Joan Laporta: 'New Spotify Camp Nou is a dream come true for FC Barcelona and a legacy for our children and grandchildren'

Sunday night was the end of an era at Spotify Camp Nou, where Barça fans have been enjoying glorious football moments since 1957. Following the pomp of the farewell extravaganza, Monday morning brought the beginning of work on the new-look stadium, including the symbolic burying of a time capsule under the pitch before things start rumbling towards the opening of the brand new stadium, which is scheduled to be ready in late 2026.

FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta was joined by a number of important figures at the club, including head coach Xavi Hernández and captain Sergio Busquets, as well as former women's player Melanie Serrano, and other local dignitaries such as the governor and manager of Les Corts district, Joan Ramon Riera and Sara Jaurrieta, and the consul general for Turkey in Barcelona, Selen Evcit, as well as investors in Espai Barça, some of the leading personalities behind the project, the project managers from TORRELLA Arquitectura – Ingeniería and JG Ingenieros-, the Limak construction company and other major club suppliers and partners.

The event began with the presentation of an empty box that was to be used as a time capsule. Former player Juan Manuel Asensi, the president of the Barça Players Group, started to fill it with a series of newspapers, and spoke about his first ever game in the stadium, which was against Elche, and also his last.

Xavi then added a shirt and Busquets one of his captain's armbands. "I suffer more on the bench than I did as a player" said the manager, while the man who played his very last game in the stadium the night before admitted that his fondest memories if the stadium are the 5-0 defeat of Real Madrid and the 6-1 against PSG.

Next up was Melanie Serrano, a former women's team player now coaching a youth team, who contributed a football. “When I started playing as a girl I never imagined I'd get to play at Spotify Camp Nou" she said. "Getting to do that is a memory that will stay with me forever." Naturally, she also mentioned the upcoming UWCL Final in Eindhoven.

Two representatives of the youth teams, Jana Muro (Girls U14A) and Guiu Xuclà (Boys U14B) then placed a some boots in the box. Jana said her dream was “to be able to play every game at Spotify Camp Nou”, and Guiu said he is "working hard every day to do that."

The FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta was the last person to fill the box. He placed their the Barça and Catalan flags and gave a short speech in which he restated the important of having a stadium located in Barcelona, in the Les Corts neighbourhood, where Barça have played since 1922. “Since the opening of Spotify Camp Nou in 1957 it has been our home and a source of pride for all Barça fans and we want it to stay that way. The new Spotify Camp Nou will become a reality, a collective dream for all Barça fans and at the same time it will be a legacy for our children and grandchildren,” said the president.  

Joan Laporta continued with his speech: “Now we have to go through a process, the construction process, and we must be excited about that. When we come back here, we will be stronger than ever. It will coincide with our Club’s 125th anniversary, at the end of 2024, when the stadium will be ready for us to get what we want from it.”  

With his speech over, Joan Laporta placed the flags in the box and a representative from Limak, the company in charge of construction, buried the ‘time capsule’ inside the hole prepared in the pitch. Next, Joan Laporta was the first to pick up a shovel and fill in the hole to cover the box. One by one, all the participants in the event took their turns with the shovel to bury the object, a sequence that ended with Honorary President of Limak, Nihat Özdemir. The event for laying the first brick ended with a group photo, the first in what will be the new Spotify Camp Nou.  

Event for commencement certification 

 Before the event for the laying of the first brick, in the VIP Box at the stadium the signature on all the necessary documentation in which all parties establish their wish for work at Spotify Camp Nou to begin. Taking part in the signature were UTE TORRELLA Arquitectura – Ingeniería i JG Ingenieros, site manager; Limak, construction; GPO Ingeniería y Arquitectura, project manager; SGS, Health and Safety and executive directors of the work, G3, Betarq i Construcció i Control.