The Generalitat has reached an agreement with the company that organizes Formula 1 to continue celebrating the most important car championship at the Montmeló circuit until 2026. In this way, the Government manages to sign a long-term agreement with the competition (and not an annual extension, as had happened in recent years). Although the amount to ensure the holding of these grand prizes has not been made public, in recent years the price has been $ 25 million annually (more than 22 million euros, at current exchange rates) and this will continue to be the case until at least 2022, as stated in the Generalitat’s budgets.
The Government always guarantees this amount to ensure that Formula 1 will charge at least this $ 25 million in case the Circuit does not have enough income to pay the bill, as has happened uninterruptedly since 2009. The accumulated losses since then exceed 70 million euros and the Government must inject money periodically to prevent its disappearance. Last year the executive was forced to put 19 million into it.
We want to turn the circuit into a pole that goes beyond sports activities and is linked to sustainability, green mobility and industrial innovation ”
The Generalitat has also agreed to extend the contract to hold the MotoGP competition (also until 2026). However, this competition is more self-sustaining than Formula 1, because it does not cost as much money to attract it and this allows the sale of tickets to cover a large part of the costs it has.
New plan against repeated losses
The repeated losses of the facility have led the Government to say and repeat for years that a new strategic plan had to be implemented to ensure its economic viability autonomously, without depending on the financial support of the Generalitat. However, this strategic plan has never quite arrived. The new team in the Business Department is preparing one that it hopes to present in the middle of next year.
“So far the circuit has been a petrol-based infrastructure and now it wants to become a hub that goes beyond sports activities and is linked to sustainability, green mobility and industrial innovation,” says a spokeswoman of Company.
The circuit is chaired by the Minister of Business, who is currently Roger Torrent, after the sudden departure of Maria Teixidor in September 2020, when he had only held the position for two months. It is not clear whether Torrent will choose to continue at the helm of the company or whether he will end up appointing a professional in the sector to be the one to manage it.
