That he Olympic Stadium Lluís Companys is closed on the day of the thirtieth anniversary of the opening of the 92 Games It has readings for all tastes. First, that of the nostalgic. They will say that it is mean, that it cannot be that the symbol of the World Barcelona and ‘nostrada’ do not open the doors for citizens to evoke that explosion of emotions, with Antonio Rebollo shooting a flaming arrow that a patrol of the Urban Guard he hoped to hunt on the other side of the wall so that no one would be impaled by the olympia fire. But there is another point of view; more practical and forward-looking. That the venue has no time for melancholy means either that it is abandoned and impracticable or that its mind is on other things, such as the iron maiden concert montage, British band that had been on stage for 17 years in 1992 and lands on Friday with its tour ‘Legacy of the beast tour‘, which had to be canceled due to covid in 2020. The Olympic ring is still very much alive, and if 30 years ago it had Michael Jordannow stick your chest out with Rosalia.
no need to go to Moscow 1980 to play the odious comparisons. Just travel to 2016, to the Games of Rio de Janeiro, to verify that the politics of prospering on the basis of big events It is a double-edged opportunity. After an investment of almost 5,000 million dollars in facilities, the Brazilian city watched, less than a year later, how buildings and swimming pools, stadiums and palaces, collapsed victims of looting and abandonment. same thing happened with Atlanta’96 or with Athens’04. Also those of Beijing 2008 they left a wasteland of cement and vegetation after spending 40,000 million dollars. Not everything was and is not perfect in the case of Barcelona, but there is no doubt that it gave us back the sea and opened the rounds for us, and that it bequeathed us a Montjuïc Olympic ring which is still active, with almost 5,000 events in these 30 yearsand with good forecasts for the future.
sightseeing just a little
Monday, 11 a.m. The tourists they have returned to Barcelona in a tipper but Montjuïc is not in the top 10 must-see places. As if this were the limit of the city, as if the neighborhoods of Marina de Port and Prat Vermell did not exist on the other side. Maybe stop the imposing cemetery, the dead with the best views in Europe; or the presence of the port and its uncomfortable Morrot. Or the physical barrier that it supposes Barcelona Fairas if the Venetian towers and the avenue of Queen Maria Christina they were the portal to nowhere, unless one goes to the miraculous vaccination center of Rius i Taulet.
A couple of women go up the Estadi avenue, the kind that they walk fast and moving your arms. She had a hat, a bottle of water and a small hand towel hanging from her pocket. Very professional. Are neighbors of Hostafrancs and common in the mountains. Carmen and Mariangeles. “This is never full, unless there is a fat concert“. “This weekend Rosalia came, my niece was on Saturday.” “It’s a bit difficult to get to and beyond the buildings, there are no shops or bars to have a drink.” “It’s nice, but could be cleaner“. It is true that it is not an entirely comfortable place for the stranger to spend a whole morning. They say that beyond, in the Olympic MuseumThey have put a giant coby. Damn, right, it is big: an inflatable from the marshal’s dog about five or six meters high. doAnd petra…?
There goes José Manuel, who in 1992 was one of the 44,767 volunteers (13,540, in the case of Paralympics) that made the Games possible. What times, when they walked down the street in uniform and people greeted them, as if they were a little piece of Pasqual Maragall. This Monday, as he has done every July 25 since then, he has put on his olympic kit. The first thing, and it has merit, is that it still fits. The shirt is no longer quite white and the pants are a different blue than the original, but there is this man, happy with the proud of him.’Barcelona 92′ on his back, and with a very busy day, because he has an event at the Museu Olímpic and another at the Picornell or INEFCis not very clear.
one more candle
He says that every year, a group of volunteers meet on the outside stairs of the Olympic Stadium, which are just under cauldron. “At first we were 50 or 60, but today I think we will be a dozen; many have gotten tired or have died.” Every year a volunteer brings a cake to which they add candles. They will blow, they will remember anecdotes, they will have a drink and go home; will be removed the games clothes and they will save it again. Until next year, the 31st birthday that no one will remember anymore.
According to figures from BSM, the municipal company in charge of managing the Olympic ring, in these 30 years, the stadium, the Palau Sant Jordi (with its small Sant Jordi Club) and the Olympic esplanade have organized 4,812 events which have occupied 7,656 days (out of a total of 10,955). In these sporting, social, cultural or family events, more than 44 million people. Bruce Springsteen has passed through here, the Rolling StonesElton John, Bruno Mars, U2, Metallica, madonnaColdplay, AC/DC or Police. But also the mythical Barcelona Dragons, the RCD Espanyolthe Festa dels Supersthe Catalan soccer team, the X Gamesthe Monster Jam or the traditional Course of El Corte Inglés. And Cirque du Soleil, Disney on Ice, the World Padel Tourthe Trial World Championship, the casting of ‘Triumph operation‘. the World Athletics Championships or the World Roller Games. Of everything.
a good 2023
The pandemic caught the Olympic ring in full swing. After exceed one million people in 127 events in 2018 and almost a million in 2019 with 122 events, 2020 and 2021 have been years to forget for obvious reasons. In this 2022 of recovery, 102 events are expected with some 542,000 participants. By 2023, BSM predicts a flag exercise with 160 proposals that should bring nearly 1.5 million people to Montjuïc. For next year the concerts of Bruce Springsteen (Olympic Stadium, April 28 and 30), Justin Bieber (January 25, Sant Jordi) or Elton John (May 23 and 24, Sant Jordi).
And to all this we must add that, as Espanyol already did for 12 years until 2009, the Barça will play at the Lluís Companys in the 23-24 season while the club remodels the Camp Nou. The cost of the operation, between 15 and 20 million for the coffers of BSM, a company with 1,800 employees that manages other public goods, such as the zoo, the Bicing, the Tibidabo amusement parkthe municipal crane, the cemeteries or the Guell park.
In a normal year, without pandemic and without frightsthe Olympic ring (Sant Jordi multiplies by five the capacity harvested in the stadium) is occupied an average of 325 days a year with about 160 events, especially linked to the music (49) and to sport (51), but also to the family proposals (14) or to social uses (48). And with a total of one million participants, of which almost half correspond to the concerts. The million and a half forecast for 2023 with the same number of events (160) is explained by the trading volumethat is, it is about massive eventssome of which cannot yet be revealed.
Good aspect
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Despite the happy ‘tags‘ Of the alleged graffiti artists, much less present than in the rest of the city, the Olympic esplanade looks good. If we add the europe square (the one in Barcelona, the one in L’Hospitalet can be sensed there in the background, with its recognizable buildings) we have before us near 53,000 square metersfive hectares, with grassy areas, shaded benches, ornamental fountains, spectacular views.
An open space with practically no human activity in one of the European cities with less green per inhabitant. It is perhaps the Montjuïc’s main defectwhich is full of virtues but has not managed, despite good Olympic memories, to generate a authentic neighborhood life. That torch is yet to come.