Hosting the FIA Annual Congress, which incorporates the general assemblies and annual meetings of the FIA, FIA Foundation, FIA Institute and the Alliance Internationale de Tourisme (AIT), is a great honour to bestow on a club because it is almost always held in Paris. But RACC was deemed more than worthy because over the last 100 years it has been a pioneer for mobility, tourism and road safety.

The centenary has become major landmark in the history of the region. So much so that Spanish monarch HRH King Juan Carlos I publicly praised the organisation in the introduction to a commemorative book, RACC: One Hundred Years of Passion.

He said: “Civil society is strengthened by organisations such as RACC, which has contributed to the progress and quality of life of Spaniards through its broad experience dedicated to improving mobility and road safety. I congratulate RACC, its executives and its members on this important occasion and hope their history and actions will continue to be a source of satisfaction and pride for all concerned for a long time to come.”

In 1998, RACC began a major expansion across Spain, opening its first offices outside Catalunya. It currently has 229 member service points throughout Spain and is the largest automobile club in the country. It offers a huge amount of services including personal, family, mechanical and urgent medical assistance and it is Spain’s leading car insurance broker.

RACC also has a rich tradition in motor sport. It hosted Spain’s first ever car race on a circuit in 1908. In 1916 it organised the first endurance race, the "Vuelta a Catalunya", the predecessor of the current Rally RACC round of the World Rally Championship. RACC has been a major supporter of all motor sport ever since.

This support culminated in the construction of Circuit de Catalunya in 1991, one of the most popular circuit facilities in the world. It is one of the few tracks in the world to host world motor racing’s triumvirate championships – the FIA Formula One World Championship, FIA World Rally Championship and motorcycling’s MotoGP.