The government of Catalonia has officially taken the essential step so that in 2030 another Olympic Games could be held in Catalonia, this time, unlike 1992, the Winter Games. A letter from the Catalan president, Pere Aragonès, to the president of the Spanish Olympic Committee, Alejandro Blanco, certifies the start of the pre-candidacy of Pyrenees-Barcelona, which if it jumps all the hurdles put in its way by the International Olympic Committee would, on a date yet to be determined in 2023, become an Olympic city in a vote to be held in Mumbai, India.
The candidacy has important elements in its favour and also some significant obstacles that make it, for now, a project on which there is significant disagreement between political groups and also great apathy on the part of the public. Pere Aragonès's commitment to consult the people - without it being known, for now, whether this survey will seek the views of the population of the Pyrenees, of Barcelona or of the whole of Catalonia - also introduces a further uncertainty factor and makes likely a fierce ideological debate on whether the project could be one of sustainable growth for the territory or, on the contrary, a speculative one.
Those clearly in favour are the business associations and PSC, Junts, the PP and Ciudadanos; against are the CUP and the Comuns; in favour, but with many conditions, ERC. This amalgam leads one to expect a heated debate in the period ahead. Not very different from the extension of the third runway at El Prat airport, as we have seen recently. The history of the 1992 Olympic Games held in Barcelona should not serve as an example for the analysis of the project for 2030, as an enormous quantity of water has passed under the bridge since then.
The Winter Olympics question also brings with it a debate on the consummation of expectations, which have fallen well below the initial forecasts for recent hosts. There is also the fact that many major cities have declined to host them, either by directly renouncing them or because their promoters have lost referendums. Pedro Sánchez's Spanish government also endorses the Olympic project and, surely, clings to the hope that it would be an element with enough investment weight to contribute to the thawing of relations between Catalonia and Spain.
It is no secret that the Spanish government will try to water down the dialogue table with Catalonia via tangential deviations from its resounding refusal to talk about an amnesty, a referendum and independence. It will, in any case, be the duty of the Catalan side to be belligerent in its requests and not to confuse a political roundtable aimed at reaching a solution to the conflict with one which is exclusively about investing in infrastructures. Of course you can demand a referendum on the independence of Catalonia whether you are for or against holding the Olympic Games. These are two completely different questions and we mustn't let anyone pull the wool over our eyes.