Excited, the president asked for a new ovation for the whole Espai Barça team, also present at the assembly. The partners had just validated the funding with 405 affirmative votes to just 21 against and 6 blank. Managers also stood up. The board had managed to impose its criteria despite the fact that the budget for the work, which in 2014 was to be only 600 million, ended up rising to 1,500, 250%. The referendum proposal ended up being key. In fact, some partners who would take the floor soon after, would thank the board for the gesture.
First cautiously, as if testing the ground, the president began his speech by talking about the 145 million that have already been invested (to do the Johan Cruyff and previous work at the Camp Nou, among others), and recalling that s ‘had requested a loan of 90 million for this purpose which was to be returned in February. A loan that will be included in the 1.5 billion funding requested. “The project had become obsolete and had anomalies. It should last us 100 years. It will be a wonderful architectural work that we will leave as a legacy to our children. It will be a place of pilgrimage,” said Laporta, to emphasize an important work to re-float the club’s economy ”.
The assembly, resumed six days later in a tent attached to the Palau Blaugrana, has not been a success. Only 389 attendees at the start, and 455 at the time of the first ballot. Laporta took the floor to respond to the delegates who had intervened on Sunday to comment on the Espai Barça. He began by apologizing for “not calculating the time well” last Sunday, and ended by joking about the length of the assembly: “I hope we finish before Barça-Madrid.” The audience, complicit, laughed heartily at the occurrence.
Attendees seemed to agree with the president’s explanations. There were no tugs or tone outs. Over the days, they had been able to match the information that Vice-President Elena Fort had told them on Sunday, shelling out the details of the new Espai Barça and the changes introduced by the current board. If the other day the former president Joan Gaspart had spoken, now another illustrious name of Barcelona, the representative Josep Maria Minguella, was speaking to announce his vote in favor of the financing and asking the board for speed to start the works. There is currently no date for the referendum, which should be held in the coming months. The only voice involved was that of a member subscribed to the 3rd tier, who will go to the ground, worried about how his situation would look while the works were done. Fort responded by recalling that “everyone should make sacrifices” and, in his case, advanced that “rotating shifts” should be made.
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