Barcelona not to seek to host 2026 Winter Olympics

The Barcelona City Hall announced on Wednesday that it would not launch a campaign for the city to host the 2026 Winter Olympic Games with towns in the Pyrenees Mountains.



The agreement to rule out the candidacy was signed by the majority of the political parties on the Barcelona city council.



The Spanish sports press confirms the decision was taken after an evaluation report into the viability to hosting the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games and means Barcelona will not officially present its candidacy to the International Olympic Committee in 2019.



The report highlighted the lack of consensus in favor of hosting the events and also the lack of time available to organize and present a winning candidacy, especially in the face of possible logistical problems with the mountains being at a certain distance from the city, known for its mild winter climate.



The City Hall has, however, commented that it leaves "the door open" to the possibility of hosting the Winter Olympics at a future date.



Barcelona hosted the 1992 Olympic Games, which were hugely successful and played a major role in kick starting the modernization of the city and boosting annual tourist numbers from 1.73 million in 1990 to over 8 million in 2015.

