Barcelona hosting 2030 Winter Olympics could net region €1 billion, claims Catalan official
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Loading... - Dylan Scott
- 08 Feb 2022
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It would allow Barcelona to follow in the footsteps of Beijing as a Summer and Winter host city.
"How much is 15 days of publicity worth for a territory at a global level and seven years talking about the Pyrenees?" Font, secretary general of the Vice-Presidency of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Government of Catalonia, told Radio Catalunya.
Mountain events are projected for the Pyrenees in the prospective bid, although and sliding events would need to be held in the Savoie region of France or even in Sarajevo.
A group from Barcelona 2030 were to have been here in the Chinese capital, but the Future Hosts Observer Programme was cancelled as part of the precautions against COVID-19.
A referendum could follow in the summer, although 75 percent support has been claimed by supporters of the bid.
There remain political obstacles because the Province Aragon is said to be angry that it is being excluded from the bid.
The IOC has recently struggled to attract hosts for the Winter Olympic Games.
Only Beijing and Almaty made it to the final vote for 2022 and for 2026, a joint bid from Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo and Stockholm were the only cities to contest the election.
Barcelona’s co-hosting idea with the Pyrenees would fall in line with the International Olympic Committee’s Agenda 2020 +5 strategy.
"The International Olympic Committee doesn’t want a city without a well argued legacy programme," Catalan Winter Sports Federation President Monica Bosch told Catalonia News.
"They want to know the future use of all the sport venues.
"The Pyrenees Barcelona bid has worked with this from the beginning,
"I think that the final goal of organising an Olympic Games has to be to improve the quality of life of the people who live in the Olympic areas,” she continued. Read More…
