BarcelonaWhen this Tuesday Grant Dalton, the leader of the New Zealand America’s Cup project, met with representatives of the Barcelona City Council, all parties already knew that deep down they were preparing to play a role: the meeting to talking about a second edition of the Cup in Barcelona would not come to fruition. For days the Barcelona authorities had been changing their speech regarding the possibility of organizing the oldest sailing competition for a second time. If a few months ago it was openly said that it was a possibility to give it continuity, once the competition started it was found that the majority of Barcelona residents ignored or opposed a cup that involves a large financial expenditure and has a limited return.
“In recent weeks it began to be taken for granted that the Cup would leave Barcelona,” say sources close to Team New Zealand. Demonstrations against, with some moments of exchanging insults with guests of the Cup, as well as seeing the areas intended for fans half empty many days, lowered the euphoria. And the authorities went from defending the competition to cooling the option of it being repeated in Barcelona. If at the beginning of September Jaume Collboni said he was “optimistic” to hold a second edition, the deputy mayor of Economy, Jordi Valls, emphasized weeks later that the city’s commitment was only for 2024.
In the distance between the municipal government and the Copa América, two more variables have played a prominent role: one economic and another political. On the one hand, the competition has not had the expected impact on restaurants, commerce, or tourist accommodation, which have been warning for months that they have not noticed an increase in bookings. On the other hand, after a year and a half in the City Council, the alliance policy of the PSC is beginning to be clarified, aimed at seeking governability from the hand of ERC and Barcelona en Comú. Two formations, especially the last one, that did not see the repetition of the competition with good eyes.
With this scenario, the two parties have decided to part ways with mutual words of thanks. An amicable divorce, even if they didn’t quite match the official version. While the City Council – which wanted to present a lower offer knowing that it would be unaffordable for the organizers – says that it refused to host the event again because it considered that it “could not contribute anything” once the objectives had been met , since the Copa América it is explained that it has been ruled out to continue in the Catalan capital because the space has become small. Organizations such as Barcelona Global or the Chamber of Commerce, which have played an active role in the organization of the Cup and were satisfied with the results, will wait for the moment to make assessments.
According to Dalton, they want a future edition with even more boats and all gathered in the same area, which is not possible in Barcelona. In fact, the New Zealand team leader has been working on this idea for weeks. Unlike other teams in the Cup, the New Zealand boat does not have great fortunes or tycoons putting money into it, so it needs resources to build a good project in other ways. The current government of their country does not want to make this investment (the opposition criticizes it just in an election year in New Zealand), so they have come to Barcelona, where there has been an official investment of at least 54 million euros by the institutions.
The economic impact, pending
Precisely the numbers have been another focus of discussion. The movements opposed to the event figure at 80 million public money contributed by the administrations, and this same Wednesday from Junts, Barcelona en Comú and ERC demanded clarity from the council with the figures. In the coming months, both the audit that had to be done by the Copa America itself and the UB study that is being prepared by the Bosch Gimpera Foundation will be key. Two reports that should shed light on the real economic impact that the competition will have had on the city.
While waiting for these data, Valls defended this Wednesday the bet he made at the time to host the America’s Cup. He argued that thanks to this, the international image of Barcelona has been strengthened, the sport of sailing has been popularized and projects that the city had pending, both for the reform of the coast and for the blue economy, have been accelerated .
Valencia raises his finger
The proof that the divorce between Barcelona and the Copa América was done is that Dalton had already spoken to other possible hosts before Tuesday’s meeting. For example with Cristóbal Grau, ex-Minister for Sports and chief of staff of the Valencian mayor María José Catalá, who last weekend was in Barcelona during the final of the Cup. “They were expecting it,” the City Council admits. This Wednesday, the president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazón, was surprised by Barcelona’s decision not to host the competition again and assured that he has “the obligation to fight” so that the next edition of the America’s Cup is disputed in Valencia.
In the conversations during the regattas, Dalton had perceived how the Cup had not yet taken root in Barcelona and how the authorities who rolled out the red carpet for it a few years ago were becoming more and more cautious when they saw that the expectations were not yet fulfilled. fulfill Dalton, however, defends that, in terms of visitors and audiences, the Cup has been a success.
