A young patient from the Hospital de Sant Pau is the 35 millionth visitor to the Barça Museum

The Barça Museum has reached 35 million visitors and the club has matched this milestone with a special visit made by the child Max Adriano Rivera, 10, who is currently a patient at the Hospital de Sant Pau in Barcelona. Thanks to the Robot Pol, was possible to make a virtual visit to the Barça Museum and take a tour of the Camp Nou.

Football fan and FC Barcelona supporter Max Adriano Rivera has become the 35 millionth visitor that the Barça Museum has received ​​thanks to Robot Pol, a joint social innovation project between the Barça Foundation and the Éric Abidal Foundation Thanks to the collaboration of club members who are volunteers of the Foundation, it offers children who are admitted to a hospital the opportunity to enjoy an unforgettable experience and visit, through the cameras and screens of the robot, the different spaces of the museum and the stadium, and communicate with the people who are in the facilities at the Camp Nou.

From his room at the Hospital de Sant Pau, Max Adriano Rivera received the greeting of Jordi Cardoner, first vice president of FC Barcelona and the Barça Foundation, and Éric Abidal, technical secretary of the club and representative of its Foundation, who also showed him the European Cup he raised in 2011 at Wembley Stadium in London. Also present at this meeting were Jordi Penas, director of the museum, Mària Vallés, director of the Barça Foundation, and Hayet Abidal, director of the Éric Abidal Foundation.

Max Adriano Rivera was able to make a virtual visit to the museum and Camp Nou from his room at the Hospital de Sant Pau with the help of the volunteer members. In addition to his mother, he was also accompanied by Gemma Craywinckel, managing director of the Hospital de Sant Pau, and by Ramon Garriga and Tono Tombas, employees of the Barça Foundation, who gave him an FC Barcelona first team shirt as a souvenir of the day.

Statements from Jordi Cardoner, vicepresident of FC Barcelona and the Barça Foundation

"We are very satisfied with the initiative that we have been able to carry out on the occasion of the celebration of the 35 millionth visitor to our Museum. Things have been done on other occasions when we have reached outstanding numbers of visitors, but today it has been a very special visit. Thanks to Robot Pol, we have been able to offer a hospitalised child the opportunity to see the trophies and other objects on show in the Museum, as well as to be able to walk virtually through the facilities of the Camp Nou."

"Whenever we reach a designated number of visitors, it allows us to experience an important day for the Museum, and the figure reached today shows us, once again, the great interest that this facility arouses for both local fans and visitors to our city".

Steady growth over 35 years 

FC Barcelona's is currently the most visited museum in Catalonia and the first sports museum created by a football club. Located in the Camp Nou, historical objects and the main trophies achieved throughout the history of the Club, whether the football team or other professional sections, are exhibited. Visitors can also take a tour through the 120 years of FC Barcelona history and relive, through an imposing interactive wall and several touch screens, the most celebrated moments.

The Museum was inaugurated on September 24, 1984 and Julià Bretos, member 47,505, was the first visitor. The evolution of visitors to the Museum has been constant. The first year had 19,432 visitors, and a year later 133,052 people passed through the facility. In 1999 a million visitors were reached, and the constant remodelling as well as and the option to also visit the stadium facilities, ensured a rising number of visitors each season. During 2018, more than 1.8 million people passed through the site.

The large influx of public in recent years meant that in November 2016, 30 million visitors was reached. Now, three years later, 35 million people have visited the Museum since its inauguration, 35 years ago.

The Robot Pol project

Today's visit has been possible thanks to the technology of Robot Pol. The robot has two cameras, one at the top and one at the bottom, which offer a complete view of the space, and seven internal microphones that allow isolation of the surrounding noise. The robot has been technically developed and distributed by the AWABOT company. This initiative was born two years ago from a proposal by the Abidal Foundation to the Barça Foundation, and is now part of its Paediatric Emotional Welfare program, which has a collaboration with the main paediatric hospitals in Catalonia. The robot is called Pol in homage to the first child who benefited from the pilot test of this innovative experience, and allowed him to make one of his last dreams come true: visiting the Camp Nou and the Barça Museum.