Those who are going will mainly be found on the first floor of the building, with the exception of some media companies such as Azar Magazine, which has chosen to be on the ground floor. It should be noted that there are six such competing magazines in the Spanish market and four of them will be present at this event.

The Spanish participation in ATEI, as has been happening for several years, will not only be represented by the 16 companies that will be exhibiting their products directly - this is just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. In addition there will be a multitude of companies that have joint venture or distribution contracts with local and international companies, as is the case with the Spanish Sega Sonic which collaborates with Mazooma or Cocamatic which, like the former, distributes products from the Electrocoin company in Spain. The same applies to Machines Games Automatic (MGA), which not only distributes Sega and Konami models, but also has its own products like Super Trivia TV and Fortune Hunter, which it will exhibit on various stands. One of them will be that of Deith Leisure. Another of the Spanish manufacturers achieving great success at the moment, Gigames, will be showing several models, developed specially for its platform, on the stand of Games Media, with whom it has collaborated since its initial project.

Among those that have been participating at ATEI for several years is Billares Sam S.A., which makes a wide and varied range of billiards which it distributes all over the world, and which is represented in the United Kingdom by Sam Leisure. This is also the case with OM Vending, the Spanish manufacturer of cranes, which is exhibiting its products on the stand of Instant Automatics, with whom it shares its knowledge and experience in the English market. Azkoyen is the first Spanish company to specialize in the manufacture of payment mechanisms, which are also incorporated in all its machines for the vending market. With a presence in several European countries, it has an office in the United Kingdom and has participated for a long time as an exhibitor at ATEI, but this will not prevent it from also being at the IMA Fair in Germany this year.

Penastigi S.L. will be present in London for the first time to introduce its innovative design of vending machines to the international market. LAIV has the same intention. LAIV is quite a veteran at this event and will be showing its well-known models of ball vending machines which, year after year, have been growing in popularity with clients worldwide. Recreativos Presas is a company dedicated to the manufacture of amusement machines such as table soccer, air tables, video games and slot machines, which together with other redemption type products, makes a visit to the space occupied by this company obligatory. The same should be said about Falgas Industries, without a doubt the most prestigious Spanish manufacturer of kiddy rides on the international scene. Its participation in ATEI goes back more than twenty years. Equally well-known, although this is only its third year of participation at ATEI is Famai. This is a company that has been in existence for less than ten years and yet has designed more than twenty-five kiddy ride models, the majority of which have achieved successful sales in Spain and the other countries to which it exports. Another of the companies that has never failed to surprise with the innovative nature of its products is Digital Center – the manufacturer of photo-cabinets, whose models stand out on account of the originality of their designs. The IPS (Informatica Programes Serveis) company supplies control software to most of the Spanish operating companies as well as various technical platforms that serve to connect different machines and, in this way, to offer combined prizes. This is the third time it will be participating in the fair and its most immediate objective is to find a technological or working partner which will allow it to adapt its product to the UK market.

These are the Spanish companies that we will see within the ATEI area but they are not the only ones to be found at Earls Court. As is becoming customary, other Spanish companies will be there too, but exhibiting at ICE. Their products enjoy the ambiguity given by the application of technology to gaming. For the first time Industrias Lorenzo, the manufacturer of components for all types of machines, whether for amusement or for gambling, will be exhibiting its products in the area dedicated to casinos. The decision is based on the increased business this company has seen in the casino sector, where more and more Spanish companies are dedicating their resources. Recreativos Franco and Unidesa Gaming are the best examples of companies whose designs have been introduced successfully into this segment of the gaming market for some time now. Both companies will also be present. Nova Desitec is one of the major Spanish companies specialising in the design of games for both the gaming and gambling markets. Present in several countries in Latin America and almost all those of Eastern Europe, each year it takes advantage of the opportunity offered by the London fair to present new games and this year will be no exception. Applus, on the other hand, is the only Spanish certification company recognized internationally. From its central office in Barcelona it has agreements for the certification of products intended to be used for gaming in countries on each of the five continents.

The quality of the products and the presence of the Spanish companies should attract visitors looking for new products at the show. It is a shame this year to note the absence of companies like Compumatic S.A., Billares Sierra, Jofemar, Diana Marketing and Gaelco, who have chosen ATEI/ICE for many years to exhibit their products. If at the eleventh hour nothing changes their decision not to attend, without entering into vain conjectures, it demonstrates that, at the moment, although it is certain that the London fair continues to be the most important exhibition in the world, increasingly the presence of other trade fairs around this time that are also close geographically, is affecting the participation of the Spanish companies at this event. Following the reorganisation and the new way of allocating spaces, the most important challenge for visitors to this fair is that they will have to make do without the usual reference companies who have exhibited there in previous years. Those whose custom it was to circulate, as if by instinct, around the corridors of the multi-coloured labyrinth of the ground floor, may possibly be taken aback by the changes made by the organization. This leads one to consider and to recommend, especially to the Spanish visitors, that this year in order to find those products that may be of interest to them, they should first identify the exact location of their objectives. Otherwise, not only may they miss some new product, but they will find themselves unwittingly involved in the well-known game of “Treasure Hunt”, wandering around the exhibition with a plan and a mobile phone, searching for the lost exhibitor.

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