Barcelona City Council does not plan to repeat the organization of the Sailing America’s Cup in the Catalan capital. That was the message that Grant Dalton, organizer of the 37th edition of the Sailing America’s Cup and head of the New Zealand team, received this Tuesday in a meeting he held with a member of the municipal government. The City Council’s future plans do not include organizing this sporting event again despite the very positive assessment of it by the local government.
As you have been able to know The Vanguard From sources familiar with this meeting, the municipal government has explained to Dalton that Barcelona City Council is not willing to repeat the investment in this sporting event, estimated in the case of the City Council at around 10 million euros, to which should be added the 30 million contributed between the central administration and the Generalitat and the 5 million from the Barcelona Provincial Council, apart from sponsorships.
The City Council rules out a new public investment and communicates this to a disappointed Grant Dalton
The City Council is not at all opposed to the 38th edition of the America’s Cup being held in Barcelona, as long as the organizers (the choice of venue depends on the New Zealand team, winner of the competition) find the formulas, through private financing through sponsors, to make this competition economically viable. At the meeting it was clear that there will be no more public input, at least from the City Council.
The municipal government considers that all the objectives of holding this sporting event in Barcelona have been met and that the America’s Cup leaves an important but unrepeatable legacy in the city. This list of achieved objectives includes the promotion of the blue economy and the transformation of the Port Olímpic, the campaign to popularize nautical sports or initiatives experimented for the first time in the 172 years of history of this event, such as the women’s and youth competitions. , the Cultural Regatta or the urban dimension of the event itself, with a regatta course located very close to Barcelona’s beaches and ports.
Furthermore, the America’s Cup has made it possible to accelerate a series of projects in the port of Barcelona that, without this lever, would have taken a few years to become a reality, all of them projects that bring the port, and ultimately the sea, closer to the city. The City Council understands that, although the citizen impact and the influx of visitors may have fallen below initial expectations, it has been shown that the city has regained its international presence.
The renunciation of injecting public money for a new edition of the Copa del América does not mean that Barcelona gives up choosing to host major international events, be they fairs and congresses, cultural festivals (for example, the world capital of culture of 2026). and, of course, great sporting events, some already guaranteed such as the Grand Depart of the Tour de France 2026. All in line with presenting Barcelona to the world as a city that never stops.
The main person responsible for the organization of the America’s Cup, Grant Dalton, left the meeting held this Tuesday at City Hall disappointed and in which he conveyed his interest in repeating Barcelona’s experience in the next edition of the America’s Cup, which It would probably be held in 2026. The New Zealand skipper’s plans were to continue in a city where the organization has felt at home.
It is up to New Zealanders to make a decision that does not have to be immediate. The option of repeating the Copa del America in the Catalan capital is not completely ruled out, but the competition is moving away without institutional financial support and seems to be heading towards other destinations.
The candidates’ dance opens
València was the headquarters of the Sailing America’s Cup in 2007 and in 2010 and now that Barcelona seems to be taking a step aside, the capital of Túria has the opportunity to host the next edition again. This has been recognized by some Valencian authorities, including the regional president, Carlos Mazón. However, New Zealanders have several options before them, such as returning home, as in the 2000, 2003 and 2021 editions, or succumbing to the economic force of that great vacuum cleaner of sporting events that it is becoming. Saudi Arabia.
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