The Consolat de Mar celebrates its 750th anniversary this 2023 with a temporary exhibition at the Maritime Museum of Barcelona. Titled Three quarters of a millennium Consolat de Mar: from Gothic to the metaverse, this exhibition is curated by journalist Plàcid Garcia-Planas together with historian and art critic Ricard Mas Peinado. It can be visited until the end of October in the building that was once Barcelona's shipyard and today recalls the history of navigation.
Consolat de Mar is also the name that can be read on the stern of a 24-meter motor yacht that is usually moored at the Drassanes dock, very close to Las Golondrinas' boarding stairs. All boats have their history, and that of this one, with its elegant aged blue hull, begins in a shipyard in Arenys de Mar in 1992, the year of its launching under a different name.
Originally, it was destined to sail through different areas of the Mediterranean thanks to its powerful engines, although fate eventually led it to calmer waters: those of the port, where today it serves as an institutional vessel for protocol visits or for guests of the Barcelona port authority. Along with the pilot boats, security forces, and tugboats, the Consolat de Mar is probably the vessel that best knows this enormous facility.
Yesterday we embarked on this boat with Lluís Salvadó, president of the port, and David Pino, director of Port Vell, who acted as guides for a day for a group of media during a maritime tour to see the progress in the twenty actions that are reforming this area of the port and whose execution has been accelerated by the celebration of the America's Cup between August and October 2024.
The six bases
The big novelty in the profile of the docks is the appearance of six bases. One for the winning team of the previous America's Cup and five others for those who intend to win it in Barcelona next year. The base with the greatest visibility is, possibly, that of the cup defender: the Emirates Team New Zealand, which has settled in the old Drassanes maritime station and has erected a hangar next to it.
David Pino wanted to emphasize that all the facilities for the participating teams are being built "in the most sustainable way possible." One example he gave was the use, mostly, of electric cranes to take the boats out of the water and store them in the hangar after each training session or competition. Also, that 40% of the electricity consumption in the facilities will be generated by solar panels. On the Muelle de España, the bases of the Swiss team Alinghi Red Bull Racing are practically finished. They were the first to arrive in the city and temporarily set up next to Marina Vela. Sharing the dock, though not exactly next door, is Ineos Britannia, the UK team whose base occupies the old Imax car park and whose mooring line is part of Marina Port Vell, the port concessionaire for large yachts and superyachts.
The most visible base is, possibly, that of the cup defender: Emirates Team New Zealand, which has set up in the old Drassanes maritime station and has built a hangar next to it."The collaboration of different port concessionaires, making their own spaces temporarily available so that the cup can be held, has been fundamental for the organization to succeed," Salvadó emphasized, adding that rather than building new areas, insertions are made into existing areas like surgical operations in the available zones of Port Vell.
Another base already practically finished is that of American Magic, the team representing the New York Yacht Club. It has its work area within the MB92 shipyard, which has ceded part of its facilities to the Americans. Music, such as blues and country, frequently plays there while the final details are being worked on to get everything ready for the team's official disembarkation in the coming weeks. As expected, all of this is done under a huge Stars and Stripes flag hanging from a crane. It's a way of saying that this is U.S. territory.
Another large flag is the Italian one of the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team. It proudly stands next to a crane that is painted white. This may be due to the marked aesthetic sense of the Italians or because a luxury brand is the main sponsor of these transalpine challengers. The sixth and last base is that of the French team Orient Express Racing Team, which has provisional facilities next to the Porta d'Europa bridge. The French, sponsored by the luxury brand of the hotelier Accor, will have their definitive facilities ready by the end of the year, when they will be 100% in the city, although for now, even the provisional ones look elegant, possibly due to having the important hotel empire behind them.
Something that remains for Barcelona
The president of the port wanted to remind that what we were seeing was the second great transformation of the Port Vell. "The Olympics opened this area of docks to the citizens, moving the bulk of commercial operations to the south. Now we are going to finish that trend," he stressed.
And it is that all the works that are being done in the different docks of the Port Vell will become part of the city's heritage as soon as the tournament ends, in October 2024, and, in fact, many can begin to be enjoyed in the coming months. All total twenty actions that with public-private investment reach 120 million euros of investment.
Lluís Salvadó: "The Olympics opened this area of docks to the citizens, moving the bulk of commercial operations to the south. Now we are going to finish that trend"There are prominent areas that promise to be new attractions for the city, such as the new Time Out Market, a gastronomic market that will be the fourth of this brand in the world and that will revive a Maremagnum in need of novelties and renovation. Also noteworthy is a revived Imax cinema, which at the time was a great technological novelty for the city and will reopen as an interpretation center for the America's Cup. Also noteworthy isthe rambla of the new entrance, which will run parallel to the new breakwater on the inside and will be the best place to see the departure and arrival of all the boats that come to Port Vell through the north entrance, opened 20 years ago.
The renovation of the Aquarium, the new fish market, the new spaces for the nautical institute or the sheds on the eastern dock are areas that will be ready in the coming months. Also ready, at least in its external part, will be the old corporate building of the port authority, which will be completed once the cup finishes, a moment when many docks will be definitively open to the public, just as 30 years ago others also opened Port Vell for the first time to many people who knew it then. The port continues to advance with the city.
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