FC Barcelona and the City Council agree on improvements to the Espai Barça project so works can begin
The president of FC Barcelona, Joan Laporta, led an institutional representation of the club at the Barcelona City Council on Thursday. Laporta initially held a private meeting with the mayor of the city, Ada Colau, to speak about small changes in the Espai Barça project in order to be able to start the works shortly, which will require some adaptations.
After being elected president of Barça on March 7, today was the first institutional meeting between Mayor Colau and President Laporta, a meeting which was joined by the deputy mayor, Janet Sanz, in the mayor's office.
Precisely, at 12 noon CEST, the representatives of FC Barcelona, led by Joan Laporta, the vice president of the institutional area Elena Fort, the manager in charge of Espai Barça, Jordi Llauradó, and the incoming CEO, Ferran Reverter, met at the Saló Consolat del Mar with the deputy mayor responsible for Ecology, Urbanism, Infrastructure and Mobility, Janet Sanz; the urban planning manager, Laia Grau; the Chief of Staff to the Deputy Mayor, Marc Rius, and the Deputy Mayor's advisor, Roger Clot.
FC Barcelona expressed to the City Council its will to promote a series of small architectural changes in the Espai Barça project to make it more sustainable and technological.
The representatives of the club have argued that after years of having the project on hold, it has become obsolete, and that the improvements that are to be made could make the work a little more expensive. In this context, FC Barcelona have asked the City Council to speed up the permits that will be required for a project that should have been underway years ago.
On these aspects, both parties have shown an absolute understanding because it is not only a project for FC Barcelona, but for the city.
During the meeting, the possibility of Barça occupying the sports facilities on the Montjuïc mountain during a period in which the stadium would be closed to the public, was discussed. The idea that the club has is that while the work is being carried out, the stadium will never be less than at 80,000 capacity. However, it has been noted that, for a short period of time, the Camp Nou will not be able to host matches or spectators, which will force the club to provisionally search for a new home, and this will most likely be the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.
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