Espai Barça yes, but …, by Xavier Bosch

On April 5, 2014, the board of Bartomeu mounted the binding referendum to decide Yes or No to Barça space. That was the question. So the budget to remodel and cover the Camp Nou, build a new Palau, a new Miniestadi and the buildings of the Barça space it was 600 million euros. The work would be paid in thirds and would not affect the pocket of the partners or the sports part. 200 million would come out of putting a surname Camp Nou, 200 of a loan and 200 more of the income derived from the new Barça space. That day, 37,535 members went to vote, 31% of the social mass with voting rights. 68% of the partners, faced with such a transcendent question, chose to stay at home. I voted no. Lucky for him BarçaYes, the winner was very clearly, with 72.3% of favorable votes. Seven years later, we know that Nikken Sekkei, Paschal and Ausio, they won the international contest. Some time later, the two Catalan architects were relieved by the study b720 by Fermín Vázquez. While the Barça managed to overcome all obstacles -mainly neighborhood ones-, and a historic agreement was reached with all the parties of the city ​​Hall (minus the CUP) and it was achieved, in a final judgment, that the essential MPGM (modification of General Metropolitan Plan), the architects have worked until they know, week by week, how the works of the new must be Camp Nou to do it in four summers and three seasons. The updated budget already rose to 815 million.

Now with Laporta as Chairman, the board has decided to take advantage of the project Nikken Sekkei, has introduced some changes and asks permission, in assembly and in referendum, to be able to borrow 1,500 million to undertake the entire work. Goldman Sachs, which with the previous directive was already willing to leave the 815 and recover them in 35 years with the income generated from the Barça spaceIt is also good to leave this upright that can be shot up to 1,500. And how do partners see it? We have been bombarded ad nauseam that the Barça You will only be able to compete with the club-states if you have a new stadium that allows you to enter a lot more. They have intimidated us with leaks on ruins, risks and palominos. And, given the panorama, if it is basic for the future of the club, you can only vote Yes. It is what I will do, convinced that from today to the date of the referendum, the communicative pedagogy of the Barça he will know how to answer everything that is now as surprising as it is enigmatic. Why blow up the entire third tier? Why not give the first tier more verticality? Seriously, in order not to move 12,000 subscribers, the last rows of the first tier are going to continue with terrible visibility? Are you sure the new Palau should cost 420 million? Why do they tell us that we pay a fine to the Euroleague for every game we play in the current hall, if not? Why did they tell us that the Wizink Center, for 15,000 viewers, did it cost 300 million if it didn’t cost even half? Where the hell are we going to play – vital question – while the works last? Why do we want a Camp Nou for 105,000 spectators if we go 47,000 against Valencia and today, risking our lives against him DinamoWill we be the same old 40,000 faithful again?

I LIKED IT

A better idea than a spill

President Laporta already said, in interviews prior to the AssemblyHe did not see it when he asked the members for a spill due to the serious financial situation of the club. Despite this, some compromisario members, from the group of the most veteran, insist on their idea of ​​advancing money to the club. Even a pensioner delegate, who admitted having only an income of 800 euros per month, moved his partners by putting all his money at the disposal of the Barça to help get out of the quagmire. Things don’t go that way. Laporta, a great connoisseur of culé sociology, knows that one of the reasons why 30,000 subscribers have taken leave of absence is because, after the Covid, in many homes it costs a lot to make ends meet. However, during the Assembly an idea came out that was repeated up to three times, by different partners, when talking about the financing of the Barça space. It would be about making some type of bond or issue for partners so that they, who wanted, would leave money to the Barça, to return with the new Camp Nou already underway, to pay for part of the works. One of the arguments that was given was correct: “Goldman Sachs He will do it to do business, we would do it for the love of the Barça”. Unbeatable. It would be nice if two lynxes like To reverse and Romeu study this proposal a bit.

I DIDN’T LIKE IT

Only four members in six hours

The Barça It has 38,000 members. In other words, 26% of the total membership of 143,000 are women. In the Assembly of delegates, however, the television shot of the audience Palau Blaugrana it showed a ratio of men well above this 3 to 1 which would be the logical thing to do. On the board of directors, Elena Fort she was the only woman. Apart from her, who presented the project of the Barça space, only three members participated in the entire session. The first female voice did not sound until they had been meeting for more than five hours. Laia Vilar, member 53,889, 25 years old, won the applause by noting that she was the first woman to speak all afternoon. After her, another applause for Sara Zeimer, partner 83.634, which came expressly from Munich for the meeting. This is a commitment to the club. And responsibility. The fourth member who intervened, before the rush to go see the Barça-Valencia, also started a general applause when he indicated that, as the club’s economy was, it was best to leave the Barça space for a few years. After all, she who had been to the end of the Recopa from Basel In 1979, “we remember the result, the joy and the goals, but not what the stadium was like.”

BAD MILK

1. The big question of the Assembly. Nicolas Perez, member 67.047: “How can it be that the impact of Covid on Athletic club is 92 million and you say that at Barça it has only affected 90 million?”

2. Another pointed question. Alfred Mer, member 80,931: “Is it not surprising that in a club that they say is technically bankrupt, it contracts a new debt of 1,500 million euros?”

3. The most dedicated delegate: Joan Gaspart, partner 1,258. In the June Assembly he asked for the Yes for the Super League. On Sunday, he asked Yes to Barça space. Perhaps if they ask him to join the Board, he will also say yes.

4. At the June Assembly, the Trustee of the Partner asked for a statue for Messi at the Camp Nou. Next Saturday, will you insist on the idea?