Barcelona City Council is hunting down major international sporting events, one of the battlefronts for the city's global projection for the coming years. The municipal government chaired by the socialist Jaume Collboni, through the Department of Sports, in which the socialist councilor David Escudé remains, has a list of top-level competitions in hand and has begun to explore the options of winning the their organization. And given the hesitations of the Generalitat, for example with regard to the candidacy of the Ryder Cup of golf for 2031, the Barcelona City Council is tying the institutional support of the State.
Escudé met today in Madrid with the Secretary of State and President of the Higher Sports Council (CSD), Víctor Francos, to delve into the preparations for the organization of the 2023 Sailing America's Cup, as well as the development of the Barcelona's candidatures for the World Athletics Championships, which the Catalan capital aspires to host in 2029, and the 2030 Soccer World Cup, which Spain, Portugal and Morocco aspire to organize jointly.
The City Council also wants to get involved in the candidacy of the Costa Brava for the 2031 Golf Ryder Cup, which will incorporate the name of Barcelona to increase its potential, taking advantage of the city's projection in the world and its proven ability to organize major sporting events.
To begin with, the Higher Sports Council allocates 18 million euros to the organization of the Copa del América next year through a nominative subsidy to the Fundació Barcelona Capital Náutica AC24 to cover the expenses directly linked to the designation of Barcelona as the venue of the 37th edition of the test and the organization of the competition.
In his meeting with the president of the CSD, Escudé was interested in the candidacy for the 2023 Soccer World Cup. In the event that the joint option of Spain, Portugal and Morocco prospers, the new government of the city and its mayor, Jaume Collboni, want Barcelona to be one of the venues, repeating the experience of 1982, when the Camp Nou and the now-defunct Sarrià field hosted various matches of that championship.
At the end of the meeting, both Víctor Francos and David Escudé underlined the importance of organizing international competitions because of the boost they provide for sports development, because of their contribution to projecting the image of Barcelona and Spain and because of the promotion of tourism and the industry linked to physical activity and sport, a sector that is experiencing strong growth.
The CSD fully supports Barcelona City Council in its efforts to make the city the venue for the World Athletics Championships. After several frustrated attempts, an opportunity is now open again for the 2029 edition and the new municipal government is willing to bet heavily on this letter.
Barcelona also wants to get involved in the Catalan candidacy for the 2031 Golf Ryder Cup. On June 20, the Council of Ministers authorized the president of the CSD to sign on behalf of the Spanish Government the necessary agreements to comply with the commitments derived from the designation of Spain as the venue for this competition that pits two teams made up of the best golfers from the United States and Europe against each other.
This candidacy is, however, up in the air since the Generalitat rejects it if it is linked to an urban plan in the municipality of Caldes de Malavella (la Selva) that includes a third golf course and the construction of 185 luxury homes.
On the other hand, the candidacy has the support of Catalan economic agents, led by the employers' association Foment del Treball, which on June 8 expressed in a joint act that they asked the Government not to miss the opportunity for Catalonia to host an event that According to its promoters, it would have an economic impact of more than 1,300 million euros and would create a thousand jobs”.
