2024-01-03 22:39:35
While the idea of a winter candidacy for Barcelona and the Pyrenees has been mentioned for more than a decade, Catalonia has closed the door to pursuing such a project, given the difficulties previously encountered for build a competitive territorial project, but also with regard to climatic constraints in a region hit by the consequences of drought.
” data-medium-file=” data-large-file=” class=”size-full wp-image-43113″ alt=”” width=”750″ height=”500″ srcset=” 1600w, 300w, 1024w, 768w, 1536w, 1200w” sizes=”(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px” data-recalc-dims=”1″/>
Hremoved from the 1992 Summer Games, Barcelona will not be a candidate for organizing a future edition of the Winter Games.
If this decision was taken, at the end of December 2023, by the Catalan authorities currently in charge, it however seems unlikely to envisage a return of the project to the forefront following the 2025 elections, particularly given of the calendar already protected by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Fact, the Lausanne (Switzerland) institution recently chose to innovate when issuing invitations to the targeted dialogue phase for the 2030 and 2034 Winter Games.
Thus, in addition to having selected the French Alps file for the first deadline and that of Salt Lake City (Utah, United States) for the second, the IOC also announced that it would have a privileged dialogue with Switzerland with a view to granting the latter the right to organize the 2038 Olympics.
With such a distribution, possible contenders for organizing a future edition of the Winter Games must therefore at best consider hosting the event in 2042, i.e. in 18 years. A delicate prospect in more than one way, in particular with regard to taking into account the climatic criterion which the IOC is also trying to consider to ensure the sustainability of the Winter Games model.
Presentation of the Pyrenees-Barcelona candidacy project by Laura Vilagrà, Advisor to the Presidency of Catalonia, Thursday July 28, 2022 (Credits – Generalitat de Catalunya)For Spain, the idea of a Barcelona candidacy involving the Pyrenees had nevertheless made its way for more than a decade now, without counting of course the failed attempts of the capital, Madrid, to win the Olympic rings in the summer season (2012, 2016, 2020).
The Catalan city had indeed positioned itself for the 2022 Winter Games, before giving up and to further project the development of a candidacy for 2026, also aborted. In finea project had been mentioned in recent years for the 2030 edition with the support – essential and crucial – of the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) and its President, Alejandro Blanco.
He had thus encouraged the discussion between Catalonia and Aragon for a fair sharing of tasks and responsibilities, between ice sports and snow sports, Ceremonies and Athletes’ Villages.
Nevertheless, political and territorial disagreements ended up lastingly weakening the very idea of a candidacy, therefore leading to the hasty withdrawal of the latter before summer 2022.
Afterwards, the Generalitat of Catalonia had tried to reshape the project, this time focusing on holding the Games on the Catalan perimeter alone.without the COE being favorable to the further development of such a concept.
Mapping of the concept of the Pyrenees-Barcelona winter candidacy developed in the summer of 2022 with a view to the 2030 or 2034 Games (Credits – Generalitat de Catalunya)Noting this impasse, the Catalan government made the decision to abandon the pursuit of a candidacy and the future development of an Olympic and Paralympic ambition focused on the Winter Games.
The decision was ratified at the end of 2023 both in view of the aforementioned calendar constraints and the consequences of climate change already perceptible in Catalonia.
As explained in this sense the Spanish national daily “The country” :
In [le] context of lack of water and rising temperatures throughout the Catalan territory, attempting to publicly defend a candidacy for the Winter Olympic Games arouses more suspicion than hope and is interpreted as a source of image damage of the executive power commanded by Pere Aragonès.
The withdrawal of Catalan ambition for the Winter Games does not, however, mean the end of the Olympic and Paralympic dream for Barcelona.
Although no direction has currently been taken, a possible candidacy for the 2036 or 2040 Summer Games cannot be ruled out, even if important discussions should first be carried out at the local level and with the upper echelons.
Last May, in the middle of the electoral campaign, the former Mayor of the port city between 2011 and 2015, Xavier Trias, had also considered as possible the installation of a candidacy as part of a global strategy aimed at strengthening the international influence of the country’s second city.
Similar articles
1704364780
#Catalonia #draws #line #idea #candidacy #Sport #Society