With Brazil as the Partner Country, FITUR 2025, the 45^th edition of International Tourism Trade Fair, a leading global travel trade fair, was inaugurated in Madrid on Wednesday by King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain. Featuring a comprehensive and diverse agenda of events over its five-day run, FITUR 2025 is taking place at IFEMA in Madrid.

The regal couple was welcomed at IFEMA Madrid by José Vicente de los Mozos, President of the Executive Committee of IFEMA Madrid, along with a significant delegation of ministers, government representatives and tourism industry leaders from around the world.

The King and the Queen toured the exhibition halls to explore the proposals presented by companies, destinations, and exhibitors participating in FITUR. Brazil is the Partner Country for FITUR 2025 and Celso Sabino, Brazilian Minister of Tourism, Marcelo Freixo, President-Director of Embratur, the Brazilian Tourism Board, and Orlando Leite Ribeiro, Brazilian Ambassador to Spain, welcomed the King and Queen of Spain during the official inauguration at the Brazilian stand.

A tour of various stands at FITUR

According to the organisers, a total of 9,500 participating companies, 156 countries, and 884 main exhibitors, including 101 countries with official representation, are attending this international event to showcase their offerings across nine halls. They add that once again, FITUR will become the largest meeting point for the tourism sector, providing an opportunity to share knowledge and experiences, create business opportunities, and discover destinations from around the world.

FITUR 2025 honours memory of Dana victims

The mural will pay homage to victims of Dana and highlight resilience of tourism

In order to pay homage to the hundreds of victims of extreme weather conditions that had taken hold of parts of Spain last year, FITUR 2025 has unveiled a work of art that symbolises the support of the industry, the courage and resilience of the people and the rebirth of the affected territories.

According to the organisers, at the end of October 2024, the worst Dana weather phenomenon so far this century hit the autonomous communities of Valencia, Castile-La Mancha, Andalusia, Catalonia and, to a lesser extent, the Balearic Islands and Aragon, causing more than 200 fatalities and flooding with severe personal and material damage, both to infrastructures and to public and private property.

In the face of this tragedy, FITUR 2025 has announced that the young mural artist Imanol Cilla Intxaurraga will be painting the mural ‘Invincibles’ over the five days of the trade fair. Measuring 4.88 x 2.44 metres, this work of art seeks to become a symbol of courage and resilience and to represent the vision of the rebirth of the people and territories affected, transforming adversity into a collective victory.

In this allegory of the recovery of the beauty and harmony of the affected tourist destinations, a sprig of rosemary, an aromatic plant native to the affected regions, which grows wild in their landscapes – will be the central element of the mural, symbolising the strength, tradition and deep connection of the people with their land, but also its revitalisation. The details of the mural will include scenes of the renewed landscape in which tourists, camera in hand, capture the beauty of the regenerated landscapes in an image that reflects the revitalisation of tourist destinations and the recovery of hope.

The organisers say that from January 22-26, in IFEMA MADRID’s central square, ‘Invincibles’ will pay tribute to the strength of the local communities and the admiration that the tourism industry feels for their courage and determination in a work entitled “Homenaje a las personas y destinos españoles que renacen tras la tragedia.”. (Homage to the Spanish people and destinations that are reborn after tragedy. They are invincible, they are FITUR.)