“Football in a field where there is an athletics track is an attack on good taste”

Barça has finally dismissed a stadium that has become old and that is not enough with the sheet metal and paint that Sandro Rosell predicted in the 2010 elections. Núñez thought of a remodeling that collided head-on with the neighboring opposition. Laporta ran out of his first presidency without being able to carry out the Foster project. Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu tried to put a thread on the needle with a global reform called Espai Barça, but they only had time to knock down the Miniestadi and build the Johan Cruyff stadium in Sant Joan Despí. And now, once again, Laporta has inherited this project, retouched it from top to bottom and has already begun the reform with the symbolic “bite” in the third tier. The bulk of the stadium work will begin in the summer. The construction of a new Palau Blaugrana will be left for later, if there is money left over.

The board is trying to encourage Montjuïc season passes with a 50% discount on the price

It is a nostalgic day for many members who have, for the rest of their lives, a location at the Camp Nou. ARA has contacted more than thirty subscribers, from Barcelona and the regions, to assess the change. With the exception of the pandemic break, they will not be able to see their Barça from the usual place. Only a minority had decided to buy the season pass for the Lluís Companys Stadium. An inconvenient transfer because, unlike what happens in the Corts neighborhood, going up to Montjuïc is much more complicated and the football is not so good, not by a long shot. “Doing it in a field with an athletics track is an attack on good taste!” said Josep, who would have preferred to stay in the stadium while the reform lasted, even if it was with rotating season tickets. The Olympic stadium has the bad reputation of being bitterly cold in winter and, for dessert, the board had made a price proposal so exaggerated – for the current economic moment – ​​that it had only motivated about 7,000 people. A quarter of the more than 28,000 expected. And, basically, buying the cheapest localities. The reduction of almost 50% in the prices announced a month ago has deserted the interest of a part of the social mass that admitted that they could not afford it. The great unknown is whether this will be enough for the Olympic stadium to be regularly filled with Barça fans or whether, on the other hand, tourists will predominate there.

One of those who rethinks it is Marc. “We’ll see,” he comments. And Ivan, who is “surprised by the sharp drop”. This man from Sabadell emphasizes in a negative way the difficulty he will have to return home on days when the game ends later. Anna, Jordi and Marta appreciate the discount – “it must be the first time they’ve thought about the partner… or they’ve seen how ridiculous it was coming” – and will decide based on logistics. A situation similar to that of Aleix. On the other hand, it is certain that Vicenç buys it after the “right” decision that has served to “compensate for the discomfort” of going to the magical mountain. Marc has ruled it out and is resigned to going there in “some one-off game”. While Josep is clear that the whole thing has been “a marketing strategy”, starting with high prices and then lowering them, so that “those who had said not to reconsider”.

The negative factors highlighted by the social mass for the move to Montjuïc

It is clear that there are factors that subscribers consider very negative. And the transport to Montjuïc is one of the Achilles heels, especially for those from outside Barcelona. Flors, who usually comes from Tremp on the most important days, regrets not having more advantages in this regard. Gerard, from Montbrió del Camp, and Marçal, from Sant Hilari Sacalm, have a toothache to travel. And even Joan, who lives in Les Corts, finds it “a mountain” to go to Montjuïc. And Guillermo, for his part, will miss the convenience of having the stadium 20 minutes from home. For people from the regions, in addition, the inconvenience is added that many clubs, which usually offer the bus service to the Camp Nou, have already announced that they will not offer travel to the Olympic stadium due to low demand.

An added problem is that of the Free Seat, which is canceled during the transfer. As Carlota and Àlex agree, this system allows the season ticket to be released and, in exchange, to obtain a significant reduction in the price for the following season. Without this help, for many the Camp Nou – or now, Montjuïc – would be an unaffordable luxury. But this version also has discrepancies, and Joan believes that those who take leave should “contribute” in some way to the Barça economy, paying for maintenance as is done in a gym when you leave ‘go for a while. While Arnau was not aware of serious “exorbitant prices” because, in the end, the transfer is temporary.

Others have opted for imaginative formulas, such as Marc, who has acquired one of the three season tickets they have at home. Or Martí, who has joined a group of friends to buy the pass. So far they watch football in different places at the Camp Nou, but, with the grouping system, in Montjuïc they will be able to “be together”. Some, like Toni, a Berguedà resident in Barcelona, ​​does not want to give up the “ritual of football”. For Xavi, the incentive is that it serves as an excuse to “share time with the children”. El Pol takes it with optimism and defines the trip he will make from Sant Joan Despí “as an Erasmus” and Alfred, who is moving from Calella, is only suffering because he does not have to invest “an excessive amount of time” going and returning David, on the other hand, who lives in Les Corts, has already taken charge: “We will continue with the same routine, with the drawback that we will have to leave earlier and come back later.”

Doubts about the works, the price and the return to Camp Nou

Exile is lived with resignation, offset by the joy of knowing that, when it’s over, Barça will have a renovated, covered, modern and 21st century stadium. Now, despite the fact that the referendums and the assemblies approved the construction at a cost of up to 1,500 million with an unquestionable majority, there are still many questions. “I’m already planning to go to Montjuïc for a long season, more than we’ve been told,” says Josep Maria. Jordi, from Tarragona, has “doubts with the timing of the works At L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Eduardo, apart from the “cost overrun”, sniffs a big increase in season tickets when the Camp Nou is finished to “compensate” the current reduction. In Barcelona, ​​Jordi and Edgard “suffer” because of the cost of the project and the “debt” it will entail, taking into account the “inherited situation” that this board has collected. While Ricard doesn’t “get the numbers” for financing. The board has insisted, both actively and passively, that the economic issue is resolved. But the leaders themselves already admit that it will be complicated for Limak, the Turkish construction company that will carry out the works – and which also generates a lot of doubt among the social mass – to have the first phase completed by November 2024, which is when it must return to the Camp Nou on the occasion of the 125th anniversary. Time will tell. In the meantime, it will be time to move. An awkward parenthesis.