Neither jointly nor separately. Point and end. The assembly of the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) has finally decided to abandon the idea of presenting a candidacy for the 2030 Winter Games in any of its forms, either in collaboration between Catalonia and Aragon, or with its own candidacies. Despite the fact that until yesterday the president of the sports entity, Alejandro Blanco, was willing to keep the candidacy parked, but without burying it, today he has been clear and has not given any chance: “The project has reached exhaustion and we cannot materialize it. (…) We cannot maintain the agreement for which we have fought, the candidacy does not exist and we open the possibility that one of the territories can present it and when it is ready we will present that project and talk to the IOC”. "We have destroyed this candidacy at home," lamented Blanco. Clearer the water.
Is the decision final? Blanco has not beat around the bush, despite admitting that it was the most difficult question he has faced this Tuesday at a press conference after the COE meeting. He has not given rise to speculation: “Today what is clear is that the candidacy is closed because there is no agreement. If there were an agreement tomorrow... the image we have given to the international Olympic movement, to the international press and the IOC, to be kind, has not been exactly the best. It has to make us reflect."
For Blanco, the candidacy can only be joint for 2030. Submitting a proposal to the IOC "halfway", that is, without Aragón's contest, would have burned, in his opinion, any winning option for a future candidacy, in later years .
In any case, Blanco opens up a possibility, which means that any territory that wishes to can present its own candidacy for 2034. And if so, the best placed would be the one that the Generalitat de Catalunya could present. Even so, he has not closed the door to a joint proposal again, despite the bad experience of this negotiation.
Blanco's announcement coincided with the statement signed on June 13 between the COE and the IOC and which was made public today. In this document, both organizations are committed to maintaining contacts: "As part of the continuous dialogue without commitment and without specific edition, the Spanish Olympic Committee has informed the IOC that it wishes to continue working with the Commission of Future Venues of the Winter Games, with With a view to holding the Winter Olympic Games in Spain, despite the fact that, at the present time, it is not in a position to present an Olympic project, the IOC hopes to continue the excellent collaboration and dialogue so far with the COE and its president White Alexander.
The definitive failure of the Olympic bid between Catalonia and Aragon has caused enormous wear and tear for the four actors involved: the Spanish, Catalan and Aragonese governments and the COE. Blanco has moved heaven and earth to make it work, but since the end of March, Javier Lambán, president of the Government of Aragon, has called for his resignation or to describe him as a "political commissioner" in favor of the good words and praise he dedicated to him. the interests of the Generalitat.
Nor does the Spanish government want to carry the dead. The Ministry of Culture and Sports, led by Miquel Iceta, has remained in the background despite having its representatives at the technical meetings, first, and then at the political ones, but it was always clear that either it was joint or there would be no candidacy for 2030. Pedro Sánchez, for his part, ignored the letter that the president of Aragon sent him a few weeks ago. Sánchez and Lambán do not get along at all.
Aragon has reacted immediately. The Minister of Education, Culture and Sports, Felipe Faci, has lamented that the promise of equality and balance that was made to his community "has not been fulfilled" and has charged against the Generalitat. Thus, he has ensured that "the intransigence of Catalonia has ruined the joint candidacy." In any case, Faci has stated that he does not mind "waiting four more years to prepare a good candidacy", with which he takes it for granted that Aragón will present its own proposal by 2034.
