The serious problems that have tarnished this past weekend the celebration of the first two stages of La Vuelta 2023, and above all the terrible bad image projected on Saturday by a Barcelona in the dark, should not affect, in principle, the government's commitment of Jaume Collboni so that the city is the venue for all the major international sporting events that are within reach, either proactively, through the recruitment work of the City Council itself, or through the offer of the responsible entities of these competitions.
While waiting to assess whether the La Vuelta fiasco could have any long-term negative effects – something that municipal officials consider unlikely – Barcelona continues to be an attractive showcase to sell the product of the great sporting spectacle.
The doubts and reluctance that the commons expressed explicitly or in a veiled manner during Ada Colau's two terms in office have suddenly dissipated with the recovery of the mayoralty by the party that launched Barcelona's Olympic adventure more than 40 years ago.
In the new government of the PSC, for now alone, there is no dispute that the city has to continue contributing to the financing of the Montmeló circuit, to prevent Catalonia from being left out of the Formula 1 circus, or that it has to row in favor of of the 2031 Ryder Cup golf project on the Costa Brava and which, of course, must aspire to be the starting point for an edition of the Tour de France, the main venue for the soccer World Cup and a Championship of the World of Athletics, to name three of the main goals on the Barcelona sports agenda.
Collboni believes that after years of drought, the time has come for Barcelona to once again host major sporting events. The mayor assures that this is an excellent formula to "positively position the city" and reinforce that natural association with the values of sport that are part of Barcelona's DNA.
In a conversation with La Vanguardia last Friday, the mayor commented that "we will prioritize those sports that make the most sense in Barcelona", such as nautical sports -with the 2024 America's Cup as a springboard for activities related to the sea- and "democratic", those whose practice is better adapted to the conditions of the city and that do not require the payment of an entrance to enjoy the show.
Together with the mayor, the Councilor for Sports, David Escudé, recalled that the start of La Vuelta 2023 and the 2024 Sailing America's Cup represent a turning point after an entire decade in which Barcelona has been absent from the international sports calendar. You have to go back to the 2013 World Swimming Championships to remember a top-class event that ended up in this city.
One of the most coveted pieces of big game by the current management team of the City Council – even in the last municipal mandate and before, in the first of Colau, when the socialists had a fleeting passage through the government – is the Tour de France.
Both Collboni and Escudé were optimistic about the possibility of Barcelona being the scene of the Grand Depart of the French cycling round, as Bilbao and the Basque Country have been in this year's edition.
The mayor and the Councilor for Sports explained that there has been intense prior work to reestablish relations with the organizers of the Grande Boucle after a period in which that relationship and trust between both parties was completely broken. They have not yet ventured to set a date – it will not be before 2026 – but both are convinced of the success of the company.
Escudé ensures that the list of competitions that could end up being held in Barcelona on the horizon of 2030 and even beyond is long. For his part, the mayor points out that "we are very clear that we must define the events that interest us based on criteria of economic, sporting, environmental and social sustainability." Collboni recalls that the promotion of these projects does not have a direct impact on the City Council's budgets but will come from the collection of the tourist surcharge. As an example of the democratizing will to which he refers, he points out the radical change in the conception of the America's Cup village: from the exclusive and closed venues of previous editions to the open and popular facilities of the Moll de la Fusta.
Another of the City Council's objectives for this mandate is to give new impetus to the Barcelona Marathon. Escudé assures that in the next edition there will be "surprises", and most likely a change of route forced in part by the works that are carried out in the city. The mayor of Sports insists that the model to follow is that of New York, a test that is characterized by the animation that surrounds it, by the parallel activity that is generated around the race, more than that of Berlin, more oriented to achieve big brands.
Barcelona does not renounce at all to be the venue for an Athletics World Cup. He tried it without success in the 2019 edition, which would end up being held in Doha. Now the gaze is set on 2027 or rather on 2029. The Barcelona candidacy has the backing of the socialist government and last March Congress approved, with the support of all groups except Vox, which abstained, a proposal for ERC that endorses that aspiration.
The letter from the City Council to the Three Wise Men does not include a Champions League soccer final, but the Euroleague Basketball Final Four does. Long before this is possible, from next December 14 to 17, the Palau Sant Jordi will be filled again to host the Boss Master Final of the World Padel Tour, the final test of the fashion sport circuit, sponsored by Estrella Damm.
