The America’s Cup It has already come to an end. Officially it has been a success. The expected 2.5 million attendees will surely have been reached – according to the Barcelona City Council, before the final the figure was already at 1.6 million – and the audience targeted by the organization of 941 million people will be around. , nothing more and nothing less than behind a soccer World Cup or the Olympic Games. The forecast is to be fulfilled, as in the old five-year plans. There is a solid basis: the data provided by the 2007 edition of the competition, held in Valencia by Francisco Camps and Rita Barberá. With these expectations of impact, the central government declared the competition an event of exceptional public interest. This measure allows you to enjoy tax advantages similar to the programs promoted by the Higher Sports Council, such as, for example, the preparation plan for Spanish athletes for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Entering into a war of numbers would be absurd, since each one measures the audiences as suits their interests. Of course, a good part of the media has amplified the event with, let’s say, magnanimity. The desire to turn the Copa del América into Barcelona 92 Bis —although it remained a simulation of the 2004 Forum of Cultures— it was an act of faith that our city of wonders is only capable of growing through great miracles. And after years of silence and setbacks, between processes and the mayor’s office in the hands of Ada Colau, a group of Catalan businessmen set out to put their efforts into bringing this regatta competition to Barcelona.
A few days ago, Josep Catà explained in these pages how a handful of bourgeois risked a million euros of collateral each. Happy and finally they didn’t lose anything. They recovered everything and the initiative ended up being an operation supported by the public sector, which is like playing with a net: there is no possibility of a fatal fall from the trapeze.
The bet sought to restore a certain prominence to the once powerful Catalan bourgeoisie, which had resigned from its leading role years ago. It didn’t go wrong initially. Even the tough Ada Colau believed in the projectalthough he has renounced this in later self-criticisms. The central government put a red fiscal carpet on the initiative sponsored by the socialist part of the municipal government team. EL PAÍS placed the amount contributed by the administrations at 71.27 million. At the moment, opacity prevents us from knowing more information, including how much sponsors contribute.
Has all this contributed to putting Barcelona in the universe of big cities like in ’92? Has the bourgeoisie recovered its former role? The answer is most likely not. The ’92 Olympic Games and the great urban transformation of Barcelona occurred only once. Now, the tourist and economic impact – estimated by the organizers at 1.2 billion euros – of the America’s Cup has barely been noticed in hotel reservations, according to the sector’s own employers. And, on the other hand, the bourgeoisie is no longer what it was. If the precariat has replaced the proletariat, the search for real estate gains has done the same with the industrial bourgeoisie.
The IESE act of 2007, calling for the management of airportswas the last proposal from that Catalan bourgeoisie, which has desperately sought a party of order since the end of Pujolism. Every time has its signs. Now the employers’ push for the Copa del América has wanted to be a certificate of faith in life, but the lost achievements have not even remotely been recovered.
