The Government of the Generalitat wants to resume negotiations so that Catalonia can host the 2031 edition of the Ryder Cup golf after the organizers of this event have communicated their intention to find a solution that allows this event to be held with the current facilities, without having to build a third field as was their initial intention, a claim that the Generalitat completely rejected.
As El Periódico announced yesterday and confirmed to the ACN agency, the director of the Strategic Office of the president of the Generalitat, Sergi Sabrià, sent a letter to the organizers of the Ryder Cup to try to save the Catalan candidacy, responding in this way to the letter that the director of the golf competition, Guy Kinnings, sent to the Generalitat last August, opening the door to “adapt” the two existing courses.
In the aforementioned letter, Kinnings continues to defend the construction of a third field as the ideal option to meet the needs of this event, but admits his willingness to explore “all options” and give Catalonia “every possibility” to host the event. taking into account the previous work carried out. In this sense, the person responsible for organizing the Ryder Cup puts on the table of the Generalitat the alternative of “adapting the existing facilities” and the use of adjacent land. Kinnings believes that this plan would require “a major redevelopment project of the two current golf courses and capacity and safety testing that will take some time.”
“We’ll have to see if that’s viable. Meanwhile, we ask you to reconsider your decision, since it could mean that the event has to go to another place in Spain or, in fact, outside of Spain, which would be a shame, warns Guy Kinnings, showing that the negotiation between both parties does not It will be a bed of roses
In the letter sent on September 21, Sabrià responds to his interlocutor that the Government is in favor of an “economically, socially and environmentally sustainable” Ryder Cup. In this sense, he adds that sustainability is “non-negotiable” in the current context of climate change. For this reason, he argues, the Generalitat’s urban planning services have denied the construction of a third golf course and the expansion of tourist accommodation in Caldes.
However, given the organization’s “predisposition” to study holding the event in the current facilities, Sabrià assures that the Government of the Generalitat offers to “work together to move the project forward.” The Presidency detects a change in the position of the organizers of the Ryder Cup and they insist that not making new permanent facilities is an essential condition, reports ACN.
Upon learning of this beginning of rapprochement between the Catalan Government and the promoters of the Ryder Cup, the Catalan employers’ association Foment del Treball expressed through social networks its satisfaction with the fact that “the Government is committed to holding the Ryder Cup in Catalonia.” “It is a top-level sporting event that Foment and 40 other associations highlight as a relevant opportunity for the future of the country,” said the Catalan business organization, which from the first moment has been linked to the celebration of the Ryder Cup in Girona. .
