The second San Diego Comic-Con Málaga doubles the house of the fairgrounds after final yr’s queues and complaints | Culture | EUROtoday

The San Diego Comic-Con begins a brand new stage in Malaga, a metropolis that for the second time will host the native version of the primary in style tradition occasion on the earth from October 1 to 4. The occasion was introduced this Thursday by Fernando Piquer, common director just a few weeks in the past, together with different particulars of this section: “Expand the spaces and contents to offer the best experience” inside the Malaga Fairs and Congress Center (Fycma), which is able to as soon as once more be the venue for the assembly. Piquer spoke as a fan fairly than as a director and warranted that “last year left very specific learnings” and that “there were things that did not go as expected.”

The occasion faces its subsequent version whereas nonetheless dragging controversy and discontent among the many public who attended its premiere. Complaints targeted on lengthy traces for hours, the sensation of overflowing capability and the dearth of prior details about the programming, with visitors introduced when many had already bought their tickets. A mixture of things that now marks the context of this new stage.

Piquer is “very clear about this after speaking with many people.” “I assume that responsibility to elevate the fan experience and take better care of the details,” he stated in a Madrid Matadero guarded by imperial troopers of the saga. Star Wars and assistants in cosplay of video video games and comics, and during which he identified one of many evils of the earlier version: “The queues; I had to say it at some point in this presentation.” To handle this, the venue will double its floor space, going from 10,800 sq. meters to 19,600 because of the incorporation of a second outside pavilion. As a consequence, the variety of stands may also enhance. Even so, he warned that “there will be queues, if everyone wants an autograph, but it will be a problem that we will enjoy,” Piquer joked.

In addition to the rise in house, Piquer introduced that they’ll provide an unique pre-sale for individuals who “trusted in this project since last year.” “We want them to be the first to experience this new stage.” The dates to get the tickets haven’t but been finalized, however since final yr it was recognized that the value will rise from 50 to 80 euros (320 euros in whole), based on the organizing firm, Dentsu. So far, the whole variety of passes is unknown. The final version put 120,000 on sale, one thing that sparked the controversy whether or not the capability of the Fair Palace, restricted to about 30,000 every day guests, had been exceeded.

It has additionally not been detailed whether or not this yr it is going to be introduced to the visitors earlier than getting the tickets. Hence, the primary complaints from customers, within the final version, targeted on the truth that they have been requested to spend 50 euros per day with out there being a single visitor or exercise introduced. Even so, tickets for 3 of the 4 days have been bought out in simply 24 hours.

In 2025, the 300 hours of content material featured an inventory of worldwide stars headed by Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was accompanied by Antonio Banderas without warning. Actors and actresses reminiscent of Natalia Dyer, Aaron Paul, Gwendoline Christie, Dafne Keen and Taz Skylar additionally attended, collaborating in talks and debates. Some additionally took images or signed autographs for his or her followers for a previous cost of between 66 and 90 euros. Added to them was the presence of faces of Spanish cinema, reminiscent of Ester Expósito, Óscar Jaenada, Belén Rueda or Juan Antonio Bayona, along with an inventory of administrators, illustrators, comedian e book authors and online game creators.

It must be remembered that the San Diego Comic-Con – the primary conference – additionally doesn’t reveal the visitors (or not all of them) till just a few weeks earlier than it begins. However, it’s troublesome for the annual occasion in Southern California to disappoint followers after 56 years of historical past—an occasion that revolved round comics and have become an exhibitor of motion and fantasy collection and movies (Marvel, DC, Disney franchises)—.

It is true that these are two totally different occasions. But the comparability was made when the primary San Diego Comic-Con Málaga was offered by the then director, Javier Barbera: “[San Diego y Málaga] They are, furthermore, two very similar cities: border cities, in the south, very cultural with a similar climate. All the bases were in place for this to be the ideal location for a product like this.” The workers of Dentsu – an organization of Japanese origin that has obtained the license – traveled to the birthplace of Comic Con to watch “its philosophy and its capacity for growth,” stated Barbera.

The San Diego Convention Center – whose metropolitan space exceeds three million – has an official capability of round 125,000 folks, which is the variety of guests that the honest receives over the 4 days. Compared to the 20,000 people who Fycma can accommodate in Malaga – a metropolis of 599,063 inhabitants.

The Malaga proposal acquired the approval of the occasion’s director of communication and worldwide technique, David Glanzer. And this Thursday he as soon as once more gave his blessing to the San Diego Comic-Con Málaga —and can accomplish that at the least till 2027—, which he described as successful. The occasion had an influence of 44.3 million euros and 95,784 confirmed attendees over 4 days, along with client associations (Facua and OCU) who claimed to build up greater than 550 queries to file complaints.