Espai Barça and the process of the urban transformation of the FC Barcelona facilities continues to make progress. The Government Commission of the Barcelona City Council has initially approved the urbanisation project of the streets around the Stadium, which gives continuity to the Modification of the Metropolitan General Plan (MPGM), approved in this mandate to provide the entire area with more public space and to open the precinct to the neighbourhood.

The municipal government worked with the Club, the neighbourhood and surrounding entities so that it had the maximum public interest and possible consensus. Since its final approval in May 2018, progress has been made with the documents that are derived. Currently, the urban reparcelling of the land included in the MPGM is in process. And now the green light has been given to the urbanisation project that includes the interventions that will be made in the streets and open spaces.

Specifically, the area of ​​111,046.74 m2 to be redeveloped, and 28 million euros (plus VAT) to be invested, which will be entirely charged to FC Barcelona. The set of actions will create a large open space around the stadium, eliminating the external fence and the unevenness that there is now, whilst also renewing and expanding the surrounding streets to reorder the road and pedestrian access.

A permeable enclosure integrated into the neighbourhood

The enclosure, then, will be integrated in the neighbourhood of Maternitat i de Sant Ramon and will be permeable. New private spaces will be open to public use without closures, and will maintain a continuity with the rest of the public, road and green spaces that surround it and the Camp Nou, current Palau Blaugrana and the Miniestadi.

With this objective, all the free land on private property that overlooks Arístides Maillol, between Travessera de Les Corts and Cardenal Reig, will be of public use and will be adequately urbanised so that it becomes a new area open to citizenship and with a sustained urban activity beyond sporting events.

The opening of the enclosure will release a set of new spaces for public use that will offer more pleasant routes between crossings of Les Corts and Diagonal, and will facilitate access to Diagonal and the different means of public transport.

Thus, the project plans to adjust the layout of Arístides Maillol and expand the public space that accompanies it to better connect the facilities. Likewise, the Maternitat section will be improved, maintaining the current trees, and the relationship and civic route will be facilitated with Joan XXIII and Diagonal.

The street section of Joan XXIII will have three lanes of vehicles and bike lanes, as will Cardenal Reig, Gregorio Marañón, Menéndez Pelayo and Travessera de les Corts (only on the Camp Nou side).

New bike lanes and more green space

In all the interventions, the road and pedestrian access will be reordered and improved, and the perimeter pavements of the sports facilities will increase their width. In addition, it will be used to implement the bike lane network to all these roads. New green areas in Arístides Maillol will connect the residential buildings and the New Palau Blaugrana, and a green area around the Masía will incorporate the promenade of pines of Joan XXIII, Les Corts and the University of Barcelona.

The project has been promoted by the Club in collaboration with the City Council. Therefore, urbanisation criteria will follow those applied in municipal interventions in terms of elements such as curbs, tree pits, general paving of tiles and sidewalks, and lighting.

Calendar and next steps

Once initially approved, the project enters a one-month public exposure period for claims to be filed. Afterwards, the processing will continue for its final approval within the framework of the Government Commission.

The forecast is that the first works can start from this autumn. They would begin by Menéndez Pelayo, in the section between Martí i Franquès and Joan XXIII, commencing later in other streets.

In parallel, the Club and the City Council will continue working on the rest of the elements of the transformation. The MPGM includes important changes that will have to be developed, such as moving all of the current surface car parking underground, to mitigate the impact on mobility on match days; the renovation of the Camp Nou and the construction of the New Palau Blaugrana, the construction of three new tertiary buildings around the intersection of Aristides Maillol and Joan XXIII and a fourth service of the Club in the crossroads of Les Corts with Aristides Maillol.