During the next 6 and 9 October (and if the Coronavirus does not prevent it) the 28th edition of the Erotic Salon of Barcelona will be held. This event, which brings together several thousand people with a wide variety of ideologies, practices and sexual orientations every year, has established itself over the years as the most important erotic festival in Europe.
Brief history of the Erotic Salon of Barcelona
Born in 1992 as the Barcelona International Erotic Film Festival (FICEB), the Barcelona Erotic Exhibition is today much more than a film festival. Beyond the premieres of porn movies, the Hall hosts stripteases, live porn shows, erotic lingerie parades, workshops and a sex products fair where you can buy all kinds of erotic toys .
Erotic cinema, however, continues to play a fundamental role at the Barcelona Erotic Show. Not surprisingly, the Barcelona International Erotic Cinema Festival or FICEB is the oldest porn film festival in Europe. In it, the Ninfa awards are granted to reward the best films, directors, actors, porn actresses (some of them are escorts on our website), scriptwriters, etc. and he has served to publicize some of the biggest stars in adult cinema. Directors, actors and actresses of the stature of Nacho Vidal, Sophie Evans, Celia Blanco, Sara Bernat, Max Cortés and Toni Ribas found a window at the FICEB.
The Erotic Salon of Barcelona has been held over the years in different places. Starting in 1997, five years after its birth, what was then the Erotic Film Festival began to be held at the La Farga convention center, in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat. During the years in which it was held in L'Hospitalet, the Festival was gaining muscle. Its popularity increased remarkably and year after year the number of visitors also increased.
In 2006, however, the plenary session of the L'Hospitalet Town Hall decided not to renew the festival's contract. The Erotic Film Festival, then, was forced to find a new place to celebrate. In 2007-2008 it was held in Madrid, in the Fabrik room. The 2009 edition was postponed. The crisis had taken its toll (also in the sector) and the FICEB did not find any subsidy to be able to start rolling.
It was in 2010, when Sophie Evans (which is said in sex forums that it offers escort services) and Max Cortés became spokespersons for this event, when it took the name of Barcelona Erotic Salon. Five thematic areas were established at that time (EnClaveGay, Women, Swinger, BDSM and Art) and it was held at the Fira de Cornellà, where it would remain for two more years. During the time that the Barcelona Erotic Salon remained in the Cornellà fair facilities, that is to say: between 2010 and 2013, no film awards were awarded but there were live shows, film screenings, meetings of producers, artists, webmasters and bloggers, as well as contests. Sex shops were also set up so that visitors to the Salon could choose and buy their favorite erotic toys.
It was in the 2013 edition when a very special anniversary was celebrated in a very original way. The ephemeris? The 30-year history of Spanish pornographic cinema (apparently, the shorts shot at the beginning of the 20th century by order of King Alfonso XIII were not counted). The way to celebrate that anniversary? Projecting in a continuous session and in the last room X that remained open in Barcelona (at number 17 on the Rambla) twelve films shot between 1986 and 2000.
It was in 2014 when the Erotic Salon of Barcelona made its first stop at the Pavelló Municipal d'Esports de la Vall d'Hebron. Since then it has not stopped being held there. It was also on that date that the Ninfa Awards were presented again. The figures for that event attested to its importance and strength: 17,000 visitors, more than 300 invited artists, 16 stages, 1,900 live shows ...
Higher figures in terms of guests and the like in terms of guest shows and artists have been repeated, year after year, from 2014 to now. "Inaugural proclamations" such as that of Nacho Vidal in 2016, viral promotional videos such as that of Patria in 2017, campaigns against sexual abuse against minors or the UGT's complaint against the salon organization for using "volunteers" without pay have placed year after year at the Barcelona Erotic Salon on the front pages of the most different media.
The Erotic Salon of Barcelona today
The Erotic Salon of Barcelona has been renewed year after year and has opted for new content. What in its beginnings could seem like an event of a marked heterosexual and sexist character has been adapting to the new times and has opted for diversity, inclusion and sexual education.
Thus, gay and lesbian sex has gradually been gaining presence in the living room, as have tantric sex, the various forms of fetishism, body painting or poledancing. The Sex Rooms, in addition, have become something with a lot of pull. There are many people who join them to expand their knowledge on how to enjoy their own body.
This year, as we indicated at the beginning of this article, the Barcelona Erotic Show will be held between Tuesday 6 and Friday 9 October. Without the program having yet transcended, it is known that it will once again bet on the inclusion of different sexual orientations and identities and that BDSM and its different practices (sadomasochism, shibari, etc.) will once again have a prominent presence.
As every year, the Ninfa awards (in which some 28 categories are awarded within heterosexual porn cinema) are scheduled to be awarded, as well as the HeatGay awards (to reward gay porn cinema) and the Stiletto Award, with the The best BDSM and fetish films are awarded. With the Stiletto Award, as well as the BDSM content present in the show, the organization of the Barcelona Erotic Show aims to normalize the practice of BDSM and erase the sordid and dark image that it still has for many people.