Fair dues

The mission to consolidate Feria Hábitat Valencia as the leading fair for ‘made in Spain’ interiors and the gateway to international markets was fully accomplished this year.

- Penny mccormick

Feria Hábitat Valencia 2019 was impressive, including in numerical terms: 503 international companies and brands exhibited their products – an increase of over 20 per cent from last year – in a much bigger space. The annual design fair, now in its 55th year, expanded to include four halls, filling 65,000 square metres – with the result that there was a 50% rise in foreign exhibitors and a much greater choice of cutting-edge designers. It’s been estimated that more than 26,000 visitors attended the fair across the four days – a reflection perhaps of the positive economic news from Spanish Furniture Market Observatory at AIDIMME Technology Institute. Furniture manufacturing was worth 4.5 billion euros in 2018, an increase on the previous year. Foreign brands were also well represented, with manufacturers from Belgium, China, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Turkey and the UK present.

Exports are also healthy. According to ANIEME, exports of Spanish furniture rose by more than 5% in the first half of 2019, exceeding 1.1 billion euros in value. These auspicious figures also reflected the news, announced just as the fair opened, that Valencia has been chosen as World Design Capital 2022, taking over from Lille, France and joining former capitals Helsinki, México City, Taipei and Seoul. It beat the Indian metropolis of Bangalore which, by the final judging round, was Valencia’s only remaining rival.