- It will bring together some fifty activities on perfumery, olfactory science and beauty culture from May 28 to June 5.
- A multitudinous event that, in the first edition, virtual due to the pandemic, gathered more than 2,000 participants.
- Exceptional speakers such as Josep Roca will participate and the IV International Perfumery Competition will take place.
- The event is sponsored by companies in the sector such as Iberchem, Eurofragance, Lluch Essence, Rafesa and Cosmo Fragrances.
Barcelona, May 26, 2021. The Beauty Cluster, in collaboration with Ainea Perfums and the City Council of Teià, inaugurates on May 28th one of the most anticipated events of the year. The Barcelona Olfaction Week (BOW), which this year celebrates its second edition, integrates fifty activities that will take place in the province of Barcelona and that projects the city and the Maresme as the world capital of perfume for a week.
According to Eva Lluch, president of the Beauty Cluster and CEO at Lluch Essence: ‘Barcelona Olfaction Week is the great perfume festival. It allows to know the perfume as a cultural element closely linked to our country. The general public can discover the importance of the sense of smell and the industry can project the importance it has for the economy and for society“.
The week of perfumery has great national and international speakers, including the participation of Josep Roca (Celler de Can Roca), experts from the European Space Agency (ESA) who will talk about the smell of planets and space or international professionals who will discuss olfactory science, technology, sustainability, the evolution of the consumer or international trends.
Among the activities of the BOW are the IV International Perfumery Competition – Mouillette d’Argent (Teià), the III Barcelona Olfaction Congress (Barcelona, virtual) and the IV Maridatge dels Sentits (Teià) in which topics of high interest such as sustainability, high perfumery and signature perfumery will be discussed.
There will also be several perfumery workshops and the exhibition “El perfum és la joia” (CMC La Unió – Teià) where the 16 finalist perfumes of the contest will be exhibited. To highlight the photographic exhibition ‘Mirant les olors’ that can be visited from May 28 to June 6 at Ca l’Antiga in Teià as part of the IV Maridatge dels Sentits.
The International Perfumery Competition
In the 2021 edition, 112 perfumers from 25 countries have applied and the finalist perfumes can be voted by the general public in Barcelona (Isidro Cosmetics, Las Toppetes and Perfumeria Vall), in Teià at the aforementioned exhibition and at Ca l’Antiga (Teià), which is the official headquarters of the competition.
The winners will be announced on June 5 at an exclusive gala at Ca l’Antiga (Teià) whose jury is composed of leading experts in perfumery, gastronomy, art and culture, highlighting the presence of master perfumer Mr. Rosendo Mateu, sommelier César Cánovas and interior designer Susana Cots.
In addition to choosing the best perfumes, there is also an additional competition with students from the Talent Creatiu i Empresa program of the Generalitat de Catalunya who design the posters for the Maridatge dels Sentits, the Perfumery Competition and the packaging for the winning perfumes of each edition.
Spain’s relevant role in the perfume industry
Spain is the world’s second largest exporter of perfumery and more than 60% of what is manufactured is made in Catalonia. In Catalonia there are about 600 companies in the cosmetics and perfumery sector with a turnover of about 10,000 million € and employing 30,000 people (source: Actualización Estratégica del sector belleza en Catalunya – Generalitat de Catalunya, Departament d’Empresa i Coneixement i Beauty Cluster).
Perfumery consumption in Spain was 1,310 million euros in 2020, representing a lower than expected drop compared to the previous year (13.3%) and mainly due to periods of physical store closures (source: Euromonitor).
