It's a tennis tournament and they come for that, to watch tennis. But from the first day the Conde de Godó Trophy, the dean of Spanish tennis, is also the perfect excuse for the match. The place where you have to be. To see and be seen. To talk about everything and nothing, to start a business or, as they say now, to network in the most cosmopolitan environment possible.
It has always been like this, since the first day of this historic trophy, with and without the village. Or, as it was renamed just before the pandemic, the Hospitality area, because that is what it is, a reception area where the suites and sponsors of the tournament are located and also the most requested restaurant of the week in all of Barcelona. On its first floor, for the VIPs of the VIPs, the super exclusive El Club 1899 is a multi-purpose space, bathed in natural light and overlooking the training tracks.
This VIP area installed in the north end of the club for social gatherings is, compared to the tournament, very young. It was a new type of sponsorship introduced in 1988 by IMG, the American multinational Mac McCormack International, a pioneer in the marketing of the image of athletes and sporting events, especially tennis and golf.
The thing about the village, which comes from English as the rules of the game (of tennis and many other disciplines), comes to replicate the invention of the young British aristocrats of the 19th century that in the green meadows where they practiced tennis, rugby, polo, football or whatever it was, they would set up a small table to have tea between games.
Be that as it may, in this village, now Hospitality, which is already 36 years old, has walked (and will continue to walk) presidents and kings, and ministers and mayors, soccer players and artists, and businessmen and cooks, and jewelers and watchmakers, and adventurers and models and presenters and film directors, and, more recently, all sorts of e-players, instagramers and influencers.
From Maradona to Messi. From Johan Cruyff to Guardiola. From Samaranch to Tita Cervera. Eduardo Punset Agustí Villaronga. Ferran Adrià Judit Mascó Lucretia David Bisbal Ibai Llanos Juan Carlos Navarro. The Gasol brothers. Pochettino The Tricycle Johnny Depp. The list, which is endless, also adds up the numbers of families in full: the Tous, the Cambra, the Rabat, the Suqué and, of course and above all, the Godó, most responsible for all this magic that turns the RCT Barcelona into the authentic nerve center of the city.
Because everyone here knows, and they are going to celebrate it with a gala dinner, that it was Carlos Godó Valls who, 70 years ago and being president of the RCT Barcelona (the one that marked its history forever) decided to bring the best level tennis to the city. . And make the Pedralbes club the place to be. At least for that week. To see and be seen.
