Spain is one of the important topics discussed at the last edition of ICE in London, starting with a round table on 6 February with important players such as Patricia Lalanda Ordóñez (partner of Loyra Abogados), Mikel Arana Etxezarreta ( General Director of the DGOJ), Jorge Hinojosa (General Manager of Jdigital) and Miguel Marín Cobos (First Vice President and Councillor of Economy, Commerce, Trade, Innovation, Technology, Tourism and Development of the Autonomous City of Melilla), Jorge Hinojosa (General Manager of Jdigital) and Miguel Marín Cobos (first Vice-President and Councillor of Economy, Commerce, Technological Innovation, Tourism and Development of the Autonomous City of Melilla) to understand in depth the current and future trends in the industry.

"Vamos a España" was a special event on the networking agenda for the Clarion Gaming team, providing an opportunity to consider the diverse perspectives of those present on the Spanish market and to reaffirm their new future in the Catalan capital, as well as a brief presentation of the stages of ICE Barcelona 2025.

Stuart Hunter, Managing Director of Clarion Gaming gave a brief introduction of the Clarion Gaming team, who are working on a move to Barcelona, Spain in 2025.

He said: "It has been 6 months since we made the decision to move the event from London to Barcelona. We now want to discover, learn and understand how we can support the Spanish gaming market during next year's move. That's why we are looking for your support and help, to work together in partnership towards ICE Barcelona 2025".

As part of the presentation the Director of Industry Insight and Engagement, Ewa Bakun said: "At the moment we are in an initial research stage. We want to understand the Spanish market better, get to know its key players, then we are at the stage of  listening, researching, asking questions, developing contacts and building relationships."

"ICE is perceived as a platform that can help the Spanish market in a process of regularisation of the gaming market and its growth in the global framework," added Ewa. The idea is to continue learning and researching about the Catalan city and its society, beyond the fair itself: "this means that we must listen to you first, and keep open to your suggestions, recommendations, advice and opinions, then let's talk," said Ewa Bakun, who made her speech entirely in Spanish.

Statements about the change of location

As this is one of the world's leading events in the gaming industry, we decided to take some statements from gaming representatives from the Iberian country.

Firstly, we spoke to Spain's General Director of Gaming Regulation and Online Gaming Regulator, Arana Mikel, who commented on the fact that ICE is moving from the UK to Spain: "First of all it is a huge challenge, as regulators, because of all that is involved in a show like this in a new environment, with new rules, and new regulation".

"As a representative of the Spanish online gaming regulators, we are very involved in everything that has to do with providing a safe and secure environment for all players, and this type of fair helps us to learn from the experiences of other European countries and international regulators.

"We also learn about how different markets are developing in different parts of the world.

"The fact that ICE is in Barcelona guarantees us the possibility of attending and makes everything much easier," concluded Arana Mikel.

Afterwards, Alejandro Landaluce, General Director of the Consejo Empresarial del Juego (CEJUEGO), also referred to the move of the ICE event to Barcelona, in terms of an opportunity as well as a challenge: "For us, that the ICE event goes to Spain, Barcelona, is a great opportunity for the Spanish industry to be in the spotlight for the whole world of the industry; and at the same time, it is a very important challenge for the sector".

Karen Sierra Hughes, Vice President for Latin America, Caribbean & Spain at GLI (Gaming Laboratories International LLC) and ICE's ambassador for Latin America, expressed her thoughts on the show's move from London to Spain as follows: "We are very excited about ICE's move to Spain. We believe that the new venue in Barcelona will be a great opportunity for more representatives from the Latin American market to take advantage of this type of event, both for its culture and language. We are confident that ICE Barcelona will be a great success next year.”

Finally, we asked Ester Vilatoba Torres, CEO at Casino Garage, who visited ICE London 2024, and was present during Clarion Gaming's talk on "Vamos España", about the change of location: "I have been in the gaming industry for 21 years, and I am very excited that ICE is moving next year to Barcelona, not only because it is my hometown, but also because there are many operators and manufacturers in the sector that are already active.

She added: "It's a great opportunity to explore new areas and do a lot of networking in a very pleasant Mediterranean climate.”