A multi-layered plan to ensure a safe environment for everyone
MWC21 takes place 28 June - 1 July 2021 in Barcelona
8 March 2021, London: The GSMA has shared details of its health and safety plan for MWC21 Barcelona. The plan was developed in coordination with and approved by the Catalan health authorities responsible for the regulations governing MWC21, including the Department of Business and Knowledge of the Generalitat de Catalunya and the Technical Committee of the Procicat. According to the Sectorial Plan of Fairs and Congresses, the plan satisfies the directives and recommendations for event organisers.
The health and safety plan, Committed Community, will impact everyone involved with the event. The plan takes a layered approach designed to create a safe environment for staff, workers, exhibitors, visitors, suppliers, partners, and the local community. Layers include frequent testing, contact tracing, touchless environments, re-vamped catering, occupancy monitoring, upgrades to facility infrastructure, increased medical staff and personal commitments like adhering to social distancing. The plan builds on the Protocol on Safety and Prevention against COVID-19 currently being implemented by Fira de Barcelona.
Recently, Fira de Barcelona was awarded the World Travel Tourism Council Safe Travels stamp for its Covid-19 safety measures. These measures were designed in collaboration with the specialist risk management consultancy Aon and with the advice of the Hospital Cl nic in Barcelona, a benchmark epidemiological centre.
We've worked with partners, health authorities and medical professionals to create a plan that builds confidence in our return to in-person events. The GSMA has safely and successfully organised premier mobile events for many years. Since 2006, we have worked closely with the Host City Parties and Fira Barcelona to keep everyone safe and secure at MWC events. No doubt, Covid-19 is our biggest challenge to date. But our experience gives us a rock-solid foundation from which we have built our plan. This foundation means MWC21 Barcelona can go ahead safely, in person, with a digital online component for those unable to attend. It will remain the unique, unmissable experience that has made it the world's most important mobile event, said John Hoffman, Chief Executive Officer GSMA Ltd.
Committed Community
Check In To Get In is the first step in the multi-layered plan. Participants will download My MWC, a bespoke app designed for MWC21 Barcelona. It is a digital badge that will activate and allow for entrance to the event once registration, self-declaration and testing is completed. Registration for MWC21 will open in the coming weeks.
Testing
Before leaving home, travellers from some destinations will be required to show a negative Covid-19 test before being allowed to board planes and travel to Catalonia. The Spanish Authorities will dictate this requirement
Participants arriving by train or car will be directed to MWC relevant testing centres to validate their health status
All participants will be required to produce a valid negative rapid test to access the Venue. The test must be repeated every 72 hours, with participants notified through the My MWC app of upcoming expiration
Multiple testing centres will be available to support rapid testing
All tests will be performed by qualified personnel working alongside the Catalan Health Authorities
Whilst in the Venue, temperature checks will also be conducted at all access points
The Venue
Entrances and exits have doubled to ensure social distancing and support one-way traffic flow through the Venue
A touchless' environment, with badgeless' entry and other formerly manual interactions digitised
Fira Gran Via restaurants have been re-designed to ensure social distancing, food preparation, and offering adheres to enhanced standards, including contactless payment
Fira Gran Via has increased sanitisation protocols throughout the Venue
Features a new fresh-air injection and external ventilation system to improve airflow, exceeding the highest standard of AD1
Upgraded infrastructure including new monitoring systems will support our active capacity and density management, ensuring social distancing guidelines are adhered to along with one-way flows
Medical protocols
The onsite medical facilities have been adapted to incorporate Covid-19 protocols, including the addition of isolation rooms to facilitate assessments
Increased medical personnel onsite to conduct assessments, administer PCR or rapid tests and to coordinate where necessary with Catalan health authorities
The relevant contact tracing data will be shared with health authorities if needed to mitigate potential exposure further
Your commitment
Comply with testing protocols
Complete a daily health questionnaire in the My MWC app
Make regular use of the 1,300 disinfectant dispensers placed around the venue, wear a FFP2 (Filtering Facepiece Respirators) mask and adhere to social distancing requirements
As we look at the roll-out of vaccinations across different countries, we can expect that the risk of contracting Covid-19 will gradually decrease. Vaccines are game-changers. However, as we don't know the extent to which all vaccines may prevent transmission, I believe that the adoption of ever improving technology for screening and diagnosis may be as powerful as the rollouts of the vaccine itself. said Dr. Rodriguez-Fernandez, International SOS.
