Dear Colleagues and Friends,
It is a great pleasure to invite you to the city of Málaga for the 14th IFSO-EC Congress and 27th SECO Congress, which will take place from May 6 to 9, 2026.
This Congress will allow us to deepen our knowledge of such a complex and prevalent pathology in today’s society: Obesity. Sharing experiences, news, surgical and medical treatments, joint discussion sessions, and forums with other specialists and surgeons, is undoubtedly the key to advancing in the search for our patients’ health, overcoming their obesity-related diseases and improving their quality of life.
The new definition of obesity as a chronic disease for which we must fight to eradicate the stigma, new pharmacological treatments and how to integrate them into our daily surgical practice, the multidisciplinary work of the different bariatric surgery and integrated health units, new and consolidated surgical techniques, with their complications and revision possibilities, robotic surgery, sustainability, artificial intelligence and access to surgery for all patients with severe obesity who need it, will be the main topics that we will address both in the pre-congress courses and the different debate sessions during the congress.
Malaga has a diverse cultural heritage and for almost three thousand years, it has maintained its fundamental essence as a city that welcomes international people. It is a “City of Museums” with a booming hotel and service industry. The Picasso Museum, Pompidou Centre, Carmen Thyssen Museum and others have turned Malaga into one of the fastest-growing cultural destinations in the world and one of the most sought-after in Spain, with more than 35 museums.
The city is safe, clean and modern, and it offers the highest levels of attention. Its luminosity and colour, the Mediterranean and sub-tropical climate guarantee an average temperature of 18 degrees centigrade and more than 325 days of sun a year. It has a wide variety of gastronomical delights which offers the visitor the most tempting dishes of traditional Mediterranean cooking and the newest cuisine.
Malaga is easily accessible from anywhere in Spain and Europe; either by air, with the third best-connected airport on the Spanish mainland with direct links to more than 25 countries and over 140 cities, by road or by train, with high-speed rail connections to Spain’s main cities, boasting over 15 daily departures to Madrid.
For all these reasons, we look forward to welcoming you to our hospitable city, to work and discuss the latest developments in our speciality, but also to enjoy and make new friends on the shoreline of the Mediterranean Sea.
Warm Regards,
Dr. Luis Ocaña
IFSO EC 2026 Committee
