These Infarma exhibitor tips come from the show floor rather than a brochure. Infarma is Spain’s leading meeting point for community pharmacy, and the brands that do well there treat the stand as a working tool: a clear message, a layout built for short professional conversations and a team that knows how to qualify a visitor. Below we share what we have learned, including the stand we designed, produced and built for Arquia Banca at Infarma 2025. If you are already planning your next edition, our Infarma stand design service page has the current dates and how we work at the venue.
We are Factoría Creativa, a Barcelona company that designs, produces and builds exhibition stands. We have over 20 years of experience, our own 2,000 m² workshop and our own installation crew, so the advice here is written from the point of view of the people who actually put the stand up.
Infarma at a glance: format, venue and audience
Infarma combines two things under one roof: the European Congress of Community Pharmacy, with its scientific and professional programme, and an exhibition of medicines, parapharmacy, health products and pharmacy services. That mix matters for your stand, because many visitors arrive between congress sessions with limited time and a specific question.
- The venue alternates between Barcelona and Madrid. Infarma 2025 was held at Fira Barcelona (25–27 March 2025), Infarma 2026 at IFEMA Madrid (24–26 March 2026), and the 2027 edition returns to Fira Barcelona Gran Via, scheduled for 16–18 March 2027. Always confirm dates on the official Infarma website before you book travel.
- Size. Recent editions have welcomed well over 25,000 professional visitors and several hundred exhibitors; the 2025 Barcelona edition reported more than 400 exhibitors and over 30,000 professionals.
- Audience. Community pharmacists and pharmacy owners, laboratories, distributors, and the companies that serve pharmacies: technology, cosmetics, retail design, finance and digital services.
Because the city changes every year, so does the logistics. A Barcelona edition and a Madrid edition have different venue rules, build-up schedules and transport plans. Working with a stand builder that operates in both venues saves you from learning two exhibitor manuals from scratch.
Who should exhibit at Infarma?
Infarma suits any company whose customer is the pharmacy or the pharmacist: pharmaceutical and OTC laboratories, parapharmacy and dermocosmetics brands, wholesalers and distributors, pharmacy software and automation providers, shop-fitting and retail design companies, start-ups in digital health and service providers such as banks and insurers. Arquia Banca, our case study below, is a good example of a non-pharma brand that uses Infarma to reach a very specific professional group.
Infarma exhibitor tips: six things that make a pharmacy stand work
The short answer: one clear message, room for real conversations, and a team ready to turn interest into a follow-up meeting. Here is how that translates into the stand itself.
1. Brand coherence that speaks to pharmacists
Your stand should communicate who you are within seconds: colour, typography, graphics and materials all pulling in the same direction. A giant logo is not enough. Pharmacists respond to signals of trust, rigour and closeness, so the visual language should support those values and address the professional standing in the aisle, not a generic consumer.
2. Interaction rather than a passive display
The stands people remember invite visitors to look, touch, ask and try. Live demonstrations, product testing points, touchscreens, QR codes linking to technical data or a short guided demo all help visitors experience your offer rather than just look at it. Keep each interaction short: many visitors are between congress sessions.
3. A layout planned around flows
Whether you call it an exhibition stand or a trade show booth, plan it around how people move: an attention point visible from the aisle, an open area for quick conversations, a product or demo zone and, if you need it, a semi-private corner for meetings that does not cut you off from the hall. A storage room for samples, coats and literature keeps the front of the stand clean all day.
4. Location within the hall
Stands near main aisles, entrances, catering points or the congress auditoriums get more passing traffic, and they cost more. Book your space early, ask the organiser for the floor plan and think about where your target visitors will naturally walk. A corner or peninsula stand gives you two or three open sides and changes what the design can do.
5. A trained team on the stand
A beautiful stand without a prepared team becomes a pretty shop window with no sales. Your staff should know the products in depth, be able to run a demo, handle objections, qualify contacts and agree a next step: a technical sheet, a follow-up call or a meeting. At an international edition, make sure at least part of the team is comfortable in English.
6. Before and after the show
The strategy starts weeks before the doors open: invitations to key customers, social media, newsletters and booked meetings. During the show, capture content (photos, short videos) and leads in a structured way. Afterwards, follow up quickly with personalised emails and calls. That continuity is what turns the fair into an investment instead of a cost.
Case study: Arquia Banca at Infarma 2025
At Infarma 2025, held at Fira Barcelona, Factoría Creativa designed and built the stand for Arquia Banca, a bank specialised in professional groups, including pharmacists. You can see the full project on our Arquia Banca stand page and read the detailed story in our Infarma 2025 case study.
The challenge. Reflect the bank’s values (trust, closeness and innovation) in a space that worked equally well for networking and for a digital experience, in a show dominated by pharmaceutical brands.
