Mobility operations when FC Barcelona play at Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium

Due to the work being done on Spotify Camp Nou, until November 2024, FC Barcelona will be playing games at the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium. This will naturally entail a major impact on the Montjuïc area, where thousands of people will be converging on match days.

In response to the different needs that this will generate, the club and the city council have been working together with the Guardia Urbana and BSM on a mobility plan to provide additional public transport and to ensure that it is sustainable. They have put together extraordinary maintenance and security services to ensure as little impact as possible on the mountain parkland around the stadium. It has come to a total cost of €5,899,100, with maintenance and management coming to €1,792,000, and investments of €4,107,100 euros. FC Barcelona is covering €3,321,100 of this and the council is taking care of the remaining €​​2,578,000.

In the base document, presented in February, the different operational aspects were specified. These include facilitating access on foot, by public transport or by bicycle and, at the same time minimising the impact that the transfer of matches to the Olympic Stadium might have on the neighbourhood and other users of park.

FC Barcelona is implementing various measures to boost public transport between the perimeter of the mountain and the stadium, with people encouraged to cover the distance on foot.

The municipal contribution is focused on various actions to improve the public space and promote sustainable mobility that have a permanent impact on the mountain.

Mobility operation for Barça matches

On match days at the Olympic Stadium, mobility will undergo significant changes. Access by private vehicle to the areas closest to the stadium will be limited, and in some places forbidden entirely unless drivers have a special pass. That's why people are being encouraged to travel on foot, by public transport or by bicycle.

Walking

The quickest and smoothest walk to the ground is from Plaça de Espanya, along Avenida Maria Cristina. The escalators will be in operation in a reversible manner, so before the game they will all go up, and afterwards they will all go down. FC Barcelona will be responsible for guaranteeing repair and correct operation. Another possible route is along Carrer del Foc and then Avenida Miramar, which can be reached on the funicular train from Parallel metro station.

Various actions are being carried out to improve pedestrian walkways, such as increased lighting, enhanced greenery and new pavements. From next year, there will be new traffic lights to improve road safety at Avenida Miramar - Fundació Miró (route from the Funicular); Passeo Olimpico - CEM Pau Negre; Avinguda Ferrer i Guardia - Poble Espanyol (route from Plaça de España).

Public transport

Public transport will also be one of the recommended options for getting around Montjuïc on match days. There will be several alternatives.

- FC Barcelona will offer a free shuttle bus service for people who have a ticket to attend the match or for workers going to the stadium. Staff involved in match operations and who have to get to the ground much earlier can take a shuttle service contracted by the club. The shuttles will leave from Plaça de Espanya and from the Fira 2 car park, beginning two hours before kick-off and ending an hour and a half after the final whistle. In total, there will be 17 vehicles that will leave at intervals of between 3 and 4 minutes, and with a capacity to transport up to 4,400 people/hour in total.

- Regular TMB bus lines that pass close to the Olympic Stadium: 13, 23, 55, 125, 150. In recent months, five new bus shelters have been installed for the stops of the regular bus lines and another two are coming soon.

- The Montjuïc funicular will be running more frequently than usual from two hours before and until two hours after the match, provided that the metro is also running.

Metro and FGC local train services in the environs of the stadium will be reinforced: Espanya (L1, L3, L8 and other FGC lines); Poble Sec (L3); Parallel (L2, L3); Foc (L10 South); Magoria-La Campana (L8 and other FGC lines). On match days the frequency of metro lines 1 and 3, the two lines that stop at Espanya, will be increased. Service, security and cleaning staff will also be reinforced at the following stations: Espanya (L1 and L3), Poble Sec (L3), Paral·lel (L2 and L3) and Foc (L10 S). There will also be the usual service of regular TMB buses that go to Plaça de Espanya (D20, D40, H12, H16, V7, 13, 23, 46, 52, 65, 79, 91, 109, 150 and 165) and the main strip of the Zona Franca (H16, V3, V5, 23, 109 and 125).

Finally, you can also get to the stadium by taxi, which will be allowed to stop in area close to the stadium. New micro-taxi ranks will also be installed in this area from September.

Bicycle

The main recommendation to access the Olympic Stadium by bicycle will be to use the usual road connections. Cyclists will be able to access the whole mountain without restrictions. To encourage this type of travel, between August and September construction will begin on a new section of cycling infrastructure that will cover the route between Plaça de Espanya and Avenida Miramar. Two unidirectional bike lanes will be installed, one in each direction, located on both sides of the road, which should be ready in September. Bicycle parking spaces will be installed along the route of the new infrastructure.

Next year, 8 new Bicing stations will be installed around the stadium and FC Barcelona plans to set up a locker room for electric scooters and bicycles in this same area.

