The audiovisual event is bringing together this week in Mallorca executives from companies including HBO Max, Prime Video, SkyShowtime, RTVE, and Atresmedia.
CONECTA Magaluf-Mallorca launched its tenth edition yesterday evening with an opening cocktail reception held on the terrace of the INNSiDE by Meliá Calvià Beach hotel. The event, which brought together 150 delegates from the international content industry to celebrate the event’s ten-year history, was attended by the highest authorities of the Balearic Islands, including Juan Antonio Amengual, Mayor of Calvià; Guillem Ginard, Minister for Tourism of the Consell de Mallorca; and Jaume Bauzá, Regional Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport of the Government of the Balearic Islands.
During his speech, Amengual explained that Calvià decided to host CONECTA 10 this year because “it not only generates economic activity and international exposure for our town, but also puts the Balearic Islands on the global audiovisual map. CONECTA having chosen our region to celebrate its tenth anniversary is a source of pride and a responsibility we embrace with enthusiasm”.
As for the tourism aspect, the screen sector was described as a “cultural, economic and tourism driver” by Ginard. “And through CONECTA, we highlight one of our great strengths: offering tourism with soul, linked to culture, the landscape, authenticity and experiences that leave a lasting impression”.
Speaking on behalf of the regional government, Bauzá acknowledged that his administration “is committed to cultural industries as boosters of economic and social development”. In this regard, he described CONECTA Magaluf-Mallorca as “a magnificent opportunity to showcase the potential of our islands as a magnet for talent and film shoots for the European and Latin American audiovisual industry”.
Finally, in her welcome address, Géraldine Gonard, the event’s director, wished to extend special thanks to the institutions, production companies, creators, associations, broadcasters, platforms, embassies and sponsors that have supported CONECTA throughout these 10 years of existence and constant evolution. “We were founded with the aim of being a space where the industry can reflect on itself, discuss its future and generate the projects that will shape the coming decade. Now is the perfect time to do so, and Mallorca is the ideal setting for it.”
Conecta CREATIVE LAB kicked off the programme with an ideas workshop
Ahead of the opening ceremony held in the late afternoon, yesterday’s proceedings began with the Conecta CREATIVE LAB, an exclusive think tank for fifty participants in which representatives from six international consultancy firms (Parrot Analytics, OMDIA, Glance, the European Audiovisual Observatory and GECA) moderated a series of rotating round-table discussions centred on the forum’s six strategic themes: digital-first content and new funding models; vertical microdramas; content and intellectual property in sports; branded entertainment; new narratives and AI as a reality in production; and regulation, public policies and funding.
The event will culminate in the production of the CONECTA Mallorca Report, a strategic research that will set out the main conclusions and recommendations for the future of the content sector, and which will be published in the coming weeks.
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR THE 2026 PROGRAM
New RTVE Play Award for the best vertical series project
As a key new feature of this edition, CONECTA Magaluf-Mallorca is introducing the RTVE Play Award: a €5,000 grant for the development of the Pitch Vertical Series project that best embodies the values of creativity promoted by the public broadcaster’s VOD platform. The award reinforces RTVE Play’s commitment to fostering emerging talent and native digital formats, and joins the ten prizes already announced for the event.
Further additions to Focus on Commissioners
The Focus on Commissioners sessions are expanding their line-up with the addition of Mar Diaz (RTVE), Margarida Pereira (TVI), Diego del Pozo (Atresmedia) and Conxa Orea (3Cat), key figures in decision-making regarding the content commissioned by their respective networks and platforms.
Furthermore, Bibiana González, Head of Content Networks & Streaming Non-Scripted Original Production at HBO Max Spain, will deliver the keynote Stories that spark conversation: HBO Max Spain’s focus on non-fiction (Wednesday 27, 1:00pm – 1:30pm). In an interview format, González will break down the editorial and strategic keys behind some of the platform’s recent biggest hits in serialised non-fiction, with a special emphasis on the true crime genre, and will explore the opportunities that the new audiovisual landscape opens up for production companies.
Conecta SUMMIT brings together twenty global audiovisual decision-makers
This morning, by invitation only, Conecta SUMMIT will bring together twenty top-level professionals to address one of the sector’s major challenges: how to protect and monetise IP in a market under financial pressure, being reshaped by AI and digital-first formats (micro/vertical), while maintaining international scale.
Some of the international executives attending the event include Kai Finke (SkyShowtime), Anastasiia Alieksieieva (Holywater), Ricardo Cabornero (Prime Video), José Eduardo Moniz (TVI), Emilio Sánchez (atresplayer), Mariano César (HBO Max), Sara Fernández-Velasco (Grupo iZen), José María Irisarri (Onza), Susana Gato (APIT), Mike Day (Palma Pictures) and Fabia Buenaventura (PATE), amongst other high-profile figures from the European and Latin American media sector.
New panels on the digital ecosystem and the “format hunt”
The programme also features two brand-new panels focusing on the dynamics of a rapidly changing market. Digital-First Content: New Rules of Production & Commissioning (Tuesday 26, 11:30am – 12:30pm), will bring together Carolina Lightcap (ShowUp Studios) and Salla Kozma (Pig & Horse Productions) to analyse how content developed outside the traditional system is redefining production, distribution and monetisation models.
The second panel, The Format Hunter: a Q&A with Tim Crescenti (Tuesday 26, 12:30pm – 1:15pm), features a one-on-one conversation with the founder of the US independent distributor Small World IFT to explore how new ideas are identified, what enables certain formats to transcend borders, and what the new rules of entertainment are in an increasingly competitive environment.
Conecta FICTION FEST: two exceptional screenings
Alongside its professional activities, Conecta FICTION FEST brings the best content to the general public with two special screenings at the Casal de Peguera auditorium (Calvià). Tonight at 8pm, Mallorca Confidencial premieres, complete with a red carpet and attended by the stars Elena Furiase, Lorca Prada, Pep Tosar and Amín Hamada, alongside director David Ilundain and producers Luis Ortas and Valerie Delpierre.
Tomorrow at 7pm, the evening will feature a special screening of the first two episodes of Many people need to die, the original Movistar Plus+ series created by Victoria Martín based on her successful novel of the same name and starring Anna Castillo, Macarena García and Laura Weissmahr. The title has just entered the Official Selection of the prestigious Canneseries 2026 festival, making its screening in Mallorca an unmissable event for series enthusiasts.
