BarcelonaEspai Barça is facing a problem that does not depend on the Barça club: the works on the L9 metro line and, in particular, those on the Camp Nou stop. Barcelona City Council expects this railway section to be completed in 2027. That is, later than Barça’s calculations for the completion of the new Palau Blaugrana and its adjacent buildings (the Petit Palau, the ice rink and bus parking), which, in the absence of the project, would be ready during the last quarter of 2026.
Sources familiar with the Espai Barça project told the newspaper ARA that “the works on the L9 metro will not affect the new Palau Blaugrana”, which will be located on the site where the Miniestadi used to be. In fact, they say that in that space is where the L9 has the least “impact” because the tunnel passes 40 meters underground and has been worked on and passengers have passed through it every day (the line is in operation), even during the demolition of the old football field of the Catalan branch, which took place at the end of 2019. In addition, they point out that “in the tender and in the contract it was already clear the condition of the L9 and the architects ) they had to solve the project knowing that it would be done there ”. In any case, as stated in the regulations, there is a plan to listen to the tunnel to rule out any anomalies.
The problem, however, arises in the buildings adjacent to the future bus parking lot and the new ice rink. Because, in the future, the space they have to occupy would remain kidnapped temporarily by one of the work wells of the L9 works, which is located on the corner of Avinguda Chile and Avinguda Gregorio Marañón, where the entrance to the future Camp Nou station will be. Precisely to resolve this type of setback, Barça held meetings to coordinate work and planning with IFERCAT, the public body in charge of Catalonia’s railway infrastructure. These meetings were stopped at the end of 2019 and have not been resumed with the new board. Club sources admit that “there will be a need for constant coordination with the external work, even if it does not directly affect the internal work”.
The Pedralbes Bowling Reef
The historic Pedralbes Bowling, located in Gregorio Marañón, just below the work well at the Camp Nou station, does not interfere with the new Palace and its adjacent buildings, but sources familiar with the project explain that “it would be much better that the Petit Palau could have direct access from Gregorio Marañón ”, which would imply the purchase of the lands by the club. The problem is that Bowling Pedralbes, which is one of the owners in the General Metropolitan Plan (MPGM), will not make it easy if Barça want to acquire that space. A few years ago, the club, under the mandate of Josep Maria Bartomeu, already made an offer of about 8 million euros which was rejected. But, as ARA has learned, this value could have increased since then because in the MPGM negotiations Barça agreed to give more square meters to the bowling alley so that it could expand the building in height and add the tracks that they were missing, a possibility they did not have before.
ARA has asked various sources in the previous directive on this issue, who argue that “in the same way that the club increased its equipment ceiling, Bowling Pedralbes also obtained an increase in the potential ceiling to run from their plot because otherwise it could be considered discriminatory ”. In addition, they add that “the balance was sought in the impact of profits and burdens on the two owners, Barça and Bowling, and so it was collected in the MPGM approved by the City Council and the Generalitat, ratified in firm sentence by the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) ”.
Two years lost
The project for the new Palace has been frozen for the last two years. For now, there is no clear business plan for this leg of Espai Barça. In fact, on May 7, the new Palace department was disbanded and the workers were relocated. Even Laporta himself admitted that the project is under study. In addition to deciding on the final capacity of the pavilion, which in principle will be increased to 15,000 seats, other issues remain to be determined, such as whether or not there will be a shop to sell merchandise on the premises. “In the project of Bartomeu’s management there was a space for a shop. It would make all the sense to be able to sell on match days at the Palau. In addition, options were studied to make it a different topic with the aim of detaching it from football a bit “, explain sources familiar with the project.
The financing of Espai Barça, with a ceiling of 1.5 billion euros, will be voted on in a telematic referendum this Sunday.
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