Motorbike

There will be enough parking space for 3,500 motorcycles in areas close to the stadium, which will be located around Carrer de Font i Quer and Paseo Migdia. Motorcycles will not need special passes for these spots, provided they have not reached full capacity.

Private vehicles (except motorbikes)

People who want to travel in a private vehicle must note that three hours before the match, access by car will be limited and, therefore, it will not be the most recommended means of transport to move around this area. Streets will be blocked off in three different areas:

- Zone 0: zone closest to the Olympic Stadium, where no motor vehicle will be able to access, with the exception of service and emergency vehicles. The restricted section includes Avenida del Estadi (section between the Bernat Picornell Swimming Pools and the Olympic Museum, up to the junction with Calle de los Viveros) and Paseo Olímpic (section between the junction with Calle del Doctor Font i Quer and the intersection with the Avinguda del Stadium and the Olympic Museum). Only and as an exception, in Zone 0  coaches carrying visiting supporters the vehicles of people with functional diversity will be allowed entry.

- Zone 1: zone closest to the Olympic Ring, where only vehicles bound for the stadium and accredited by FC Barcelona can enter; or those whose destination is any of the facilities located in this area, and which also have the corresponding pass issued by the ground itself or by the different Montjuïc operators. This area includes Avenida del Estadi (the section located between the INEFC and the Bernat Picornell Swimming Pools; and the section located between Carrer de los Viveros and Paseo de Santa Madrona), all of Carrer Pierre de Coubertin, Paseo Olímpico (from the junction with Paseo del Migdia to the junction with Doctor Font i Quer) and a section of Doctor Font i Quer. Within this area there will be specific parking areas for authorised vehicles.

- Rest of  Montjuïc: area where vehicles can circulate. However, note that while the match is on there will be access controls to the mountain park and it will not be possible to cross from one side of the park to the other.

In order to guarantee the delimitation of the three zones and manage their access, the Barcelona Urban Police, together with the Mossos d'Esquadra, will install fifteen control points that will be operational before the match begins. The road restrictions will also be enforced by auxiliary personnel who will inform drivers who are travelling through the affected area.

Accredited vehicles

FC Barcelona and the different facilities and operators in Montjuïc will be in charge of issuing passes to people who are allowed access to the Olympic Stadium or the surrounding facilities in a private vehicle. These will be spectators who have purchased passes and people working in and around the stadium. These entrances are located in Zone 1, for work or visiting reasons. The facilities in this area are the following: Jardí Botànic – Museum of Natural Sciences of Barcelona; Pau Negre-Parque del Mediodía Sports Complex; INEFC; CEM Bernat Picornell Pools; Barcelona Sports Municipal Institute; Joan Antoni Samaranch Olympic and Sports Museum; Montjuïc Municipal Aeromodelling; the Olympic Ring offices and the Pérez de Rozas Municipal Baseball Field. Although not within the exact area, users of the 3 Pins Residence and Aspace-CIM will also require passes to access these spaces.

Users of the INEFC and the CEM Bernat Picornell swimming pool may use their own passes to access their car parks. The rest of the facilities located within the control zone have already received passes issued by Barcelona City Council and will be in charge of distributing them among their users and workers so that they can get to their corresponding car parks.

Users of the following facilities will not need passes but will have to know where the control points are located, and modify their usual access routes:

Diving Pools and El Chalet Restaurant; Esférico; Paseo de las Cumbres bar; Marcellin bar; Caseta del Mediodía; TMB Centre Miramar; Olympic Echo; Montjuic Castle; Archery; Tres Pins School; Bosque School; Sports Studies Institute (3 Pins area) and Fundació Miró.

Car parks in the surroundings

The main recommendation is simply not to go by car, but if you have no other option, the best thing would be to leave your car somewhere else in the city and walk the final section or use public transport to the stadium. The nearest public car parks to the stadium are BSM Rius i Taulet; Poble Espanyol; BSM Ciudad del Teatro-Montjuïc and Fira 2, from where there will be shuttle buses to the stadium.

Effects for local residents

People living in the neighbourhoods of Can Clos and El Polvorí will need to find alternative routes and may also have to pass through the control points on Carrer del Foc. In order to minimise the impact on residents on match days, green parking spaces will only be usable by them. Non-residents may not park in these zones.

Other services

City services will also be adapted to match days. A cleaning service will be carried out before the matches to prepare the area and, above all, there will be a special service immediately after the match and the following day, and which will be used to clean the corresponding public space and car parks. The lights will be turned on and off manually when necessary and some gardening maintenance and adaptation will be done on the green spaces. The costs derived from these specific services will be assumed by FC Barcelona.

Women's football

Also, work is being done so that the women's team can also play the Joan Gamper Trophy at the Olympic Stadium.