MADRID, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Mobile World Congress (MWC), the biggest event of the mobile phone industry, is thinking about leaving Barcelona due to political instability in Spain's northeastern region of Catalonia, local media reported on Thursday.
John Hoffman, from GSMA, which represents the interests of over 800 mobile operators and over 250 firms in the mobile ecosystem, visited Barcelona on Wednesday when a general strike was taking place, which had an impact on public services and some roads and streets were blocked by protestors.
Hoffman admitted to be thinking about moving the MWC, scheduled to be held in Barcelona between Feb. 26 and March 1 next year, to somewhere else if there is not enough political and social stability in the city.
Meanwhile, the local government said to be confident that Barcelona had the resources and capacities to hold the MWC beyond the political crisis happening in the region.
Barcelona's mayor, Ada Colau, said the city council would work to solve the political crisis in the best and the fastest way possible.
GSMA calculates that the MWC has an economic impact of 465 million euros (541.4 million U.S. dollars) and creates around 13,200 temporary jobs in the city.
