Every year, the ceramic tile industry takes things up another few notches thanks to rapidly changing technologies and processes and the 23rd edition of Spanish tile fair Cevisama, which drew a crowd of more than 70,000 at the end of February, despite the host city of Valencia encountering devastating floods just months prior, proved that 2025 is no exception. There were some clear trends in color and style, such as a return to terracotta and continuation of wood, cement and stone looks, but what stood out the most were the new textures, both realistic and, some might say, “unreal.”
Technological Wonders
The bulk of the innovations we spotted were the result of advancements and exploration in two different areas. “Because the glaze industry is located here, the Spanish are often the early adopters of new glazing technology and their utilization of it is a bit more refined because they’ve had more experience with it,” said Ryan Fasan, Tile of Spain consultant. Spain, it so happens, is also a leader in inkjet printing on ceramic tile, and “the cutting edge of the technology now is being able to print volume on a surface in an additive way or create effects that actually reduce volume from the surface in a subtractive way in tandem with the graphic file that’s being printed.”
In other words, the surfaces increasingly have a more authentic quality about them as their touchable and viewable textures more closely align with the graphics, be they simulations of reclaimed barn wood or concrete city sidewalks. The following is just a taste of what Spanish tile manufacturers were most recently able to accomplish by combining these technologies.
As its name hints, Apavisa’s Riverwash takes inspiration from natural stone surfaces formed by river-water erosion. Appropriately, the large-format tile comes in two earthy tones, Wild Grey and Green, but for a decidedly more dramatic effect, it’s also available in a striking white-on-white and two metallics — Gold and Silver.
Metropol’s San Francisco Concept sports a raised geo pattern with intriguing mixed textures. “The front of this geometric is a sandstone structure but in the back, you can see glossy waves of a plaster trowel,” said Fasan. “You can’t marry those two things in a natural product, but these are extremely believable.”
The 12-by-35-inch tile is offered in a Soft White, Dusty Navy or Beige.
Harmony’s Pangea collection includes decorative “Spot” and “Flower” designs, which feature distinct recessed patterns in a matte surface with marks that simulate weathering or handmade imperfections. Measuring 8¾-inches-square, both designs are available in Sand, Clay and Chocolate.
Recalling imperial creamy marble but with a surface treatment mimicking stone, Museum’s Eden puts a contemporary spin on marble with its texture and white veining. While you can get it in natural- or polished-finish large-format tiles, the real showstopper is its 12-millimeter textured countertop.
Extruded Tile Pushing the Envelope
Most of the world’s tile manufacturers produce dry-pressed tiles as opposed to extruded, but the Spanish tile industry is a rare case: Fasan estimates that about 10% of the manufacturers in Spain currently specialize in extruded tile, particularly of the modern variety. At this year’s fair, we saw several such manufacturers showcasing new extruded products that were both attractive and serving a function, such as marble-look ventilated-façade systems, slate-mimicking terrace floors with matching pool components, and whimsical retro-mod–style clay breeze blocks.
Speaking of which, expect to see the breeze-block trend revived thanks to a slew of ceramic versions offering fun new shapes and finishes. Cevica’s Celosía Symbol was one collection that caught our attention. Taking their forms from letters (T, D, V, X and O), these 6-by-6-inch blocks can be mixed and matched with or without color glazes on the faces or interiors.
The Transit line by Natucer allows architects to create a cohesive look in urban, outdoor, and industrial settings with floor tiles and coordinating pieces in specialty shapes and with integrated components. Think curved skirting boards, inside and outside corners and gutters already fitted with integrated drains.
Gres Aragón’s latest porcelain collection Zarci replicates the look of mediterranean limestone for a range of outdoor components including step risers and stringers, terrace floors, and pool overflow edges and copings.
We would be remiss to not mention that there were also excellent purely decorative extruded tiles on display throughout the fairgrounds. Of note was Natucer’s brand-new Unika collection, which includes eye-catching graphics, super saturated yet earthy colors, and playful shapes including the cross-and-star pairing currently trending across the U.S.
At Your Convenience
A final trend ever present at this year’s Cevisama was product designed to make installation and selection a breeze. For instance, popular layout patterns—such as herringbone, parquet, checkerboard, and classic brickwork—were actually recreated with seemingly individual units in a single large-format tile to help speed up the layout and installation process. Particularly making a comeback in this category is the Versailles pattern, which typically uses a combination of four different formats to present a somewhat random appearance. In the past, one had to carefully pre-plan and purchase the correct number of each tile size, as well as ensure the colors matched (or didn’t match).
Halcon’s Everest — inspired by ulldecona stone, native to Catalonia, Spain — features a realistic textured face in four neutral colors and is available as a standard large-format tile and also in three decorative options including a multiformat Versailles-style pattern of eight tiles on a 23.6-by-47.2-inch base.
As the wood-look trend in ceramic tile continues to flourish, we’ve seen classic parquet and even marquetry patterns emerge, but Metropol’s Lyric series, offered in three colors, goes back to the basics with planks, slats and beadboard styles, all of which believably pass. The collection essentially enables architects and interior designers to create more visual depth using the three different formats within a single environment, all the while remaining a cohesive design. The planks come in 8-by-47-inch or 10-by-59-inch formats while the decorative boards come in 16-by-47-inch or 30-by-59-inch sizes.
