On Friday, fans got a glimpse inside the partially refurbished Camp Nou, while Barcelona’s wait to return to their iconic home ground they left in the summer of 2023 continues.
There is an unwritten rule among the Barcelona employees who work closely with Joan Laporta: “You can only go to the president when you have good news to report.”
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It has been quite difficult to follow this rule during the rebuilding of Camp Nou – a process that started with the partial demolition of the reigning Spanish champions’ iconic stadium in June 2023 and is now already a year behind schedule.
But today (Friday), Laporta and Barcelona finally had some good news to celebrate, as a partially refurbished Camp Nou at least partially reopened in the first public event there since construction work began over two years ago.
It was still not for a football match (Barcelona’s original idea was to play matches there again, with reduced capacity, by November 2024), but an open training session for the first team was held in front of approximately 23,000 paying supporters, with the proceeds going to charitable projects linked to the Barca Foundation.
Laporta, who never misses a photo opportunity, was photographed in tears as he stepped out of the executive suite, despite the stadium being mostly empty and with the upper stands still under construction.
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He and the club’s board of directors must take their share of responsibility for the project’s delays – and the huge amount of extra debt it entails – but few can match Laporta’s extraordinary ability to capture the mood among fans.
“This is a collective dream for all Barca fans,” he said at a press conference after the event. “It will still take a whole year to finish, with the roof covering the stadium, but the players were already impressed. The feelings, at a club level, were good. There were no incidents or problems reported by our workers.”
Even though it was just a training, there was a huge excitement around today’s event in the city. About 180 journalists were accredited, and every fan with a ticket went back into the stadium with the feeling that they were experiencing a big moment.
Frustration has undoubtedly grown among supporters in recent months, as delay after delay seemed to occur.
Barcelona had to play two home games in La Liga at the small Estadi Johan Cruyff with a capacity of 6,000 at their training facility at the start of this season, before finally moving back to the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, which had been their home ground for the previous two seasons.
There was a need to feel like they could actually return to their true home at some point, to believe that things could get back to normal.
Barcelona sold all the available tickets for the training, at prices up to 10 euros. Of the 21,000 that were purchased, more than half went to club members, as they had early access. The rest was sold at general sale.
The vast majority of participants appeared to be locals who were desperate to participate with their families. Parents and their children. Grandparents and their grandchildren (The Athletic didn’t ask why the latter weren’t at school at 11am on a Friday). Or simply a group of friends with a morning to spare. The proportion of football tourists was also present.
There was nothing too exciting to be had when it comes to Sunday’s away game against Celta Vigo, as Hansi Flick and his coaching staff put the players through a relaxed training session. A few laps on the pitch, warm-up with rondos, then some possession-oriented drills and finally shooting practice, which gave everyone present the right to say they were there to celebrate Lamine Yamal’s first-ever goal at the new Camp Nou.
It was all just an excuse to celebrate a little. When the training was over after about an hour, the obvious question was: when will we be back here for the real affair?
Barcelona have actually had the permits they need to host games back at Camp Nou since last month, but they have chosen not to. This is because they can currently only allow a maximum of 27,000 spectators onto the pitch – barely a quarter of the intended capacity of 105,000 once all the works are completed.
The club’s new intention, after spending the summer declaring that they would definitely return as soon as the above permits were granted, is to wait until they can get about 45,000 people in. To do so, they need other licenses from the Barcelona City Council. We don’t know how long it will take to get hold of these, but local officials have always insisted that no shortcuts will be taken, despite the club’s recent efforts in that area.
Currently, Barca can play for about 50,000 people across the city at Lluis Companys, so the benefits in terms of matchday revenue are clear.
Laporta said this week that the club hopes to have the new permits required to let a larger crowd into Camp Nou by the end of the month. The next La Liga game at home against Athletic Club on November 22, their first game after the impending international break, is the goal. If that proves too soon, they will host Alaves a week later, before Atletico Madrid comes to town on December 2.
So far, nothing has been confirmed. Without forgetting how far behind schedule we already are (that November 2024 deadline was supposed to coincide with the club’s 125th anniversary), even over the last six months there have been constant delays in terms of goals that have not been met.
In July, Barca announced that they would host their traditional friendly match in the Joan Gamper Trophy at Camp Nou on August 10. Then it should be ready for their first home game in La Liga a month later.
The original deadline for the completion of the refurbished Camp Nou, agreed in 2023 between the club and Turkish construction company Limak, was June 2026. It has already been postponed by a whole year to the summer of 2027 – and the installation of the roof is now not expected to be completed until 12 months after that. It has already been 894 days since they played there – a 3-0 win in La Liga against Mallorca on May 28, 2023.
Meanwhile, as renovations continue, the now almost usual turbulence also continues.
Last Tuesday, the construction workers’ union protested against several of the companies involved in the project and complained about working conditions, including the mention of work shifts lasting over 12 hours per day. On Wednesday, there was a reported case of tuberculosis among the construction crew. The construction company Limak issued a declaration that it was an isolated case, that the worker involved was already undergoing the necessary treatment and that all prevention protocols had been followed.
The Camp Nou saga has been, is and will remain the hottest topic around the club – and especially Laporta’s board.
With Barcelona set to hold their last presidential elections in the first half of next year, every step towards a full return home will bring more tears of joy.
