Madrid is already gearing up for one of the most influential gatherings on the corporate-mobility calendar: the fourth edition of the Global Mobility Call (GMC), to be held at IFEMA from 9-11 June 2026. Organised by IFEMA Madrid in partnership with Spain’s Ministry of Transport and key industry bodies, the forum has evolved into the country’s marquee B2B meeting point for companies that move people and goods across borders. This year’s programme—unveiled on 24 March—confirms more than 300 speakers and 500 exhibitors covering everything from visa-less “seamless travel” corridors to AI-powered fleet management, cross-border rail, and the regulatory road-map for Europe’s forthcoming Entry/Exit System (EES) and ETIAS travel authorisation. Why is it relevant for global-mobility managers? First, GMC offers rare face time with senior officials from Spain’s Interior and Inclusion ministries, who will brief on expected tweaks to the Digital-Nomad and Highly-Skilled Worker visas before the summer. Multinationals with Iberian hubs will be able to benchmark compliance processes directly with policymakers and compare best practice with peers such as Iberdrola, Inditex and Airbus, all confirmed on the speaker roster. Second, the expo floor will showcase travel-tech that promises to slash administrative friction—examples include biometric ID kiosks tested at Madrid-Barajas and new e-SIM solutions designed to keep short-term assignees connected on arrival.
![Global Mobility Call 2026 puts Spain at the centre of the sustainable-mobility map]()
Navigating these fast-moving visa requirements can be simplified with VisaHQ’s Spain portal (https://www.visahq.com/spain/), which lets mobility teams monitor ETIAS updates, book express consular appointments, and run end-to-end checks for Digital-Nomad, Highly-Skilled Worker and other permits on one dashboard. For firms dispatching delegates to the GMC, the platform can even pre-screen passports and generate invitation-letter requests, freeing HR to focus on networking and strategy.
The organiser’s preview also underlines Spain’s ambition to position itself as Southern Europe’s innovation sandbox for connected mobility. Figures fromANFAC show that sales of electrified vehicles in Spain jumped 64.5 % year-on-year in February, reaching almost one-fifth of all new registrations. The Government sees this electrification wave, plus record 2025 investment of €1.74 trn in clean-tech worldwide (IEA data), as a once-in-a-generation chance to capture R&D projects—and the skilled expatriates that come with them. Practical take-aways: firms moving staff into Spain for June should book accommodation early; hotels near IFEMA are already reporting 70 % occupancy for the conference week. HR teams should also monitor the official GMC agenda for breakout sessions on Spain’s new fast-track visa appointments pilot—rumoured to extend beyond startup founders to corporate assignees by Q4 2026. Finally, attendees can pre-register for one-to-one clinics with the Foreigners’ Office (UGE) to resolve outstanding residence-permit queries on-site—a service that sold out within hours last year. With the Schengen Entry/Exit System now pencilled in for October 2025 and ETIAS for late 2026, the Madrid showcase arrives at a critical juncture. For global-mobility professionals looking to future-proof Iberian operations, the Global Mobility Call is rapidly becoming a must-attend fixture rather than a nice-to-have.
Navigating these fast-moving visa requirements can be simplified with VisaHQ’s Spain portal (https://www.visahq.com/spain/), which lets mobility teams monitor ETIAS updates, book express consular appointments, and run end-to-end checks for Digital-Nomad, Highly-Skilled Worker and other permits on one dashboard. For firms dispatching delegates to the GMC, the platform can even pre-screen passports and generate invitation-letter requests, freeing HR to focus on networking and strategy.
The organiser’s preview also underlines Spain’s ambition to position itself as Southern Europe’s innovation sandbox for connected mobility. Figures fromANFAC show that sales of electrified vehicles in Spain jumped 64.5 % year-on-year in February, reaching almost one-fifth of all new registrations. The Government sees this electrification wave, plus record 2025 investment of €1.74 trn in clean-tech worldwide (IEA data), as a once-in-a-generation chance to capture R&D projects—and the skilled expatriates that come with them. Practical take-aways: firms moving staff into Spain for June should book accommodation early; hotels near IFEMA are already reporting 70 % occupancy for the conference week. HR teams should also monitor the official GMC agenda for breakout sessions on Spain’s new fast-track visa appointments pilot—rumoured to extend beyond startup founders to corporate assignees by Q4 2026. Finally, attendees can pre-register for one-to-one clinics with the Foreigners’ Office (UGE) to resolve outstanding residence-permit queries on-site—a service that sold out within hours last year. With the Schengen Entry/Exit System now pencilled in for October 2025 and ETIAS for late 2026, the Madrid showcase arrives at a critical juncture. For global-mobility professionals looking to future-proof Iberian operations, the Global Mobility Call is rapidly becoming a must-attend fixture rather than a nice-to-have.
