It is clear that the reason for the trip is the Mobile World Congress (MWC) and that the attendees are expecting intense days of work that will be followed by dinners organized months ago by the same companies. But since they have to travel to Barcelona, ??why not advance the flight date a little and take advantage of the weekend before the whirlwind begins? It is the approach, every year more common, of the first congressmen who, since the end of last week, have been settling in their respective hotels and who yesterday were seen moving around in black vehicles with tinted windows, taking a leisurely stroll around the center, shopping, having a bite to eat or in the stands to enjoy the match between Barça and Getafe.
There are those who had decided on the program before landing. Like the Argentinian telecommunications engineer Andrés Cardoso, EBG account director of Huawei in his country, who is visiting the Catalan capital for the first time. He does it advised by his mother. “She comes often and she made it very clear to me: ‘When you arrive it will be lunch time and the first thing you have to do is go to La Boqueria and eat something there'”. He was obedient and we found him in one of the places in the market with some rolls of Iberian acorn ham and Manchego cheese, next to his Brazilian colleague Anderson Porfirio, head of business and his client, who is also visiting Barcelona for the first time and Mobile. “Many organized meetings and many professional challenges await us, but today it’s time to enjoy ourselves a little. We landed two hours ago, we approached the hotel, very close to the Llacuna metro station; a quick shower and direct to the Boqueria. And this afternoon, Barça’s game”.
They will go to the field, and others, like some young Chinese congressmen who visit the official store on Rambla Catalunya, will be content to take a good collection of club shirts with them to fulfill the orders that their friends have given them .
On the terrace of neighboring Ciudad Condal, the usual clientele of tourists was joined yesterday by some congressmen, such as the group that had just landed on a flight from Istanbul and shared fried artichokes, steak skewers and asparagus , as well as other dishes from this successful restaurant.
Not only those who came to attend the mobile phone meeting, but many Barcelona residents, some of them children, enjoyed those hours before the Mobile yesterday. One of the focuses was in Plaça Catalunya, where Samsung has once again set up a showy stand in front of which a very long queue formed that included more than half of the perimeter of the square. The reason was not the presentation of the firm’s latest model (“If they want to see it, it would be better to come at another time”, warned the staff), but the presence of the famous YouTuber GoDeik. A group of friends from the Ventura Gassol school, in Morell (Tarragonès), had convinced their parents to take them to see him and stood in front of the entrance to be closer to their idol while one of the mothers saved a place in the queue. They explained that they are 11 years old, they like to play Brawl Star and they had prepared drawings that they hope to be able to give to him. “We love his videos”, pointed out Luca Muñiz, who praised the Madrid player’s humorous tone on one of his channels and the grace of another channel dedicated to the reactions of the players. While they waited, they discussed what they will do if they win the championship and get the model Samsung just unveiled. “It’s more than 1,000 euros, I’d sell it to myself and share the money”, said one of them.
On the Rambla, we meet the chef Óscar Manresa, who is heading to El Altar, a dining room with a private kitchen that he reserves for groups and where he wants to finalize some details of the table that is already ready. He explains that at his restaurant, the Torre d’Altamar, he has reservations for nearly a hundred congressmen for each night of the Mobile. And he assures that some senior managers who are already in the city are looking for calm outside the urban center. “At Catalina, in Gavà de Mar, we attended the president of Samsung on Thursday and Friday.” But the vast majority of dinners expected these days will be held in the city.
The Catalan Federation of Restaurants and Musical Activities Associations (Fecasarm) has put the turnover of bars, restaurants and hotels in Barcelona at 105 million euros this year and it is expected that each attendee will spend around 300 euros.
Chef Raül Balam, head of Moments, at the Madarin Oriental hotel, says that every end of February he looks forward to the arrival of the Mobile. “It is the biggest restaurant festival in the city and quite a challenge to ensure that those who sit at the tables of our restaurants enjoy themselves. And when they go back to work, during the coffee breaks they talk about what they ate and how good they were in Barcelona”. These days he offers his latest tasting menu, inspired by the cycling Tour, which immerses itself in the culinary culture of the different stages and offers a haute cuisine gastronomic route suitable for those who come from afar. Balam confesses to being an absolute fan of Mobile. “Technology is part of our lives and this is one of the biggest congresses in the world. It is wonderful to have it in Barcelona and to strive to adapt to the tastes and eating habits of people who these days arrive from all over the world”.
