Spannabis-time Is In The Air!
Another dark, damp, and dreary January is finally over, so you know what that means, it's almost time for Spannabis baby! That’s right, Europe’s largest and most culturally inclusive cannabis event is back and this year's event, held as always in the beautiful Barcelona, looks set to be a scorcher.
Now in its twentieth year, Spannabis is one of the longest consecutively running cannabis trade shows/events in the world – with last year's attendance estimated to be 25,000 across the three days with 280 exhibitors, 500+ companies, and over 5,000 industry guests.
Spannabis is the first major cannabis event of the year, unofficially kick-starting the global event calendar, and consequently setting the tone for the coming year. Every March cannoisseurs and cannabis enthusiasts from around the world descend upon Barcelona for a taste of the culture and to see what’s new in the ever-changing world of cannabis.
Spread across four extensive and well-populated halls at the Fira de Cornellá, this three-day carnival of cannabis attracts the world’s biggest brands, companies, and entrepreneurs to showcase their latest innovations and products.
Spannabis 2022
Spannabis is a grower's paradise as the best breeders and craft cultivators from around the world launch their most recent crosses and latest fire genetics every year. It provides growers of all scales and experience levels the opportunity to meet the people behind their favourite cannabis cultivars
The weekend is sound-tracked by an awesome selection of dub, reggae, Ska and more on the music stage, outside in the centre courtyard. This year will feature some amazing acts including; Pirat's Sund Sistema, Tetra Hydro K, Mystical HiFi, Afrikan Warriors, LadyFunk amongst many others yet to be announced!
This weekend of weed wonderment is not just a celebration of cannabis culture, the global community, and capitalist commerce, it provides a space for academics, scientists, and researchers to present their latest findings and discoveries. In this vein, the twelfth World Cannabis Conference will once again take place simultaneously over the Spannabis weekend at the Cornellà Auditorium.
All attendees have free access to the World Cannabis Conference and its array of speakers from around the world. (See Speakers Schedule) This year will also see the International Cannabis Business Conference (ICBC) once again host its gathering at Fira de Cornellá on Thursday 14th March, before the main event kicking off on the Friday.
It's not just the celebration of cannabis that is the Spannabis weekend that attracts the ‘whose who’ of the cannabis industry and culture. The majority of Barcelona’s estimated 500+ private Cannabis Social Clubs (CSCs) are welcoming of tourists becoming members and sampling their wares during the week-long festivities.
As with last year, the week of Spannabis this year will likely be heavily populated by prestigious public and private events taking place in cannabis social clubs across the city - including the Spannabis Champions Cup, Masters of Rosin, and The Organic Cup to name but a few.
The Spannabis Cup
In other related news, it was recently announced by Spain’s newly appointed Health Minister, Mónica García Gómez, that the “long-awaited cannabis law will be ready in the coming months”.
Last year, I reported in my Spannabis Journal that Spain would be quadrupling its production of ‘medical cannabis’ Well, they now look set to increase it by an additional 12.5 tonnes this year too.
In 2022, Spain exported around 80% of the cannabis it produced domestically, earmarking the rest for ‘research purposes’. So with growing hope amongst Spanish cannabis patients, advocates, and activists that ‘medical cannabis’ might be ‘legalised’ by the end of the year, I cannot help but wonder how those figures will be impacted and how Spannabis will evolve in the coming years.
However, it isn’t all sunsets and sangria for the cannabis culture in Barcelona. There has been news reported in recent weeks of a potential impending crackdown on the city's 500 cannabis social clubs. In January, it was announced that a renewed campaign of inspections would be conducted by the council and the city's municipal police force, Guàrdia Urbana, on 20 or so clubs.
While we do not know what exactly they will be looking for, we can take an educated guess based on recent comments made by council members. Speaking at the City Council’s plenary session on December 22nd 2023, Albert Batlle, the deputy mayor for prevention and security, proclaimed his team's “determination to eliminate [the] cannabis associations” in Barcelona.
Despite these recent reports in the mainstream media and rumblings in the Spanish scene about an impending crackdown on the Barcelona cannabis social clubs, it doesn’t seem to be dissuading anyone from attending this year's milestone event.
Spannabis is considered by most members of the legacy culture/community to be one of, if not, the most important international cannabis event of the year, so don’t miss out, get your tickets now!
For those of you who cannot make the event, I’ll be writing another entry in my Spannabis Journal again this year – see keep an eye out for that too.
Written for The Simpa Life by Simpa
