Barcelona will open a sports center in the Raval neighborhood to try to encourage young people to stay in the area.

BarcelonaBarcelona is laying the foundation for addressing the lack of sports facilities in the Raval district, aiming to foster "cohesion and community building" among residents and encourage young people to stay connected to the area. Mayor Jaume Collboni announced on Monday that the city council plans to transform the existing Drassanes municipal court—located in Raval Sud—into an indoor sports center with stands and changing rooms, covering an area of ​​2,094 square meters. The project, representing an investment of €11.7 million, is slated to begin in 2028—the bidding process for the preliminary design will start immediately—and the City Council estimates that construction could take approximately two years. The facility is not expected to open until at least 2031. Currently, the municipal court on Drassanes Avenue is an open-air facility managed by the Ciutat Vella Sports Association and is a popular venue for futsal and basketball. In fact, it's the only sports court in the neighborhood where teams like CFS Nou de la Rambla (men's and women's) can play in official league matches. The project to transform it will create a new multi-sports pavilion that can accommodate a wider range of sports, including handball, futsal, basketball, volleyball, and badminton. The stands will have seating for 250 people. "We want to ensure that residents who wish to can continue living in Ciutat Vella," Collboni stated.

The mayor emphasized the role of sport in "social cohesion" and stated that they want the new facility to be "a true sports hub" and a landmark space in the neighborhood for athletic activities. For many years, he said, the Raval and the Ciutat Vella district have primarily received investment to enhance cultural facilities, and now it's the turn of sport. "It's very important as a social policy and for social cohesion," he indicated. He added: "Sport and the long-standing tradition of sports practice and sports organizations in the Raval play a fundamental role in social cohesion, especially among young people." This renovation—whose investment Collboni described as the "most significant" in the neighborhood's sports sector—is part of a package of improvements to facilities in Raval Sud, which will allocate a total of €14.28 million to the neighborhood until 2027, within the framework of the Catalan Government's budget agreement with ERC Vella.

Sports and educational "reinforcement"

Collboni has argued that his administration has made Ciutat Vella "the priority" for investments during this term, allocating over 250 million euros to cultural, educational, healthcare, and sports facilities: "We maintain that this must continue to be a priority in the next term because Ciutat Vella is the heart of the city," he asserted. In addition to the transformation of the Drassanes municipal track, the city council also plans to create a new public square of approximately 900 square meters in the Raval neighborhood, bordered by Sant Martí, Riereta, and Maria Casas streets. This area has a high urban density, and the square aims to create more open space for community use, including a small exercise park, the City Council stated in a press release.

There will also be a 658 m² space for sports facilities on the ground floor of the new Les Palmeres building, a 44-unit social housing complex (Sant Martí Street, 12-14), which was recently built. The total investment for this facility is €2.17 million, and construction is expected to begin in 2027.

€50,000 for a basketball hoop

As part of the Pla de Barris (Neighborhood Plan), the City Council has also announced the construction of a temporary multi-sports court on Sant Bartomeu Street. The 586-square-meter facility will include changing rooms, lighting, and a water fountain, and its construction will begin and be completed this year. This court will host sporting activities while the construction of the future Sant Bartomeu municipal nursery is underway. The nursery will have a 1,015-square-meter building with a 415-square-meter playground, and construction is scheduled to begin in 2028, though no investment has yet been allocated. This plan is complemented by the improvement of the basketball court in the Sant Pau Gardens, where a "technical basketball hoop" will be installed as a pilot project to "promote informal sports participation," with an investment of €50,000. It will become operational in 2027. According to the mayor, all these actions together "consolidate the transformation of Raval Sud" through the strengthening of sports and educational facilities in Ciutat Vella.