Barcelona will invest 4.2 million in reforming the Municipal Sailing Center

The America's Cup has not only injected a dose of self-esteem into the Catalan capital, but it is also accelerating already planned actions in the city that can help provide better service to the competition. One of them will be the remodeling of the Municipal Sailing Center, located in the Olympic Port. "The renovation of this emblematic space for the nautical world is essential now, precisely, at this key moment for sailing in Barcelona with the proximity of the America's Cup 2024," says the Sports Councilor, David Escudé.

Inaugurated in 1992, within the framework of the Olympic Games, the Municipal Sailing Center was designed as the space where citizens could access nautical sports. Each year, some 18,000 people pass through it to carry out activities such as paddle surf, kayak or diving. Since its creation, more than 110,000 schoolchildren have practiced sailing.

The Barcelona City Council, through B:SM, will invest 4.2 million euros in comprehensively renovating the sports facility and increasing the offer of nautical services. The tender for the works will begin next October and the work is expected to finish in the first quarter of 2024. Nautical activities will not be suspended while the works last.

The renovation of this sports equipment will involve adapting all facilities with criteria of efficiency, sustainability and accessibility. It will also allow to repair the different pathologies that have arisen over the years, such as concrete carbonation and water filtrations produced by the skylights and expansion joints of the building.

Likewise, a new multipurpose room will be built, located on the upper part. It has been conceived as an open-plan space adaptable to the needs of the users of the marina and the center. It will be managed by B:SM. On the other hand, in January 2023, the rehabilitation works of the Sailing School dike will begin, with a budget of 1.2 million euros and an execution period of four months.

The reform of the Municipal Sailing Center is one of the pillars of the transformation that is being carried out in the Port Olímpic. In addition to promoting nautical activities, the city council will completely renew the gastronomic offer of the marina and will install a center to promote the blue economy. In fact, at the end of next September, rehabilitation work on the breakwater will begin. This breakwater, together with the Mistral Dock, will host a hub of companies dedicated to all economic activity that revolves around the sea.