Comic Barcelona (Saló del Cómic)

Comic Barcelona — long known as the Saló Internacional del Còmic — is Spain's oldest and largest comics convention, and one of the elder statesmen of the European con calendar. It held its first edition in 1981 at Montjuïc's Palacio Alfonso XIII, drawing some 12,000 visitors, and has run nearly every year since under Ficomic, the association of Spanish comics publishers that has organized the show since 1989. The 2027 edition runs May 7–9 at Fira de Barcelona's Montjuïc venue — the fairground that has hosted the show, on and off, for most of its history.

Where Barcelona's other big Japanese-culture show, Manga Barcelona, leans into anime and manga each December, Comic Barcelona keeps its focus on comics in the broadest sense — European bande dessinée, American superhero books, Spanish historietas, and increasingly, in recent editions, a deliberate opening toward Asian pop-culture crossover art and creators. Recent editions have drawn close to 120,000 visitors across the weekend, spread across the Montjuïc site's Palaces 1, 2, and 5 and the adjoining Plaza del Universo.

The exhibition program is a genuine draw in its own right. Each edition builds several dedicated exhibitions around major creators — past years have honored figures like Carlos Giménez and Paco Roca — giving the show a curatorial depth beyond the usual exhibitor floor. Long signing queues form for the biggest names in Spanish and international comics, and the artist and publisher floor covers everything from major houses to small self-published outfits. A dedicated Comic Kids area runs workshops and activities for younger visitors, and recent editions have expanded space for cosplay, tabletop and role-playing games, giving the show a broader geek-culture footprint than its comics-only name suggests.

Fira de Barcelona's Montjuïc site sits on the hill above the city, near Plaça Espanya, and is well served by Barcelona's metro (L1 and L3) and bus network, with the MNAC museum and the Poble Espanyol open-air architecture park both a short walk away if you want to extend the day. Barcelona's airport, El Prat, connects directly to the city center by train and metro in well under an hour.

Tickets are sold by day and weekend through the official site and Fira de Barcelona's ticketing partners; the busiest Saturday typically sells out, so buying ahead is worth it if a specific signing or exhibition is the priority. May is a good month to be in Barcelona generally — warm without the summer crowds — which makes pairing the con with a few days exploring the Gothic Quarter, Sagrada Família, and the city's beaches an easy call. For anyone building a European con-hopping itinerary, Comic Barcelona's spring date slots neatly alongside Manga Barcelona's December edition as two very different sides of the same city's comics scene.