Aragón refuses to sign 2030 Winter Games bid agreement

BarcelonaThe president of Aragón, Javier Lambán, has explained in a meeting this morning in Zaragoza that he will not sign the proposal for the distribution of venues in the bid to host the Winter Olympic Games in the Pyrenees in 2030. Although representatives of his government went to a meeting of the technical commission last Tuesday where they agreed on the content of the letter the president of the Spanish Olympic Committee, Alejandro Blanco, sent yesterday to the Spanish, Catalan and Aragonese governments, Lambán has decided to continue turning the screw and will not go to the meeting with Blanco this Friday.

Lambán, therefore, rejects the technical proposal sent by the Spanish Olympic Committee, which was validated by the Catalan and Spanish governments because, he says, the distribution of the events "is not balanced". He said he will present an alternative very soon, but without haste. Annoyed with the agreement being leaked on Friday, Lambán affirms that "the sporting scope" of the events "clearly favours Catalonia". The Spanish Olympic Committee's document proposes that the Catalan Pyrenees host alpine skiing (La Molina-Masella), snowboarding, acrobatic skiing (Baqueira Beret) and ski mountaineering (Boí Taüll), while the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona would be the venue for ice hockey.

The Aragonese Pyrenees would host the biathlon and cross-country skiing, with Zaragoza as the venue for figure skating and speed skating on long and short track, while Jaca would host the curling. Lambán did not want to set a specific date or say whether this alternative will be ready before Friday, the day on which the Spanish Olympic Committee has summoned the regional governments to its headquarters for political representatives to sign the technical agreement sent by letter yesterday, but he did say that it will be done thoroughly and as quickly as possible.