interihotel will return to Madrid from 17 to 19 November with a new edition that focuses on the role of design as a driver of transformation in the hospitality sector. More than 14,000 professionals and 350 exhibiting brands will meet on this occasion under the slogan “Creative Rebellion”, which invites us to question established models and explore new ways of conceiving hotels and restaurants.

The Only YOU Boutique Hotel in Madrid has hosted the presentation of the novelties of interihotel, the main event for hotel and restaurant design, at a press conference that was attended by Joaquim Solana (Cluster Manager of AMBIT), Toni Zaragoza (director of interihotel) and Pepa Casado d’Amato (responsible for the creative direction of the event), who have announced the details of this edition to the accredited media during the event. The 2026 edition will highlight design as a transgressive and differential element for the evolution of the hospitality sector.

Europe’s leading event for hotel and restaurant design

Interihotel, which this year celebrates its sixteenth edition, is the only international event aimed at design professionals for hotels and restaurants held in Spain. In fact, the event organised by AMBIT Living Spaces Cluster is the most important in Europe in the hospitality design sector, an unmissable event that brings together hotel companies, restaurant groups, real estate investors and interior design and architecture studios specialising in hotel and restaurant design.

Its value proposition, based on design, is what makes it unique: it combines an international event with 14,000 professionals, a congress with more than 240 speakers and multiple spaces dedicated to innovation and trends, such as talks, Concept Rooms and think tanks, as well as awards and business opportunities in the form of national and international B2B meetings.

Interihotel is a fundamental event in the hospitality sector that incorporates in its DNA the importance of design to question the established, to rethink how we live and to explore new visions of how we want hospitality to be in the future. In the words of its director, Toni Zaragoza: “We have a leading event because the sector deserves it […] We deserve it because Spain leads international tourism in the world […] The contribution of tourism to the national GDP is 12.6%, more than €200,000 million“. The director also took the opportunity to thank the sponsors, the participants in the session, the collaborating entities, the accredited media and the media partners.

 

Creative rebellion: breaking the mould, changing the codes

The head of the creative direction, Pepa Casado, unveiled the concept of the edition: “Creative rebellion“, an idea that vindicates optimism as a form of rebellion. In hospitality, this means questioning the status quo, challenging the expected, and imagining new ways to design and experience spaces. Because nothing that is truly meaningful happens within the confines of convention: it only begins when we dare to think differently.

“Creative rebellion” is not about rebelling for the sake of rebelling. It is a matter of choosing a different direction, guided by intention, curiosity and the will to go beyond the forms of the established. From repetition to intention, from standardization to identity, design becomes a tool for transformation, a way to open up new possibilities, redefine narratives, and create spaces that connect on a deeper, more human level.

The edition will focus on three key themes that reflect how hospitality is designed, experienced and imagined today:

• November 17: The Inside Rebellion – Rebellion starts from within: from spaces that disrupt routine, challenge the status quo, and turn a room into something more. At interihotel we see interior design as a force capable of subverting codes and proposing new ways of inhabiting hospitality, creating spaces that build identities and resonate at deeper levels.
• November 18: The Green Rebellion – Sustainability cannot continue to operate from the margins. This requires a change in mindset: from minimizing the impact to rethinking the entire system. In hospitality, this means questioning materials, processes, and priorities to imagine a more conscious and transformative way of designing, whereby responsibility advances creativity.
• November 19: The Future Rebellion – The future isn’t something we have to wait for – it’s something we can design. At interihotel we bring together ideas that go beyond mere residual changes to explore new ways of understanding how we travel, live and experience spaces. The true potential of design lies in imagining what does not yet exist and making it possible.

Forums

Due to the success of the 3 forums held at interihotel BCN25, Madrid will repeat the format increasing its number to 5. These half-day meetings will address various topics of interest related to the sector:

• Future Living Forum: a space to explore how ways of living change and how this has an impact on new hybrid models that blur the boundaries between hospitality and residential
• Wellspaces Forum: focused on neuroarchitecture, design and innovation
• AI Interiors Living Forum: new generative artificial intelligence tools to boost creativity and strategy in the hospitality sector
• Circular Spaces Forum: a new congress aimed at questioning the linear model of design and exploring new ways of creating spaces
• Hospitality Building Systems Forum: a forum specialising in new construction models applied to the sector

Forecasts for 2026

Interihotel MAD26 expects to have 350 exhibiting brands, which would be the highest number in its history. In terms of visitors, the organization expects an attendance of more than 14,000 professionals from more than 50 countries, which would once again exceed the figures of the previous edition.