Barcelona presents the ‘Pavelló Blau’ program to organize outdoor sports on its coastline

the ‘Pavello Blue’ It is the largest outdoor sports area in Barcelona. This is how the City Council summarizes it, which this Wednesday presented a project with this name that is planned for the coming years, from this year to 2030. A measure of the Government of Barcelona in Comú and the PSC that aims to develop the potential of the maritime space that goes from Port Vell to the Fòrum, and which therefore includes Nova Bocana, Port Olímpic and all the beaches of the city.

The plan was presented on the beach of Somorrostro by the first deputy mayor, Jaume Collboni, and the sports councilor, David Escudé, with the aim of controlling up to 40 different sports activities that take place there. Among other aspects, it seeks to avoid the saturation that can be seen in some parts, to which citizens have come in a particularly intense way since the pandemic has conditioned our lives, when it quickly became clear that having spaces outdoors is a luxury and at the same time something essential.

This provision will result in delimit certain areas for specific sports and, as Escudé pointed out, provides the payment of a fee for occupying public space in some cases, such as groups that operate under the direction of a monitor, or other similar activities that involve economic activity.

The name ‘Pavelló Blau’ is intended to describe the territory described like this, a pavilion without walls or roof, or, as Collboni said, “which has the sky for its roof and the sea and the city for its walls”. This government measure is part of the Strategic Plan for Coastal Spaces, linked to the blue economy advocated by the consistory.

“We are a city of the sea, sport, ambitious; we enjoyed the city waterfront. Some run, others cycle. Some of us climbed on a skate on a rough sea day. I won’t do it again & rdquor;, joked Collboni, who hinted at the start of his speech that Barcelona will host the Copa América in 2024. “If the Copa América is a global ambition, the ‘Pavelló blau’ is at human scale”.

The deputy mayor said that the five kilometers of sports spaces are closely linked to the associative fabric of the city, which both supports the America’s Cup and maintains Catalan skating. “We will do it with investments: the forecast is to invest up to 27 million euros by 2030 in something that is in progress, the Voile Municipal Center, the reform of the Port Olímpic, the creation of the new center of the Sea in the quay of the marina and improvements in the sports center of Mar Bella & rdquor ;, explained the socialist detailing some of the objectives of the economic element.

Collboni recalled the transformation of space for the 1992 Olympics, a symbol of the PSC’s past in the city, and in fact this Wednesday’s act was much more like those of those socialist governments than the current one. But in fact, the government of Ada Colau has been living for a long time with initiatives that in 2015 seemed destined to die for this Barcelona that had to face the decline. In the end, only the pandemic caused this drop, and for a long time the PSC vigorously defended a city that looks more like the one Pasqual Maragall left than the one Barcelona en Comú demanded when he came to power a while ago. seven years, which is not surprising.

“Today we weigh anchor to start a small revolution”, assured Escudé, the boss of Sports, who defined the coast as “one more facility in the city”. “We are ‘maritimizing’ the city,” added the city councilor, who cited the reform that Maragall led with the plan that was presented. Among other specific aspects, Escudé pointed out that 7,000 children in the city will be encouraged to practice sailing sports during school hours.

The plan, recounted Escudé, was carried out by 60 entities and has seven projects, 14 measures and 28 actions. There will be four preferential action islands: the Port Olímpic, where the Municipal Sailing Center offer will be remodeled and expanded and the Nou Center del Mar will be built; the Nautical Base, a facility located between Bogatell beach and Nova Marbella beach; the promenade of Sant Martí, where the promenade will be urbanized in the section between the beach of Nova Mar Bella and the beach of Llevant, and the Marina Platform, a space adjacent to the Fòrum awaiting development.