The GSMA will continue to adapt its health and safety plan as new information is available or as directed by local authorities. Onsite marshals will support efforts to adhere, and training will be provided to key staff and participants to ensure all elements are strictly followed. Up-to-date information on our Committed Community can be found via the MWC Barcelona website, be
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program
Brie Clayton July 3, 2026
0 Comments
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagi...
04/07/2026
iZotope Joins Boris FX
Boris Yamnitsky July 3, 2026
0 Comments
iZotope, the team behind RX and Ozone, is joining Boris FX. A letter from founder Boris...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Death Star
Andy Marken July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...
03/07/2026
Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...
03/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...
03/07/2026
Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...
02/07/2026
Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD
In the live-sports...
02/07/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
02/07/2026
BLAST, a competitive entertainment company focused on esports, has announced more than $133 million in revenue for 2025, representing more than 40% year-over-ye...
02/07/2026
Riedel Communications has announced official SKAARHOJ panel support for SimplyLive production workflows, enabled through the SimplyLive 2.1 release. The integra...
02/07/2026
The Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic has deployed LiveU video-over-bond...
02/07/2026
Gravity Media USA has announced the appointment of Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development, effective July 1, 2026. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Bosto...
02/07/2026
TwelveLabs, a video intelligence company, has announced $100 million in Series B funding co-led by NEA and NAVER Ventures, with participation from Amazon, Radic...
02/07/2026
The Pro Padel League (PPL) has announced a broadcast partnership with USA Sports that will air five PPL championship matches on CNBC during the 2026 season, the...
02/07/2026
LiveLike, a digital fan engagement platform, has announced eight confirmed FIFA ...
02/07/2026
Cobalt Digital has received Future's Best of Show Award, presented by AV Technology at InfoComm 2026, for its blueCORE family of standalone signal processor...
02/07/2026
Synamedia has announced the appointment of Dr. Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transition...
02/07/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) and Sony Group Corporation have announced an expanded collaboration for the Esports World Cup 2026 (EWC), taking place in Paris, Fra...
02/07/2026
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. ( Z') has announced exclusive broadcast and digital rights for the Bundesliga in India for five years, beginning with the...
02/07/2026
An effort uniting News, Sports, Local, and Telemundo, the 50+-camera live produc...
02/07/2026
Zoey Deutch, John Slattery, Ken Marino, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, and Ben Wang appe...
02/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
02/07/2026
A new era in unmixing and spectral editing
The latest version of Steinberg's spectral audio-editing software has just arrived, building on the strength...
02/07/2026
Aims to simplify additive synthesis
Sine Machine is the debut launch from Melatonin, a Vienna-based developer who have spent the past six years creating wha...
02/07/2026
Products to remain fully active & supported
Following the news of Native Instruments joining the inMusic brand line-up, Academy and Emmy Award-winning visua...
02/07/2026
What you missed!
Last weekend, Saturday 27 June 2026, saw the debut of Sound On Sounds new GearExpo UK event, the largest dedicated pro-audio event to take ...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Following the successful launch of its inaugural APAC Mentoring Programme last month, the Rise AV APAC Regional Council will bring the conversation around mento...
02/07/2026
Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Used to Shoot Director Takahisa Zeze's Cry Out
Brie Clayton July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Highly mobile camera supports tense and de...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions acquires BFE, expanding its lead in European broadcast, medi...
02/07/2026
Berklee Alum and Faculty Perform at Boston Public Library's 250th Anniversar...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions GmbH, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, is acquiring BFE Studio und Medien...
02/07/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has extended the ingest facility at leading Brazilian sports company LiveMode, work...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Standalone processors acknowledged for the innovation and value they bring to Pro AV
Cobalt Digital, a leading designer and manufacturer of signal processing ...
02/07/2026
Synamedia announced today the appointment of Dr Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transitio...
A multi-layered plan to ensure a safe environment for everyone 
