Five mobility tips for attending the Camp Nou reopening
Barcelona City Council is restricting access to certain streets around the stadium for residents and prohibiting motorcycle parking on the sidewalk.
BarcelonaIt's been a long time coming, but football is finally back at Camp Nou. The return will also impact the residents of Les Corts, who are preparing to once again experience match days. To try and minimize disruption, the Barcelona City Council presented them this Thursday with new measures to improve access to the stadium. This mobility plan includes traffic and parking restrictions and will also affect coaches traveling to the match. The system will begin its trial run this Saturday and will be refined as the stadium's capacity increases. Here are five key points for getting around Camp Nou starting this Saturday.
Streets restricted to residents
Starting Saturday, on match days, certain streets around Camp Nou will be restricted to residents only. These include Mejía Lequerica Street—previously used by many vehicles as a shortcut to avoid Gran Vía de Carlos III and Travessera de les Corts—and the area around Felipe de Paz Street, within the perimeter formed by Travessera de les Corts, Gran Vía de Carlos III, Avenida Madrid, and Riera Blanca Street. During this season, access control will be carried out by officers of the Guardia Urbana (Barcelona's municipal police), but starting next season, cameras will be installed at seven checkpoints: on the bus lane against the flow of traffic on Travessera de Les Corts, at the intersection of Benavent Street and Travessera, at the intersection of Comte Güell and Travessera Mendieta with Arizala, at the intersection of Arizala and Felipe de Paz, and on the bus lane against the flow of traffic on Avenida Madrid. Vehicles belonging to non-residents that enter these streets will be fined.
Motorcycles are prohibited on the sidewalk
One of the plan's objectives is to promote pedestrian mobility in the vicinity of the stadium. Therefore, motorcycles—which until now have been very prevalent on streets like Travessera de les Corts and Gran Vía de Carlos III—will be prohibited from parking on the sidewalks in the entire area surrounding the stadium. In exchange, the City Council will create 3,000 parking spaces within the University Zone. Of these, 1,000 are existing permanent motorcycle spaces, while 2,000 will be added only on match days as an exceptional measure, allowing parking on the lot adjacent to Parque de la Bederrida. This will require spectators in the south stand to walk a little further to reach their seats.
Change of location for coaches
Another change will affect coaches traveling to the stadium. From now on, they will have to unload on the section of Martí Franquès street next to Diagonal Avenue. During the match, they will have to park in the lot owned by FC Barcelona where the Miniestadi used to be. Afterwards, they will pick up passengers at a different location: in a parking lane and a traffic lane on Doctor Marañón street heading uphill, and in a lane on Diagonal Avenue heading towards Llobregat.
A taxi rank
The mobility plan also includes taxi service. To avoid problems on Travessera de les Corts and to prevent them from contributing to congestion in the surrounding area, the City Council has concentrated these vehicles at a taxi rank on Menéndez y Pelayo Street. The council argues that this area is very close to the Camp Nou stadium and only requires short and intuitive pedestrian routes, in addition to allowing vehicles to travel in all directions. Vehicles for people with reduced mobility (PRM) will have reserved spaces on the final stretch of Martí i Franquès Street, as well as in specific areas on Arístides Maillol and Travessera de les Corts.
Public transport reinforcement
The City Council's strategy is for the majority of the public to reach Camp Nou on foot or by public transport. Therefore, the existing service will be reinforced on match days. Three metro lines – L3, L5, and L9S/L10S – three tram lines – T1, T2, and T3 – and ten city bus lines – 7, 33, 67, 54, H6, H8, V1, V3, V5, and D20; and on weekdays, 113 and 175 – all serve the vicinity of Camp Nou. In addition, there are more than twenty metropolitan, intercity, and express bus lines, primarily heading towards other municipalities in the Barcelonès, Baix Llobregat, and Garraf regions.
