Every possible world at Torremolinos FreakCon

Those who have ever stopped to gaze up at the enormous chandelier hanging from the dome of Torremolinos’s Palacio de Congresos, packed with 2,700 drops of solid crystal pointing earthward, and wondered whether it might make the perfect hiding place for the Infinity Stones that give the Avengers such endless trouble, had a date there last weekend. Torremolinos’s conference centre was the venue for FreakCon 2026, the south of Europe’s international festival of pop culture, manga, comics, television series and video games last weekend .

The event officially kicked off at noon last Friday, when a paranormal investigation and elimination unit swept through the venue to the full-blast theme from Ghostbusters. But queues had been forming since ten o’clock, making plain what had been clear for days: tickets were long sold out. A DeLorean modified to match the one in Back to the Future, complete with the famous sports almanac on the dashboard, welcomed fans at the entrance.

FreakCon is that kind of journey. If it had a title, it might borrow from the Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert film: Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Thousands of fictional universes collided across more than 70,000 square metres. At a rough glance, more people appeared to be in cosplay, dressed as their favourite characters, than in clothing suited to the warm, summery weekend weather on the Costa del Sol.

A quick look from any point in the venue was enough to spot the Peacemaker adjusting his helmet, a weathered Wolverine in hat and duster with blood on his claws posing for photos, a Spider-Woman whose spider sense apparently failed to tingle as Michael Myers walked past knife in hand, and Blue Beetle taking a call on his mobile. Nearby, Byakuya Togami and Chiaki Nanami from the Japanese video game franchise Danganronpa chatted away in a distinctly Malaga accent.

Wandering the venue, the costumes were everywhere. Two teenage friends, Saúl and Rogney, came as Gandalf and Frodo Baggins, not from the Shire, they clarify, but from Malaga. Their chaperone, dressed as a Mandalorian Captain America, introduced himself as their father. His name is Andrés Infante, and the geek culture passion, he says, flows firmly from parent to children.

Outside, visitors queued to sign a life-size Hulk while younger children bounced in an enormous inflatable castle. Inside, everything from comics to katanas was available to purchase; you could enter a Kamehameha shouting competition, test your pop-culture knowledge in the Quiz Zone or catch a talk on how to make a video game. The board games area drew just as big a crowd, with chess, Pathfinder and the Disney card game Lorcana all pulling in players.

Two friends dressed as sharks from Chainsaw Man took turns pushing the wheelchair of 15-year-old Juan Antonio, who broke his foot at school and has cheerfully leant into the look of wheelchair-bound manga character Johnny Joestar.

The signing queues were among the longest. Pokémon illustrator ItsPoli, who has over four million YouTube subscribers, drew a crowd, as did Marvel artist Salva Espín, best known for a decade on Deadpool. Espín wrote “Marvel sends greetings to the future super-artist” on a poster for one fan’s nephew.

Up on the first floor, three friends dressed as Dragon Ball characters surveyed the scene. Ángel had attended all ten editions of FreakCon. “There’s more to do this year,” he said.