What has happened since eight months ago Barcelona was designated as the venue for the competition?
Quite. An incredible effort is being made. Frankly, I have never seen such speed. It certainly wouldn’t happen in Auckland. We have defined the course of the race. We have established the parameters of where the village will be, the giant screens and even the access. All done. So the basic components of the event are already in place. And now we are in the creation phase instead of planning.
It is a great event.
It is. And that’s why the other thing we’re doing is looking for ways to get Barcelona involved. It has always been very important. Work to involve more people than just volunteers, raise awareness of what the event is about and try to bring local people back to the sea. I know that the beaches are crowded all summer, but they are not necessarily local.
Ordinary people in Barcelona don’t know much about what the Copa América is.
I think there is no doubt that they do not know much. That is why one of our commitments and I certainly believe one of our legacies by which we will be judged is that it means something special to Barcelona and to the region.
What are the benefits for a city like Barcelona?
The Copa América becomes a catalyst for important works. A lot of what’s happening on the boardwalk would have happened eventually, it’s true. The same with the relocation of the ferries, the type of urbanization of Port Vell, green spaces, different structures that are being built there, restaurants, etc… But everything is speeding up and it will be finished in 2024 instead of 2028 or 2030. It’s one of the invisible things that always happens. And in fact, if you think about it, the cost now of all of it, when you look at the inflation numbers, if you had to finish it in five years, not two years, it would have been vastly more expensive. I could therefore argue that the investment of the administrations is more than compensated only by the inflation differential. It has already happened in Auckland three times.
“The tourist of the Copa América does not stay two or three days, but two or three weeks. It is a quite different type of tourist”
What else?
Number two, there are the obvious benefits of tourism. We know that this city is quite saturated with tourists all the time. However, there is a type of tourist who will come to the Copa América. They will not be one of those who catch a Ryanair flight for 15 euros from Manchester for a stag party and who have a maximum tourist rate of 2 to 3 days. The tourist from the Copa América stays two or three weeks. It’s quite a different type of tourist. And then there is a third element, which is the impact of the teams. Each one has between 300 and 350 people if you include families who stay for many months who rent apartments and go to restaurants.
Could you put a number?
Studies are always done on the economic impact, but you know you can do three studies and they all come out completely different, so I’m always a little skeptical about it, because it will be done depending on whether the guy likes the Copa América or not. So I prefer to focus on non-monetary factors.
And would you agree with their perception that this is a very elitist competition?
In a way, absolutely. It is a perception built over 170 years. So we’re not going to change that in 10 minutes. However, what we try to do is vertical integration: we promote e-Sports games for boys, we promote diversity with the women’s Copa América, a youth Copa América… In terms of sustainability, our main project is hydrogen . You will only see hydrogen ships. So, yes, on the one hand, it is, but in New Zealand we’ve done a good job over the years of breaking down that perception. And it is that there are many things below to value and we hope to leave a positive legacy that will have an impact in the future.
“Watching the races will be free. Everything has to be free. It would be wrong to make people pay to watch the races. It goes totally against our philosophy and that of Barcelona”
What do you think of the competition area?
It is a unique competition area. I want to emphasize, because it is very important, that the show will be free, and here I return to your question about elitism. Everything has to be free. There will be big screens, comments in the three languages, exhibitions… It would be wrong to make people pay to watch the races. It goes totally against our philosophy and Barcelona. And what is unique, as I said, is that the competition will be held very close to the coast. At 200 meters from the beach it is already deep. You can go to the beach, have a beer and watch the race. You don’t need to have a boat and get closer to see something like it has happened in other places.
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And is it fun to watch?
If you are totally new to the sport you may be a bit blank. I think you need live comments, which we are going to produce in three languages, so that people understand what is happening and with the help of the big screens. These large screens with explanatory graphics will be placed on the beach so that you can follow what is happening. We will try to make it as understandable as possible. There are numerous elements to observe in a Copa América, many, you will already realize. On television we hope to jump from 900 to 1.4 billion viewers. We are going to grow a lot.