The following document corresponds to the preliminary program of the XXVII Spanish Astronomy Congress (CEA 2026), which will be held from October 9 to 12, 2026, in Sabadell.
This initial planning includes the general structure of the plenary sessions, invited lectures, parallel sessions, workshops, outreach activities, and institutional events planned for the congress.
The program is currently under development and will be progressively updated with news, speaker confirmations, final schedules, and specific details for each activity.
We recommend checking this section periodically for the most recent updates.
- Inaugural conference open to the public.
- Scientific sessions on astrophysics, heliophysics, exoplanets, observation, astrometry, photometry, spectroscopy, and others currently in preparation.
- National astrophotography and astronomical drawing competition.
- Exhibition of observation instrumentation and outreach materials.
- Official Congress Dinner.
- Guided tour of the Sabadell Observatory.
- Guided tours of the city of Sabadell.
Ignasi Ribas
PhD in Physics from the University of Barcelona and currently a research professor at the Institute of Space Sciences of the CSIC. His research activity focuses on the discovery and characterization of exoplanets, particularly those similar to Earth, to search for life in the future. He holds high-level responsibilities in astronomical instruments, as well as in various space missions, including CHEOPS, PLATO, and Ariel. He also coordinates the development of nanosatellite projects.
Alicia Sintes
Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of the Balearic Islands and an international leader in gravitational-wave astronomy. She is the principal investigator of the GRAVITY research group and director of the Institute for Community Code Applications. With a Ph.D. from the UIB, she spent part of her career at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics and has been involved in the LIGO collaboration since its early days. Currently, she is a member of the LISA Consortium and the Einstein Telescope.
NADIA BLAGORODNOVA
Professor at the Faculty of Physics of the University of Barcelona. Her research focuses on time-domain observational astronomy, studying transient astrophysical phenomena such as supernovae, stellar mergers, and stars torn apart by supermassive black holes. With the research group Common Envelope Transients - Progenitors, Precursors, and Properties of their Outbursts (CET-3PO), funded by a European Research Council (ERC) grant, she investigates the interaction and merger of close binary stars. She has been jointly recognized with the National Research Award for Young Talent 2025
Enric Pallé
PhD in Astrophysics from Armagh Observatory/Queen’s University Belfast. The first cycle of the Physics degree was completed at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and the Bachelor’s degree was obtained at the University of La Laguna in the Canary Islands
He has extensive professional experience, beginning as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the New Jersey Institute of Technology & California Institute of Technology in the United States. He has been a Ramón y Cajal Fellow at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Head of the Research Department, and currently holds the highest-level position as a Research Professor at the same institute.
His research focuses on three main areas: studying Earth as a planet from space to identify biosignatures in its global light; analyzing exoplanet atmospheres through transmission spectroscopy (particularly using the 10-meter GTC telescope); and detecting and confirming exoplanets using telescopes such as Kepler (K2) and SuperWASP.
The official language of the congress is Spanish. Simultaneous interpretation into Spanish will be provided for invited conferences delivered in English.