Les Corts welcomes the new pavilion with open arms: "I won't have to leave home to play basketball anymore."

BarcelonaUntil now, Enric Ros had to leave his neighborhood to play basketball or indoor soccer. He's been a resident of Les Corts for years, loves sports, and every week he traveled to the courts in Pedralbes or Sarrià to compete with his friends. Like him, hundreds of residents visited the municipal sports hall l'Illa this Wednesday to see firsthand how it looks after the expansion the neighborhood had been demanding for years. The reception was very warm, and the day became a popular celebration for young and old with sports activities, outdoor games, and music.

"I won't have to leave my neighborhood to play basketball anymore. This renovation was very necessary because there's a serious lack of sports facilities in Les Corts," Ros said after visiting the renovated hall. The Catalan capital's city council has made "one of the largest investments" in sports—a total of 16.3 million euros—to double its capacity before the construction works begin, and now it is expected that more than a thousand people will use it every day, including schools, federated teams, and residents.

Among the many athletes who will be using it is the first women's team of the Les Corts-UBAE Sports Association, which was crowned champion of the Catalunya Cup last weekend. It is an institution in women's indoor soccer, and until now, every training session and every match were a headache if the weather wasn't on their side. "When it rained, they had to go somewhere else. They've played at all the schools in the neighborhood," recalls Luís Merino, also a resident of the neighborhood who celebrates the expansion of the pavilion, but believes it is too late after years of demanding it.

The Catalunya Cup champions took advantage of the event to present the award in the neighborhood and also to the city's mayor, Jaume Collboni, who presided over the opening ceremony. "We're here. Finally, after many years, the district now has its great municipal pavilion," the mayor emphasized, accompanied by the municipal government's Councilor for Sports, David Escudé, who is also a councilor for the district. Located in the Diagonal Island complex, the mayor also stated that the new pavilion is the "most modern and sustainable" in the city.

Activities for young and old

While inside the pavilion, a tasting of the different options was taking place, with two simultaneous basketball and rhythmic gymnastics training sessions, outside, a crowd of families gathered to take advantage of the various activities organized to liven up the day. A live jazz concert, table tennis matches, and a penalty shootout were some of the activities enjoyed by adults and children throughout the popular festival.

Sergio Oliveras, who says he's too old to play sports in the new facility, came with his family to see the new pavilion and was equally satisfied: "Just watching my son play is enough for me." But Ros emphasizes that there are many older people in the neighborhood, and that their numbers will increase. He argues that the new pavilion was also necessary for the "older ones" and insists that more spaces are still needed for older people to play sports.

Aside from encouraging physical activity, which is what everyone initially thinks about when a pavilion opens, Olga Domènech recalls how, before the construction work, they had organized all kinds of cultural activities. She's a lifelong resident, and when she was a member of the Plaza Rosés festival committee, they put on plays and indoor soccer games for people with cerebral palsy. Now, she's confident that with the new facilities, these activities will continue to be organized in the heart of the neighborhood.