Belgrade (Serbia) has won the bid to host the International Expo 2027, beating out Malaga (Spain) with a proposal titled "The Urban Era: Towards Sustainable Cities". The announcement was made during the general assembly of member countries of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) in Paris on Wednesday, following presentations by all the candidates earlier in the day. Serbia received 81 votes and Spain, 70.

In the first round, Serbia received 54 votes, followed by Spain with 42, the United States with 19, Thailand with 16, and Argentina with eight, which was eliminated. In the second round, Serbia once again topped the votes with 69, followed by Spain with 48, the United States with 21, and Thailand with 15, which was eliminated. Spain and Serbia advanced to the final round, with Serbia ultimately winning with the slogan "Play for Humanity: Sports and Music for All", over Malaga's "The Urban Era: Towards Sustainable Cities".

The Malaga bid garnered positive feedback throughout, with optimism and good spirits expressed. On Wednesday, Malaga was the first to make their final presentation at the assembly, with Luz Casal performing the live song "A Perfect Place" with the support of personalities from the film and sports world like Paz Vega, Pau Gasol, and Sergio Ramos, alongside the administrations that had backed and explained the advantages of the proposal.

The Malaga bid focused on a theme that affects all countries, regardless of their level of development: making urban growth and development compatible with environmental protection and innovative solutions that guarantee an improvement in the quality of life of city residents. Malaga aimed to be a venue for the exchange of good practices and experiences that would allow it to keep progressing while also contributing a legacy to the international community by developing proposals, ideas, and solutions for cities, especially considering that by 2050, more than three-quarters of the world's population will live in cities.

In Malaga, disappointment was palpable at the news of the loss, with the bid organising a public event on the central street of Alcazabilla early in the morning where locals and members of the municipal corporation gathered to follow the results. Málaga's mayor, Francisco de la Torre, expressed his thoughts on the loss, praising the presentation of their bid while acknowledging Serbia's successful approach. Despite the setback, he stressed that the city would still work towards creating solutions to the sustainability challenges faced by urban areas.