This Thursday, Víctor Font announced his plan for the Palau Blaugrana. The leader of the Nosotros candidacy, along with Àlex Barbany, who was Barça's revenue director and commercial director of Espai Barça during the first part of Laporta's presidency, presented an agreement to design and build the new arena. According to the announcement, the project will be developed with the support of Gensler, the design and architecture firm that spearheaded projects such as the Chase Center in San Francisco, home of the Golden State Warriors. Víctor Font's new Palau Blaugrana will have 15,000 permanent seats, and the capacity can be expanded to accommodate concerts. Its budget is estimated at 380 million euros, and it is anticipated that, if he wins the elections, it could be inaugurated in the first quarter of 2030. To move forward, the candidate has reportedly reached an agreement with a partner, whose name has not been revealed, with whom the project will be financed equally. The agreement would reserve 100% of ticketing revenue for the club, while all other revenue, whether from hospitality , concerts, or naming rights , would be split 50/50 between Barça and the partner . Another new aspect of Font's project is the intention to preserve the old Palau and transform it into a new Petit Palau, where matches with lower attendance are played.
The funding for Espai Barça is running out with many outstanding tasks
The construction of Camp Nou has already cost the Blaugrana club more than 1 billion.
BarcelonaSince Barça approved the renovation of Camp Nou and its surroundings in a 2014 referendum, the project's cost has steadily increased. What was initially budgeted at €600 million was revised upwards by Josep Maria Bartomeu's board, a year before his resignation, to €815 million. Once Joan Laporta inherited the project, the total expenditure skyrocketed by 250% compared to the initial estimate, reaching €1.5 billion. It was estimated that the Camp Nou renovations would cost €900 million, while those of the Palau Blaugrana would reach €420 million.
A lawsuit and cost overruns
Over time, however, the new Palau has faded from view, and its construction has fallen outside the budget, as club representatives implicitly admitted in court this week. Barcelona's Court of First Instance No. 34 held a hearing on Wednesday to determine whether the Barça board acted correctly, according to the club's statutes, in dismissing an internal complaint from a member who complained that the Palau, a hotel, and new offices had been excluded from the final project despite having been approved by the board. The lawsuit does not ask the judge to decide on the allocation of the funds. It only seeks to have the case reopened and the dismissal declared null and void. The club's argument is that the assembly approved financing "some" or "all" of the elements of Espai Barça. With the Camp Nou's smaller sibling out of the equation, Barça secured a €1.45 billion loan from Goldman Sachs. Of these, as Maribel Meléndez, then the entity's corporate general manager, publicly stated, 1,070 were for the stadium, 200 for contingencies, and 180 for financial expenses. There was no explicit mention of the arena. This was in April 2023. Two and a half years later, There is no news from the Palau either, apart from a few renders. And the reality is far from encouraging, since at the close of accounts on June 30th, Barça admitted to spending €975 million on the Camp Nou renovations alone. The figure, as reported by RAC1, has already surpassed €1 billion. And this is despite the fact that the stadium has only partially reopened a year late and lacks both a third tier and a roof. Given that the €180 million earmarked for financial expenses cannot be used to pay suppliers, less than €270 million remains in the funds agreed upon with Goldman Sachs. Therefore, everything indicates that both the Palau Blaugrana and the final phase of the Camp Nou will have to be financed separately.
Barça and the construction company Limak agreed on a guaranteed maximum price of €990 million to build the stadium. However, this cap does not take into account all the additions made to the project after the agreement, such as theskywalk of the roof or the additional repairs to be carried out at various points of the stadium. Meanwhile, the clause that would allow Barça to collect a one million euro penalty per day of delay will not be negotiated until the completion of the works. However, Limak is working with the conviction that they will not have to pay anything, since they have documentary evidence proving that the fault is not solely theirs.
Payments to suppliers
According to information obtained by ARA, in recent weeks Barça has had to advance funds from its regular budget to cover certain expenses. This is because Goldman Sachs releases the funds only after the club and Limak certify the proper progress of the works. In fact, companies involved in the project explained to this newspaper that while they had been able to receive advance payments until recently, the construction company is now demanding payment after the fact. One of these suppliers confirmed the non-payment of an invoice for several thousand euros. Furthermore, material distributors have also complained about Limak's pricing policy. To complete the project, the construction company has had to use top-quality materials for the structures. However, for other materials, such as paving, paint, and railings, prices have been significantly lower. This has led to delays due to disagreements with suppliers. The companies admit that Barça and Limak have obtained significant discounts on the initial price, but in return, they have committed to promoting these supplier companies in the future. For example, by authorizing them to claim active involvement in the Camp Nou renovation, which sometimes entails a sponsorship agreement that benefits Barça.
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