BarcelonaCandidacy for the 2030 or 2034 Winter Olympics? Until now, all the actors, especially the Generalitat, the Aragonese government and the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE), worked with the aim of aspiring to be the venue for the 2030 Games, but the reluctance with Aragon – which already they have caused the Catalan government to postpone the consultation on the candidacy – they are exceeding the deadlines. So much so that this Friday the COE has opened the door for the first time to the Games in 2034. Its president, Alejandro Blanco, has warned that if it is not achieved before April or May 2023 – when the call ends – a “presentable” project will have to go to 2034. “If not, we will go to the next candidacy,” Blanco warned in an interview with Catalunya Ràdio. The Government’s response was immediate and the Councilor for the Presidency, Laura Vilagrà, stated that “no other scenario” than 2030 is being considered: “We can get there”, said the Minister. All this two days after the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, passed through Madrid.
In fact, Bach’s visit has been key for the COE to consider postponing the candidacy now. Blanco has admitted that they planned to take advantage of his visit to the Spanish capital to present the project, but it could not be so. That, Blanco said, has already disrupted the deadlines. However, Blanco has stated that he will make “one last attempt” to close a joint candidacy between Aragon and Catalonia. This is, for the COE, “the first option” and Blanco has said he will try to get it “to the end”. If it ends up being a failed negotiation, as it had done before, it has not ruled out a solo candidacy.
Blanco also did not refrain from criticizing the president of Aragon, Javier Lambán, lamenting that the candidacy has been “politicized”: “It is impossible to understand what is happening from the point of view of rationality. “I think the political commissioner, the constitutionalists and the nationalists, are out of everything that is a sports candidacy,” he said. And in this sense, Lambán has been accused of being the culprit in the blockade. “I never argued with Lambán, I had an extraordinary relationship with him until he stopped talking to me. I can look everyone in the face, nothing has changed,” Blanco explained. Lambán, however, far from identifying with this story by Blanco, this Friday wanted to highlight his “willingness to dialogue”. From Jaca, one of the cities that would be the Olympic venue with a shared candidacy, has said that “do not throw in the towel” in the face of the possibility that the project will eventually be joint. For this to be the case, he has defended, once again, that there must be a “balance” between Catalonia and Aragon.
One to Sarajevo
Whether together with Aragon or alone, the candidacy is most likely to travel beyond the Catalan borders. One of the likely venues to host the bobsled and the luge is Sarajevo, an option that this Friday the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Victoria Alsina, has reinforced. During a visit to the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Alsina said it was “appropriate” for Sarajevo to host some tests at the Winter Games so as not to build infrastructure that could not be “used in the future”. “The government supports the incorporation of Sarajevo into this candidacy, although the final decision is not ours,” she said after meeting with Sarajevo Prime Minister Edin Forto. In fact, Forto traveled to Catalonia a month ago to defend being at the 2030 Olympics.
