Podcast Days 2026 shows Spanish podcasting's growth

In Madrid, Podcast Days 2026 took place on 22 Oct, at the Espacio Movistar on Gran Via. The event showed a strong, confident podcast industry in Spain.

David R González from Genuina Media tells us some of the highlights:

Agency, network and podcast on the same stage

Genuina Media, Oxford Road and Iván Patxi of Noches de Historia shared the stage: the agency, the network and the podcast, together in one conversation. Giles Martin, Oxford Road’s EVP of Strategy, joined Iván Patxi Gómez and me (David Roemer González, Co-founder and CEO Genuina Media) on the panel “Medir para crecer: lo que necesita el podcast español para atraer a las marcas internacionales” (Measuring to grow: what Spanish podcasting needs to attract international brands), which I moderated. (It’s pictured above).

The conversation covered what Spanish podcasts need in measurement, metrics and standards to compete for international budgets, drawing on the campaigns the three of us already run together: third-party verification like Podscribe, consistent reporting, and the gap between how Spanish shows and US agencies measure success.

It felt like a turning point for Spanish podcasting. Having a US agency speak directly to Spanish creators opens up real opportunities with international brands, as long as shows can measure and report to the same standards as the rest of the industry.

The big platforms showed up

Acast had a strong presence, with Laura Hagen and Megan Davies presenting on the global state of podcasting in 2026 and how Spanish listening compares with other markets, plus two more panels on creators and brands. Amazon Music presented its vision for podcasts, audiobooks and music converging in one listening experience, and hosted the networking area. Spotify and YouTube joined the opening panel on the future of podcasting.

Podcast consultant José Antonio Gelado (Comunicando) hosted “La era del creador global” (The era of the global creator), bringing together Megan Davies (Acast), Claire Imoucha (Amazon Music) and Juan Ignacio Solera (iVoox) to discuss how creators can grow audiences internationally and find new ways to distribute and monetize their shows.

An industry that’s maturing

The agenda showed how far the market has come: brands launching their own shows (KLM’s Travel Well), Spain’s National Library explaining how it preserves podcasts as cultural heritage, sessions on accessibility with Fundación ONCE, and Onda Cero and SER/Podium investing again in audio fiction.

The awards

The day closed with the Podcast Days 2026 awards gala at the Palacio de la Prensa in Callao, where Iker Casillas, the goalkeeper who captained Spain to the 2010 World Cup title, attended and received an award.