Spannabis 2024 Recap: The International Hash Scene is Alive and Well

It was a no brainer when I got the invite through Lowtemp Industries to go check out Spannabis this year and represent TerpGuide as well. If you’ve never been or don’t know about it, 2024 was the 20th anniversary of the Spannabis event, which takes place annually in Barcelona, Spain. This thoroughly international show brings cannabis enthusiasts, growers, and processors from all over Europe and the rest of the world together for a multiday tradeshow and general Euro-scene spotcheck in the industry. Although cannabis is still technically illegal in Spain (and most of Europe as of publishing), their “social clubs” are mostly tolerated and foster a thriving craft cannabis and solventless hash scene. So, naturally that’s where I got started to link up with some of our friends. 

We flew in on March 11th and quickly got busy checking out some of the top local social clubs. Among the top choices I had the pleasure of checking out were all local legends including Terps Army, HQ, GWA Social Club, Lakalada, and Terpy. I’ve never been to a place with so much top shelf hash. I saw more full melt hash in the week I was there than I’ve seen in Denver the entire past year. I pretty much spent the entire week slumped from the number of dabs being passed around at all hours of the day. Crazily enough, not even two days after arrival a massive police operation raided many of the social clubs in Barcelona with the supposed intent to issue fines, mainly to all of the international travelers there for Spannabis from the states and elsewhere. While I couldn’t confirm this rumor, it came up multiple times that the authorities literally called their raid “Operation Rosin” as they were specifically targeting the rosin and hash producers from the US who have been more or less flooding the local market and making it harder for local hashmakers to compete. Big if true, as they say.

On March 13th I attended the Hash Campus class that was sponsored by Lowtemp Industries. The class was taught by @bobby_kld, the man behind the social club Lakalada. He taught students from over seven different countries how to harvest, make bubble hash, freeze dry, and press rosin. The class took place about 45 minutes outside of the city in a breathtaking residence on top of a hill overlooking the ocean. It never gets old seeing students' eyes light up when they see the magic of solventless extraction for the first time.

On the 14th I stopped by the social club Blue Dream to teach a group of students about solventless extraction for the Refined Lab Group class. I took a deep dive into the entire process and gave them some of my best tips and tricks for making the best quality hash and rosin with limited resources. The owner Tom was a great guy and showed me some of the best products from local makers while I was there.

The next day I stopped by GWA Social Club for an event hosted by Puffco. Lowtemp was a co-sponsor, so I got to do some live squishing for the crowd and even gave away a rosin press to one of the attendees. The team that runs this club is top-notch. It’s the first time I’ve gone to an event to do live squishing where they actually came correct with some proper hash they washed a few days prior. Their crew has some incredible hashmakers on staff.

Despite the intense police activity, Spannabis went on and was one of the most incredible gatherings of cannabis culture I’d witnessed in recent memory. It reminded the team of the Chalice and Emerald Cup events of old, but way larger and much more cosmopolitan in every dimension. There were over 25,000 attendees and at least 500 brands ranging from breeders to equipment manufacturers, apparel companies, and everything in between. It was just a little smaller than the MJBizCon show that happens in Vegas every year, which draws the entire ancillary side of the industry. Spannabis however includes all verticals and aspects of cannabis in a part of the world that is truly beautiful (not to mention the incredible dining scene). There were also a huge variety of classes to attend where you could learn anything from hashmaking to growing best practices and everything in between. 

One thing that struck me as particularly great was just getting reacquainted with the overwhelmingly pro-solventless, hash-loving scene in Europe in general. BHO and cheap distillate is almost nowhere to be found. Europeans really seem to appreciate a fine ice water hash and sift product, which bubble hash is even more common in many instances than even rosin. There’s just a different appreciation for the process there which at TerpGuide we hope never changes, truly. The attention to genetics is equivalent to places like California (even though of course much of the top breeding stock still originates from the states) and while of course not everything is top shelf, there is a tendency towards higher quality products in general, just like food there. I even met a legacy grower from Colombia that claimed to have been breeding for solventless for over two decades, long before it was a thing in the US, and I believed him. He showed me pictures of hills in the middle of nowhere with greenhouses that spread as far as the eye could see. He even showed me an automated hash washing machine he built 15 years ago by modifying an old piece of farming equipment.

The last event I attended before heading to Portugal was Legends of Hashish. I saw a ton of familiar faces from the states at this event. This is where I found the largest concentration of mind blowing terps during the trip. The highlight of this event was getting to hand out dabs of every entry to all of the attendees with Bubbleman. The first words out of Bubbleman’s mouth upon arrival were “we’re here to celebrate hashish”. He made good on his promise.

One part of the experience that was both a blessing and a curse was that many of the dabs I took were essentially nameless. So many of the folks I connected with were entering the competitions that so many rigs were placed in front of me it was impossible to keep track. What is interesting however is that it still seems as though at least in Europe, Zkittlez reigns supreme. 3 of the 4 top entries at Masters of Rosin were different cuts of Zkittlez (not crosses, cuts) and 2 of the 3 top 3 entries at Legends of Hashish were Zkittlez crosses. I spoke with innumerable hash makers and growers about terpenes and Euro flavor preferences, but it seemed like despite the judge’s fondness for the almighty Z, every type of profile was well loved from jet fuel gas to earth and fruit.  

I am positive that I set a new record for the number of dabs I’d taken in any given week period on the trip and felt blessed to get a chance to share smoke with so many talented international industry veterans. It was also an absolute circus. I’d also been fortunate enough to spend a significant amount of time in Europe earlier in my life, but I certainly didn’t experience it through the lens of the connoisseur. Doing so this time around is an experience I’ll never forget, and I’m already hyped to get back there next year and do it all over again. Although TerpGuide isn’t in Europe yet, it’s definitely one of the places we’re going to make inroads to as soon as possible because quality is king with the people that are in the know. If you know anyone who’d want to help us take that on, shoot us a message. If this all wasn’t enough to convince you to try and check out Spannabis in the future, we’re not sure what will. Definitely go if you get the chance - enough said.