection between Asia and Europe are struggling cancellation. In truth, firms corresponding to Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad have suspended all flights.
From the MWC they guarantee that the variety of cancellations remains to be unsure though nothing results in optimism. The Spanish businessmen who’re devoted to transporting congressmen this week are already stating that the escalation of conflict can vastly have an effect on the congress of this 2026. “We are having a lot of impact on clients and suppliers who had to come from South Africa, Southeast Asia and Australia who have already told us that they cannot arrive. There are many cancellations,” warn sources from the sector. “This Sunday we are holding the first meetings to start the congress tomorrow. We are already missing participants from Australia and Dubai and we fear that there will be more absences,” lament the identical sources.
The first occasion of the MWC of this twentieth version has proven that the institutional rudeness has lengthy been forgotten in full course of independence. Last yr, the institutional normality that was damaged in these years was recovered. In the final version of 2025, Salvador Illa was the president of the Generalitat who put an finish to eight years by which the Catalan leaders – Quim Torra and Pere Aragonès – didn’t take part within the reception of the monarch as a protest towards the Catalan political scenario. In truth, in February 2017, Carles Puigdemont was the final president of the Generalitat to greet the king on the MWC dinner. Collboni had already greeted the monarch on the 2024 MWC however his predecessor, Ada Colau, had additionally prevented greeting the king in different editions.
https://elpais.com/espana/catalunya/2026-03-01/el-rey-inaugura-el-mobile-llamando-a-una-salida-diplomatica-al-conflicto-en-iran.html