Can Rigalt, some land located in the Pubilla Casas neighborhood of l’Hospitalet de Llobregat, has long since become a real estate puzzle for Barça. The latest news is that Joan Laporta’s board has revalued the more than five hectares that the club owns there to 33.3 million euros, according to the accounts for the closing of 2021-2022. The assessment is much higher than the one made in 2017 during the term of Josep Maria Bartomeu, who lowered the figure to 8.44 million. The explanation given by club sources to the ARA regarding this strong revaluation is that “an update of the valuation of the property was requested and this reflected that the market value was higher than what was in the books of accounting”. And they add: “Since the property had depreciated, now only the amount is recovered. In addition, the update is done every year, it is not a special procedure”.
In 2017, Josep Maria Bartomeu’s board depreciated the value of Can Rigalt by 75%, to 8.44 million, a reduction that came after Barça had to return the 35.4 million it collected from the real estate company La Llave de Oro for the land in 2005 in an operation signed by Laporta during his first term as president and, in addition, to pay 11.6 million in legal interest. It was ruled by the Barcelona Arbitration Court, which interpreted that what was agreed with La Llave de Oro had not been fulfilled, which had acquired 30% of the land owned by the entity in Can Rigalt since Núñez bought them in 1997.
In the decade that passed between one event and another, Barça (between Laporta’s first term and Sandro Rosell’s), according to the Court, failed to get the Hospitalet de Llobregat City Council and the rest of owners to carry out the necessary planning procedures so that La Llave de Oro could build homes there. At the time of the return of the money by Bartomeu’s leadership, Laporta assured in a statement that “during his mandate” he had no knowledge “of this arbitration” and wondered “why” he had hidden “for so long this conflict”. At the time, the Barça spokesman at the time, Josep Vives, said: “Thanks to this operation, Laporta’s board closed the first term with profits and, therefore, did not have to endorse it.”
By 2022, the situation may turn around again. And, this time, he could favor the Barcelona club. The Generalitat de Catalunya has committed to building the new Hospital General de l’Hospitalet de Llobregat, an old claim of its inhabitants and politicians, on the grounds of Can Rigalt, a fact that could allow an interesting sale for Barça in the event that is fulfilled In fact, this work is an intention that was already publicly stated in 2019 by the then minister for Territory and Sustainability, Damià Calvet. But sources from the Generalitat have explained to this newspaper that “from the Investments and Heritage Management of the Catalan Health Service there is no forecast date, because the construction is pending the formal transfer of the land”. For her part, the mayor of Hospitalet de Llobregat, the socialist Núria Marín, has the ambition to make the new General Hospital, included in the Metropolitan General Plan, a reality.
Barça should pay for the works
The first step is the works on the Red Eléctrica electrical substation in Can Rigalt. “The planning includes the transfer of the station, but it depends on the developer of the works, who must bear the cost. Theoretically, the works should be done before 2026, but it depends on the developer who executes the project. The one who pays is the one who urbanises”, sources from the Spanish company make it clear to ARA. At this point the Blaugrana entity appears. “Barça is one of the three majority owners who, according to an agreement signed some time ago (in 2004 with Laporta as president), must take charge of the transfer of the substation. The cost that will have to contribute will be expressed by the land ownership coefficient”, say sources from the Hospitalet de Llobregat City Council.
In addition, the municipal council explains that “the project to relocate the electrical substation on the Collblanc road is continuing” and that “the relocation of the current substation and the construction of a new one within the scope de Can Rigalt is included in the state planning of Red Eléctrica Española for the period 2021-2026”. On the other hand, he says that “the Land Compensation Board (made up of all the owners) is about to hire a specialist company to draw up a draft of the transfer and the costs it would represent”.
The beginning of the commotion
In 2004, during his first term, Laporta signed with the then mayor of l’Hospitalet de Llobregat, the socialist Celestino Corbacho, an agreement which consisted of a major revaluation of the Barça property in Can Rigalt due to the requalification of the land as building land in exchange for a series of obligations, such as having to finance a significant part of future works on the electrical substation. And, before the 2004-2005 fiscal year closed, Laporta took advantage of the negotiations to sell 30% of the pie to La Llave de Oro. All of this meant a capital gain of more than 28 million which, years later, a court forced to return with interest. Now the Barcelona president intends to put the puzzle together so that the club benefits from it. But he will not be able to do it alone: he needs the impetus of the institutions.
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