At 1:30 p. m. On a March afternoon, workers rebuilding Barcelona’s Camp Nou stadium take off their white helmets and march to their lunch spot.
Some head to Rue d’Aristides Maillol, a community packed with restaurants and cafes. Others prefer to eat their sandwiches in the shade of the pine trees of Avinguda de Joan XXIII, near La Masia de Can Planes, the ancient mythical site. of Barça’s youth academy (now at the club’s training plant on the outskirts of the city).
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For more than eight months now, one of the most prestigious venues in world football has been his workplace. The esplanade in front of the Camp Nou was once a gathering place for Barca fans. Now it’s a territory explained through dust and noise.
But tourists still come here. A boy of about 8 years old leaves the largest stadium in Europe as it stands today. His mother comforts him tenderly by stroking his head and saying, “We’ll have to come back when it’s time. “
Barcelona has announced plans to go back in time to celebrate its 125th anniversary (the club was founded on November 29, 1899), with the renovated Camp Nou open to two-thirds capacity. But that seemed to be derailed when, at the end of last season, president Joan Laporta said: “When we go through again in December 2024, without unforeseen events, we will have the most productive stadium in the world. “
Capacity is set to increase to 90-95 per cent by the 2025-26 season, with Barcelona and promoters Limak agreeing on a June 2026 date for the final touching of the course, with existing allocation prices of €900 million (£766 million); $984 million at existing rates).
However, prices for the wider allocation of the Espai Barca – of which the stadium redevelopment is the most important component – were recently estimated at €1. 5 billion (£1. 3 billion; $1. 6 billion). And given the progress of this allocation over the past two decades, setbacks and delays are ruled out.
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“Being on time is the most important thing,” Laporta said during a stopover at Camp Nou in November. Speaking to The Athletic this week, Barcelona said work at the Camp Nou was indeed “on time”.
Local retirees come every day to see how things are going. They know the vantage points that provide the most productive view of the tall steel fences surrounding the construction. “Stay there,” one man said, pointing to the upstairs municipal cemetery in Les Corts.
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Recently, about 1,200 people have been hired on site. This number has increased from around 250 in the early stages of demolition and is expected to rise further.
Last November, the Spanish newspaper El Periódico published an investigative report on the reconstruction of the Camp Nou, alleging that some workers hired through subcontractors had been paid overtime.
Following this report, inspectors from the regional government visited the site. An investigation is underway through the Inspeccio de Treball (Labour Inspectorate) of Catalonia and since then monthly visits have been carried out. Barcelona itself is not under investigation and there are no protection issues. have been discovered on the site. Limak has been contacted for comment.
Barcelona has installed a transition and attractions segment, connecting the other spaces they also plan to renovate as part of the wider Espai Barça project. The corridor that leads to the sites that still house Barça’s basketball, handball and hockey groups looks like a theme park. Below is the ghostly shape of a deconstructed football field.
At the moment, the paintings at the Camp Nou are basically focused on the pillars that will constitute the new third point of the stadium. Huge cranes were erected to help install them. The cranes are 85 meters high and were shipped from Kuwait.
The two former lower levels of the site have already been cleared and restored. They were built in 1957, and few recent visitors to the site would doubt that there were signs of wear and tear.
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It is imperative that Barça return as soon as possible as his temporary stay at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys is not helping the club’s finances. Last year, it was estimated that betting this season on Montjuic would cost them around £90 million (£77 million; $98 million), taking into account the loss of source of revenue and the cash spent on preparing for the on-the-ground adjustment.
Attendance has been lower than expected and the club has also had to cut ticket prices to try to boost demand. Of the 80,274 season ticket holders at the Camp Nou, only 17,552 opted for Montjuic while the club had made 27,385 seats available for them.
The official capacity of the Lluis Companys is 54,367 seats, almost 10% of those seats have limited visibility. Only 49,472 have a 100% view of the pitch of a football match.
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More than 50,000 people watched the Clásico defeat in October against Real Madrid (50,112), while 46,229 watched the defeat in January against Villarreal. The worst attendances so far were for the December matches against Almería (34,471) and Atlético de Madrid (34,568). Its average entry is 40,959. The atmosphere has not been wonderful in the home games, but it is not the Camp Nou.
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Barcelona published on Monday new photographs of the land commissioned for a presentation to the College of Architects of Catalonia. Those responsible described the commission as “a benchmark for the city and for the world”. An article covering the occasion on Barcelona’s official online website did not mention the 125th anniversary in November, but noted that its return was “scheduled for the end of this year 2024”.
While the club has so far endured a season (at least domestically – Tuesday’s key Champions League match against Napoli is over) at Montjuic, the prospect of returning to the Camp Nou is exciting.
Fans hope this happens as soon as possible, especially those who don’t have to stay with the team across town.
(Top photo: FC Barcelona)