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19th to 21st of May 2026
19th, 20th & 21st
MAY 2026

- CONFIRMED DATES -

Vigo Free Zone Consortium promotes the new Innovation Zone at Navalia 2024

The space, located in the IFEVI Zone H, will be managed by the Association of Naval and Oceanic Engineers of Spain (AINE) and will support 16 newly created companies, innovative projects and startups.

Vigo Free Zone Consortium will be the main driver of innovation at Navalia 2024, the international shipbuilding exhibition will open its doors on the 21st of May at IFEVI venue. The objective of this space is none other than to support and encourage the entrepreneurial ecosystem within this sector, since it is one of the pending subjects of the maritime sector.

This initiative was presented this morning by Abel Caballero, mayor of Vigo and president of the Consortium; José García Costas, president of Navalia; David Regades, delegate of the State of the Consortium; Elena Espinosa, deputy and delegate councillor for the area of Business, Economy, Security and Municipal Organization; Jorge Dahl, territorial president of the Association of Naval and Oceanic Engineers of Spain (AINE), and Javier Arnau, director of Navalia.

Thus, the new Vigo Free Trade Zone Innovation Zone will house 16 newly created companies, innovative projects, and startups in 200 square meters. The space, located in the IFEVI zone H, will be managed by the Association of Naval and Oceanic Engineers of Spain (AINE), which has overseen selecting the proposals over five months. In this space, completely free for entrepreneurs, each project will have 9 square meters and a common exhibition space located right in front of the stand.

David Regades, the Vigo Free Trade Zone Consortium State delegate, highlighted the institution's commitment to all trade fairs and, especially, those involved in the Vigo’s and Galicia’s industry and economy. “We are an ally for all these appointments,” he said. He also explained “Vigo cannot be understood without the shipbuilding sector. It is a benchmark for the quality of its shipyards and its auxiliary industry but also for its capacity for diversification and its competitiveness at an international level.”

The director of Navalia, Javier Arnau, acknowledged during his speech that the organization had been working for several editions to carry out this project, which came to a screeching halt due to the pandemic. In this sense, he advanced this new space will be the first step for innovative initiatives to have their showcase and in the future “we will try to contribute our part so that their talent gets boosted successfully.”

On the one hand, Jorge Dahl, territorial president of the Association of Naval and Oceanic Engineers of Spain (AINE) and dean of the College of Naval Engineers of Spain in Galicia, gave a summary of the proposals presented, all of them coming from Spain and Portugal. Dahl highlighted the initiatives of communities such as Madrid, the Basque Country, or Canary Islands, “to which are evidently added projects born in Galicia.” Regarding the type of projects, he highlighted those related to unmanned vessels, autonomous vessels using alternative energies (electricity, hydrogen, ammonia, methanol, etc.) including an electric catamaran; devices that generate clean energy, such as offshore wind or wave impulse, solar energy; and applications to improve maritime routes and make them more efficient and safer.

Deputy and councillor, Elena Espinosa, compared the shipbuilding sector with “a great athlete who has been raising the bar, but who has been surpassing it day after day,” and highlighted all the aspects that affect the sector, such as the fight against climate change “with new propulsion, contributions to decarbonization, etc.” and at the same time is capable of being competitive in an increasingly complicated market.

José García Costas, president of Navalia, thanked the Free Trade Zone Consortium for its great support in the ninth edition of the trade fair, highlighting the work “absolutely necessary and essential for many activities in our city development.” At the same time, he reiterated the need to attract and train talent in this sector “to be more competitive” since “we have an enormous deficit of people trained in the naval sector.”

Finally, the president of the Consortium and mayor of Vigo, Abel Caballero, highlighted Navalia trade fair “is a great heart of the city's economy,” pointing out it is a meeting place for the Spain and Europe maritime industry “and placing us at the starting point of what we want to continue being.” Caballero reiterated the importance of the shipbuilding because “it is a central part of our history and our future.” Furthermore, he stressed the need to “call on young people to join the training processes to develop their professional career in this area” and added that “maritime transport is increasingly going to play an important role in the globalization and in the future, we have to be ready for what will happen.”