SPAIN – The Spanish trade fair initiative for the furniture industry “See You in Valencia” took place from 1 to 5 February with 1,665 exhibitors from over 40 countries on an exhibition area of 183,000 square meters, distributed in 14 pavilions. 

“See You in Valencia” includes the shows FIMMA (furniture and woodworking machinery), Maderalia (components for the furniture and woodworking industry), Cevisama (bathroom, kitchen, ceramic tiles and natural stone) and Feria Hábitat Valencia (furniture, lighting and decoration).

The closing ceremony was led by the president of the Generalitat of Valencia, Ximo Puig, who during his visit to the fair recognized the importance of these events for the tile, ceramic, wood or furniture sectors, areas for which the President has recognized the need to articulate “measures of encouragement and support”.

Although data on visitor numbers is still being analyzed and collected, the perception is that they have exceeded the figures of the last joint edition. The organizers stressed in a statement to the press, “The feeling regarding FIMMA – Maderalia is magnificent. This great biennial of technology, wood and solutions for the carpentry, interior design and decoration sectors has been an historical event that revealed, as measured by the exhibitors themselves, the recovery of the auxiliary industry in our country.”

“The fair has been extremely positive and we have recorded more than 400 contacts,” explained Xabier Ribetón, sales manager of multinational Egger, while for Antonio Castillo, director general of boards and panels producer Tradema SL, “this fair, undoubtedly will mark the trend in the market in the coming years.” Meanwhile, in the field of machinery it was detected an increased investment interest in equipment, a fact that advances an expansive cycle in the sector. “We detected an improvement in quantity and quality of the visitors, who visited with investment projects in mind,” noted Carles Tort, of Homag Spain. In this sense, Marc Farrarons, manager of Preziss tools, clearly stated, “FIMMA – Maderalia has become the reference fair in Spain and in neighboring countries.”