Overview
- The Barcelona trade fair opened with tens of thousands attending, and organisers expect roughly 109,000 professionals over the week.
- Protesters at the venue called for boycotts of Israel and the United States, while Spanish media reported thousands of cancellations following regional airspace closures.
- Some Israeli companies could not reach the show, with nine of 25 firms absent from the national pavilion and signs noting missing exhibitors such as AI security firm DeepKeep.
- GSMA said only a small number of exhibitors, attendees and speakers were affected by travel issues, and Catalonia’s president described disruption as very limited.
- Industry focus includes sovereign AI and direct‑to‑device satellite connectivity, high‑profile talks from leaders of Bharti, AT&T and Orange alongside a scheduled address by SpaceX’s Gwynne Shotwell, and device launches like Honor’s AI “robot phone” slated for the second half of the year as rising RAM costs weigh on handset pricing.