As the big FER show opened in Madrid on Wednesday, officials of the trade associations and the organisers were busily rethinking the overall strategy for trade shows in Spain.
For years the national show was FER in September, but the Malaga show in April had become a close number two as Andalucia is by far the busiest coin machine province in the country.
However, the hard times which have visited the industry in Spain - both at coin-level and in terms of the national economy - had put the Malaga event under pressure.
The news received by InterGame suggested that a decision had been taken to move FER to April in 2011. Knowing that the total absence of a Malaga show would simply open the door to opportunists, it was likely that a small, local event would be held at the Malaga show’s root venue, the Torremolinos Convention Centre. This was where the Malaga show grew up.