After a long time, now yes, the America's Cup is here. For more than two years, the competition has become one of the main protagonists of a city that finds it hard to go to its beaches, always too crowded. But, now, a month before the first regatta, it will be harder to make excuses. Everything is ready for the competition, as confirmed by the employees of the Barcelona City Council who have been working against the clock for many months to make it possible. They even had to change their vacations to be on the job when it's time.
In a city where little was known about the America's Cup, or it was directly confused with the football America's Cup, almost everything had to be invented, taking advantage of the experience accumulated in organizing major sporting events such as the Olympic Games or the World Cup. "We didn't know how this was done," acknowledged the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, "but in this city, we like challenges and ours will be the best edition in history." "At least I'm not a sailor and I needed someone to explain to me what had to be done," continued Hector Carmona, head of the Civil Protection unit of Bombers de Barcelona, who did not forget to mention that the nautical competition will fit its start between the Gràcia and Sants festivals, but will also coincide with La Mercè.
That is one of the main issues to resolve that the 400 public workers have faced, who have been in charge not only of preparing the maritime regatta course, but also of everything else and, above all, of making it compatible with the daily life of a city that, in summer, is already quite full. "We are not only with the America's Cup. We have to normalize the exceptionality, we have to make the city assume that the America's Cup is one of those extraordinary things that happen in the city, but many more happen every day," summarized the intendant of the Urban Guard Jordi Guerrero.
This was corroborated by the City Council's Director of Mobility Strategy, Carlos López, who had to define with his team how spectators of the regattas would move, in addition to ensuring that services such as cleaning arrived without problems to attend to them. "All this while the city continues to function and people have to be able to go to work, to the doctor or to the market," he stressed.
Security and mobility have been two of the key axes in the city's preparation, but there have been many more. Such as extending the beach season by another month, traditionally considered over with La Mercè, and making compatible the coexistence between bathers ---there were 5.2 million last year--- and the future spectators of the regatta. Or quickly resolving the thousand procedures needed by the hundreds of workers brought by each of the six competing teams in this edition of the regatta. One of them will even have a child during the competition.
But legal changes have also had to be made to make an international event compatible with local regulations, an event that landed for the first time in the Catalan capital and, furthermore, is managed by one of the participating teams, Emirates Team New Zealand, with its own requirements and an Anglo-Saxon culture that has at times clashed with the Barcelona way of doing things. "The contract designating Barcelona as the venue has been modified up to three times," acknowledged Manuel Parejo, from the Legal Services Directorate of the city council.
Legal changes have had to be made to make an international event compatible with local regulations, an event that landed for the first time in the Catalan capitalOther legislative changes that have had to be applied include declaring an air and maritime navigation exclusion zone ---also radio-electric--- in the area where the America's Cup boats will compete for victory. "This, which seems so simple, will have a direct implication on the entry of ships into the port and the landing of planes at the airport. If a plane makes a strange turn on the Barcelona coast, look down because you might see the boats competing," Parejo indicated.
Many coordination meetings to be able to arrive a month in advance with the homework done, as recalled by the one who has been a key figure in the internal organization of the city council, Joan Torrella, municipal coordinator of the America's Cup. Many departments involved and many setbacks that had to be solved on the fly, with Torrella applying the accumulated experience from other major events that the city has experienced such as the Festa al Cel air festivals, the Harley Days or New Year's Eve parties. "It may be that not everything is prepared, but we will make sure it doesn't show," concluded Hector Carmona from Bombers de Barcelona.