“Such is the magnitude of the America’s Cup (the great nautical competition to be held in 2024 in Barcelona) that we are going to need not only the maritime waters of the city’s municipal area but also those of our neighbors such as Badalona and other towns in the Maresme” , bill David Escudesports councilor of the Barcelona City Council.
There are still no specific figures on the number of people who will visit the Catalan capital during 2024. “It will not only be the final regatta, but the previous ones and others linked such as the young or women’s regatta. It will be a whole year and we are talking of hundreds of thousands of people who will visit the city. The figures for world television audiences are chilling, 800 million people; an outrage”, he adds shielded.
bleachers for the public
It will be necessary to build stands for the public. The Olympic Port part as a strategic point, although the entire infrastructure must still be defined, which will also pass through Old City and the district of Sant Martí. “The Copa América may be unknown to the public in Barcelona but it is an event almost as important as the Games. Thousands of journalists will come to Barcelona,” says Escudé.
Only the Games and the World Cup surpass the America Cup in projection. In 2024 the vessel of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron) will defend in Barcelona the title won in 2021 against the Italians of the Sicilian Sailing Circle. The champions are from Auckland and they already won the Copa América in 2017. They will face the challenging team. The final will be held between May and October 2024 although the number of regattas that will be held to lift the Cup, created in 1851, in the south of England, has yet to be determined. There was American victory, which took the competition to the coast of New York under the official name of America Cup. Until 1983, with the Australian irruption, all the victories were American. Curiously, there has only been two European winsand both achieved by Switzerland, a landlocked country, in 2003 and 2007.
“We want the entire project to be sustainable and for everything that is built to stay in Barcelona following the example of the 1992 Games. And, above all, to bring the sea closer to the youngest, to dispel the idea that water sports they are elitist”, claims shielded.
The antecedent of Valencia
It will be the second time that the great world sailing event is held in Spain, as Valencia hosted the Copa América in 2007 and 2009. Malaga also opted for its candidacy within two years. The regatta is part of the municipal project for Barcelona to abandon its “crossing the desert” in the organization of great sporting challenges, as defined by Jaume Collboni, deputy mayor of the city, in the presentation of the grand start of the Cycling Tour of Spain in 2023, a smaller project, but also ambitious. “The Copa América will not be the last thing we organize,” predicts the councilor shielded.
