Fira de Barcelona outlines anti-COVID protocols as venue prepares for business

Wider spaces that guarantee physical distance, artificial intelligence to control visitor flows and the capacity limits, traceability of the attendees’ contacts at the venues, possible temperature control at the accesses and ventilation systems equipped with antibacterial filters.

These are some of the measures featured in the safety and prevention protocol for COVID-19, which Fira de Barcelona has drawn up in collaboration with the specialist risk consultancy firm, Aon and advice from the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona. In this way, the institution aims at offering the maximum safety guarantees for workers, organisers, exhibitors and visitors in view of the planned resuming of its activity from September onwards.

After this mandatory break caused by the pandemic, Fira de Barcelona is preparing to resume its activity in the final quarter of the year by holding events such as the Valmont Barcelona Bridal Fashion Week, BizBarcelona and Ocupació, Alimentaria, Foodtech, the Boat Show, Smart City Expo World Congress, Expoquimia, Eurosurfas and Equiplast, among others; the aim is to be a driving force behind economic and social reactivation.

In order to do this as safely as possible, a detailed manual has been developed based on an exhaustive analysis of more than 400 processes associated with the holding of fairs and conferences, and for which nearly 1,000 possible mitigation measures have been identified, which, among other things, includes the elimination of some processes and elements that may generate unnecessary risk interactions.

The General Manager of Fira de Barcelona, Constantí Serrallonga, said: “In view of the new reality resulting from the pandemic, the institution will, as expected, prioritise the safety of all participants in the events that are planned to be organised in the Montjuïc and Gran Via venues during the last four months of the year.”

In this regard, he highlighted the protocol drawn up in collaboration with accredited technical and epidemiological experts and pointed out that “due to its characteristics, Fira’s activity is similar to that of a large shopping centres, with the added value of having greater traceability in terms of the identity and contacts of professional visitors.”

“We have carried out a detailed analysis of each of the actions that visitors, exhibitors, workers and suppliers carry out at the fairs, and measures will be implemented to minimise any risks, with the aim of holding them in the best conditions and once again becoming an important lever for the much-needed economic recovery”, added Serrallonga.