In 2013, when I was in office and the resignation was made in 2022, the economic crisis was heavy. Sufficient consensus was not generated in the municipal groups to dare to propose it. The one from 2026 never ended, there was never a more serious job. In 2015, with the change of government in Barcelona, other priorities were set that I can understand. They have not been resumed until the 2030 horizon, due to the effort made by the Generalitat first with the tandem Ricard Font-Gerard Figueras and now with the team of the ‘consellera’ Laura Vilagra.
Was it easier when it was run by a mayor than it is now?
I believe that an Olympic project has to come from the base, from the local administration. But that model was very concentrated and the IOC for Sustainability has expanded it so as not to build a lot of new facilities that sit idle.
Has there now been a lack of political will or too much politicking?
Political will has been lacking: due to the changes of government in the Generalitat, because the Barcelona City Council has looked at it with a distance, due to the agreement last September to play half with Aragon, which is an agreement that has not been well internalized for all four parts. In a crisis situation due to the pandemic, a crisis in Catalonia-Spain relations, too much politicking has been done with the Games. A technical work dynamic has not been generated. Such a project is technical-political that has to fit in with the requirements of the IOC. And this has hardly been entered, we have remained in a previous phase, as if we were playing Monopoly. And now I don’t know how the other missing puzzle pieces have just been put together.
As name and ceremonies.
The name would have to be the last thing. It has a lot to do with the ability to communicate with the world and Barcelona is our great competitive advantage. The rest we have little to compete with Nordic countries. For the IOC it may be a positive challenge to include a new mountain range like the Pyrenees, but the international positioning is called Barcelona. The IOC has a book of requirements that is not yet on the table because tests are still being distributed. If the other things are not resolved (international airport, international press and television center, hotels) there are no Games. And this has a name: Barcelona. Of course everyone can contribute but the Games have a hierarchy, they are based on a city. All the rest is shared.
Would it have been different if there were no elections within a year in Aragon? How do you analyze the role of President Javier Lambán?
Lambán defends the interests of Aragon, where skiing is strategic, especially in Huesca. This I understand. What I do not understand is that this has had to be discussed through tweets and daily demonstrations. It is not necessary to raise our voice every day and be every day with whether we are the same or different if we have the same rights or not. Obviously we have them. Allying yourself to discuss and speak ill of your ally every day, I do not share it. It is necessary to look for the best option not to satisfy the small parishes that each one has but to win on a world level. You have to put all the pieces of the puzzle. The letter from the presidents was sent last July, I don’t know if the partridge has gotten too dizzy or has gone to substance. I understand that Lambán wants the three valleys with stations to participate, but in Catalonia there are seven and not all of them participate. Why has it been so tight? The generated dynamic has caused us to run over each other. Are we in time to fix it? I think so, it seems that lately there has been an effort to tone it down. I think a final adjustment is possible.
Alejandro Blanco says that either there is a joint candidacy or there won’t be. Do you think that a candidacy from Catalonia or Aragon alone would have options?
Against Vancouver, Salt Lake City and Sapporo? I see difficult. I’ve been to the Vancouver and Salt Lake City Games and wow, how powerful. The snow in Canada is 600 meters high, here you have to go to 1,800. Aragon has some good mountains, Catalonia is very tight. On the other hand, Barcelona is very powerful and Zaragoza meets the requirements very precisely. For example, the IOC asks for 24,000 three, four and five star hotel rooms, which Zaragoza would not have today if it had to be the heart of the Games. If they add up, no problem. What makes it competitive is the fact of adding. Later we can lose, but as I said Pierre de Coubertin the important thing is to participate. Every four years there are trains, but I am more interested in seeing that the fit of sustainability, mobility and the future model of the Pyrenees is well resolved so that quality living can be lived with or without the Olympic Games.
Are you worried about the lack of enthusiasm generated by the Olympic bid? The ’92 Games aroused an interest that the winter Games have not generated to this day.
This is evident to this day. And also that neither the genesis nor the social moment can be compared. When the 1992 Games were planned, Barcelona began to live in a democracy and had a constellation of high-level leaders: Samaranch, Serra, Maragall, Pujol, González and Ferrer-Salat. There was a project for a city, a city to fix and open up to the sea. The culture of the Summer Olympics is more deeply rooted in our society, but in the Winter Olympics we are not at that level. Here it could be built upside down and such a project could allow us to gain level. There is no citizen demand for the Games in the same way that there is not for the Copa América and Mobile, but there is a demand for the administrations to be active and cooperate. Undertake not to build more houses in the Pyrenees, but for social and economic development. Paddling together, with cooperation instead of internal competition, another type of interest and participation could be generated.
how do you rate the queryin case an agreement is reached?
I would not have done it but it does not seem bad to me as a symbol that the country gives them this pre-eminence, decide on behalf of all, instead of the metropolis of Barcelona
You can also read thinking that it is easier to win a vote in the Pyrenees in which 50,000 people vote in July than one on another date voting in the whole of Barcelona.
Yes, this is valid and legitimate. In 1992 we did not consult. Were we not very democratic and not very participatory? I think not, but politically many things have happened.
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Do you think that the Games could help in the so-called reconciliation agenda?
I do not know. I am a federalist. The dialogue has not gone well on both sides. I don’t know how to recover this. Simple phrases do not help complexity. If we talk about alliances with specific projects, we will still respect each other a little more. But this thaumaturgical thing would not be given to the Games. If they give us the Games, let’s make a committee open to many people, like in 1992. Too much is being carried out from the leadership and such complex projects require more agents from all areas and with dialogue with those who see it differently. Not just saying “these are supremacists” because we won’t do it that way.