The last pending piece to complete the transformation that Port Vell has undergone for the America's Cup is now ready. The historic headquarters of the Port of Barcelona in Portal de la Pau has restored its main facade, as well as its sides, leaving behind many years of neglect and oblivion since the Port Authority of Barcelona (APB) moved in 2010 to the World Trade Center (WTC). Nothing remains of the nets and scaffolding that tourists strolling through the area had become accustomed to, with the aim of giving a good image when the historic regatta begins, with the first boats hitting the water in a few weeks.
The Portal de la Pau building has recovered its original appearance in a first phase of the works, awaiting to tackle its rear facade, which will be covered by a large canvas during the America's Cup, and to fill its interior with content. That will come once the sports competition ends, when work will resume, with the forecast of completing them completely in the summer of next year. It will be then when the building will reopen with a dissemination center on the history of the port. Spaces for meetings and events of the Port Authority of Barcelona (APB) will also be located, without abandoning the WTC, where it will maintain its main headquarters.
The completion of this first phase of the restoration comes after a process that has become complicated, as the Port of Barcelona has had to award the works twice. The first time was in autumn 2016, with Dragados ---a construction company of the ACS group---, Urcotex and CRC winning the tender, for an amount of 9.7 million euros. The works stopped in early 2019, after the construction companies saw that they were more expensive than expected. Being a public tender, the conditions could not be changed and the temporary union of companies (UTE) withdrew from the project, so the APB had to restart the procedure from scratch.
It was finally resolved in the summer of last year, with the rush to reach the America's Cup accelerating everything. The works were re-awarded to the same companies that made up the original UTE, but for a higher amount, a total of 15.63 million euros.
The work carried out in recent months, since September of last year, has also served to consolidate the structure of a building that was inaugurated more than 100 years ago, in 1907. Designed by engineer Julio Valdés y Humarán, it began operating as a maritime station for passengers traveling to the Balearic Islands. Thus, on the ground floor, there were services such as ticket sales counters and baggage inspection, but also the offices of shipping companies, the police and customs, and even a post and telegraph office.
In addition, on the first floor, a luxury restaurant, El Mundial Palace, was inaugurated, which soon became popular among the Barcelona bourgeoisie and was the chosen venue for large banquets and political, sporting, social, and cultural events. As a historical curiosity, it was a pioneer in offering entirely vegan menus. The restaurant operated until 1918, when it was decided to dedicate the entire building to the Port Works Board.
The renovation to be carried out inside will also allow the recovery of the original structure with a vault that crowned the central hall on the first floor, eliminated in 1949 to add a second floor. On that first floor, there will again be a large hall, restoring all the original decorative elements to be able to dedicate it to the port's protocol uses. The recovery of the roof terraces is also planned.