Coinciding with the 125th anniversary of FC Barcelona, both the first and second stands of the future Spotify Camp Nou must be ready in November 2024 to open with 50 percent capacity. "And they will be," say sources from the Blaugrana entity who celebrate that the Government Commission of Barcelona City Council has approved the granting of the main license to start building the future stadium. A license that was expected to be received at the end of July.
In the council they then assured that if the license was being delayed it was due to the changes that the Laporta board proposed on the previous project and that required variations in the permits. These modifications are related to sustainability aspects with the installation of 18,000 m2 of photovoltaic panels on the new roof to generate the electricity necessary for lighting on match days. It was also approved to incorporate cutting-edge technologies, improve the vehicle security and access control system, and make the most of the possibilities that 5G connectivity will offer. Now, with the new City Council government team, all these new improvements are incorporated.
To date, the club had two of the three necessary licenses that have allowed them to advance the works. The first came during the World Cup in Qatar, at which time part of the demolition of the third stand was carried out with the removal of the Gol Sud video scoreboard. The second permit came in June. This license allows work on the subsoil foundations and demolition of the old Camp Nou since the works began last June just at the end of the sports season. The last event held in the old stadium was the farewell to captain Sergio Busquets. The next day the excavators came in and the brown of the earth replaced the green.
With these two licenses and continuing with the planned schedule, the work has progressed throughout the summer with the movement of earth, retaining walls and foundations for the construction of the new stadium and progress has been made with the total demolition of the third stand, coinciding with the movement of the activity to the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium. According to the club, its demolition is in its final phase.
After receiving the third and last permit, according to the club's note, the main license allows "the execution of the actions, above and below ground level", which will facilitate the development of the bulk of the work during this season. The most important phase also includes the execution of the structure of the new third tier.
It is also planned that actions will be promoted around the new stadium with works on the underground parking, the construction of the new intelligent central warehouse and an experiential space, the Barça Hospitality Showroom, to inform members of the project.
In principle and as established in the contract with Limak, the forecast is that both the first and second tiers must be ready in November 2024 to open with 50 percent of the capacity and that the third tiers will be finished at the end of 2025. By then, the cover and the last finishing touches will have to be finished. It is predicted that the new Camp Nou will be completely ready for the 2026-2027 season.
The news of the granting of the main license for the works has been made public on the same day that it became known, as La Vanguardia has learned, the possibility that the new Camp Nou could host an opening match of the World Cup of Football 2030.
It is worth remembering that in the contract that Barcelona signed with Limak there is a clause in which the Turkish construction company, which wants to make itself known in Europe with what will be its first project away from Turkey, undertakes to pay one million euros for each day the completion of the first part of the works is delayed.
In order to meet the deadline of a year and a half that Barça and Limak have set, between 2,500 and 3,000 workers are needed to be involved in the work. Not everyone is in Les Corts. There are currently 450 displaced workers. The rest of the staff are prefabricating parts that will arrive ready-made, carrying out design tasks or managing transportation to remodel a stadium that will have 104,000 seats, two 360-degree VIP rings and a constructed area of 228,000 square meters.
The working hours must be between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. from Monday to Friday and the machinery operating hours are set between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Any exception must be requested, justified and approved in the District of Les Corts.
Despite the schedules, in mid-September, Barcelona City Council announced the start of the processing of both files for non-compliance. According to municipal sources, on Thursday of last week, September 14, between twelve at night and one in the morning, an inspection was carried out at the works and unauthorized activity was detected. The resolution of these complaints could result in the imposition of two fines of a maximum of 300 euros.
