Josep Mateu yesterday remembered an idea that suddenly, at the moment, has more chances than ever to materialize. The president of the RACC and of Sport Cultura Barcelona took advantage of his intervention in the central debate of the VIII edition of the summit organized by the trade associations of Barcelona Open to propose that the village of the Spanish Grand Prix of Formula 1 be moved in Passeig de Gràcia.
In this way, Mateu argued, complicity between the public and this top-level sports competition would increase. ” We have had Formula 1 for more than 30 years – he said during his speech at the old factory of the Damm brewery – and to maintain it, to withstand the growing competition from a lot of emerging cities and countries that precisely now they are taking the first steps, we need the complicity of the institutions more than ever.”
In reality, Mateu could not have chosen a better setting than the Barcelona Open summit to raise this idea. On this occasion, the day of exchange of ideas organized every year by the main commercial areas of the city focused on the importance of major events in promoting cities. And the debate, as it could not be in any other way, quickly drifted towards the importance of having the complicity of the institutions. Public and private collaboration goes far beyond subsidies and banners.
To Lluís Sans, president of the traders’ organization of the axis in question, of the Passeig de Gràcia Association, who was among the public of the summi, to move the village of the Spanish Grand Prix of Formula 1 to the most stately axis of the city seems to him a great initiative. “And the truth is that it’s time – says Sans. In recent times, the City Council has always been very reluctant to collaborate with this type of event. In a certain way because of certain ideological apriorisms. Many people were not happy that the City Council contributed to the promotion of the motor sector, even if it was renewing itself, as it is doing. They didn’t even want the shell of a Formula 1 car to be placed in public space for people to take pictures of. I don’t know if it will be possible to do it next year, if there will be time. But at the moment the sensibility in the Consistory is quite different”.
In any case, some other institutions, such as the Generalitat itself, must also pronounce on this issue. This year and also the previous one, Port Vell in Barcelona already hosted the village of the Spanish Grand Prix of Formula 1. It was an initiative driven mainly by the PSC branch of the municipal government at that time. There, in Port Vell, race simulators, stages for concerts, children’s areas were set up… in reality, a whole big public party aimed above all at bringing this competition to all Barcelona residents, whether they have a ticket or not. The America’s Cup also plans to organize a party of this style. In this way, citizen complicity is forged. Social sustainability is another fundamental aspect when organizing large events.
Primavera Sound is also looking for the complicity of the institutions, Barcelona City Council. The promoters of this music festival hope to know soon the municipal plans regarding the large marine platform of the Forum. Alberto Guijarro, co-director of Primavera, explained yesterday during his intervention in the summit debate that this platform hosts the main concerts of the festival, and that it is essential for its future.
Afterwards, among the babbles of the Barcelona Open meeting, which became a kind of vindictive platform, Guijarro himself detailed that a few days ago municipal technicians explained to them that the executive of the Consistory wants to study the future of this platform, raise I wonder what role I could play in the city, leaving behind so many years of improvisation. It is, for now, a political debate. In reality, the successive governments of Barcelona in this century put this issue on the table at one point or another. “What we want is for them to take us into account when deciding the future of this platform”, replied Guijarro.