The solution. An elegant, modern and functional design built around Arquia’s corporate colours, with clearly separated zones:
- A personalised advice area for professional conversations in a comfortable setting.
- A digital interaction zone with touchscreens and financial simulators showing solutions tailored to pharmacies.
- Open space for networking and informal meetings between visitors and advisers.
We also integrated a digital booking system so visitors could schedule short meetings with advisers, which kept waiting times down. Warm, focused lighting, audiovisual content and customer testimonials reinforced the message of closeness and professionalism. The stand was built as a modular, reusable structure so key elements could serve future fairs.
The build. Everything was produced in our Barcelona workshop and installed by our own crew at Fira Barcelona within the build-up window set by the organiser, with testing of the interactive systems and lighting adjustments before opening.
Common mistakes to avoid at Infarma
Most problems we see at pharmacy shows are avoidable with planning. These are the ones that cost exhibitors the most:
- Leaving everything to the last minute. Design, production, transport and build-up have fixed lead times. Late decisions mean extra cost, compromises on quality and stress during build-up.
- No clear objectives. Without targets (visibility, leads, positioning, sales) your presence becomes vague and results are impossible to measure.
- Design and sales message pulling apart. If the stand does not reinforce your key message, visitors receive mixed signals.
- An untrained team. Staff who do not know how to qualify and route a lead lose opportunities every hour.
- No follow-up plan. Contacts that are not activated within days of the show go cold.
- Underestimating furniture, storage and logistics. A stand can look great and still be uncomfortable to work in if there is no storage, nowhere to sit or no space for meetings.
Planning an Infarma stand as an international exhibitor
If your company is based outside Spain, a few practical points make life easier:
- Timing. Book space as early as the organiser allows and brief your stand builder ideally 3–4 months before the show. That leaves time for design, plan approval by the venue, production and transport.
- Venue rules. Fira Barcelona and IFEMA Madrid each publish technical regulations (heights, walls facing neighbouring stands, rigging, fire-rated materials). Your stand builder should handle plan submission and compliance.
- One contact, in English. We manage design, production, transport and installation as a turnkey service with a single project manager, so you are not coordinating several local suppliers.
- Invoicing. We invoice from Spain with Spanish VAT rules applied correctly to your situation; check the details with your finance team when you request the quote.
- Budget. As a guide, a basic modular stand starts at €3,000–6,000 and a mid-size custom stand is typically €20,000–30,000. Floor space is paid separately to the organiser. Our guide to exhibition stand costs in Spain explains what drives the price.
For other healthcare and pharma shows we work on, see our pharmaceutical exhibition stands page.
What a well-run Infarma presence can deliver
- Visibility with pharmacy decision-makers in a highly specialised setting.
- Qualified leads: visitors come with a professional purpose, from purchasing decisions to partnerships.
- Product launches and live feedback, so you can test messages before a wider campaign.
- Networking with distributors, laboratories, professional associations and the wider pharmacy ecosystem.
- Credibility: a well-executed stand signals that your company is a serious player in the sector.
The common thread is preparation. Success at Infarma depends less on being there and more on how you present yourself, the experience you create and how seriously you plan before, during and after the show.
Frequently asked questions
When and where is the next Infarma?
Infarma alternates between Barcelona and Madrid. The 2026 edition was held at IFEMA Madrid (24–26 March 2026) and the 2027 edition is scheduled at Fira Barcelona Gran Via on 16–18 March 2027. Check the official Infarma website for confirmed dates.
What kind of event is Infarma?
It combines the European Congress of Community Pharmacy with an exhibition of medicines, parapharmacy and pharmacy services, so it mixes scientific training with commercial exhibiting.
Who exhibits at Infarma?
Pharmaceutical and OTC laboratories, distributors, parapharmacy and dermocosmetics brands, pharmacy technology and automation companies, retail design firms, digital health start-ups and service providers such as banks and insurers.
When should I start planning my Infarma stand?
Book floor space as early as possible and brief your stand builder ideally 3–4 months before the show. Shorter lead times are possible, but they reduce your options and can increase costs.
How do I choose the size and location of my stand?
Study the floor plan for main aisles, entrances and access to the congress areas. Make sure the size leaves room for product display, meetings and comfortable circulation, and negotiate the location with the organiser early.
What technology works well on an Infarma stand?
Touchscreens, product testing stations, QR codes linking to technical data, meeting-booking apps and short live demos. Keep interactions brief, as many visitors come between congress sessions.
Planning your next Infarma stand?
Whether the next edition is in Barcelona or Madrid, we can design, produce and build your stand as a turnkey project with one English-speaking contact. See our Infarma stand design page or contact us for a proposal. You can also call +34 933 17 17 71.
