Every football fan knows the Spotify Camp Nou, as it is a mythical stadium where magical nights of football have been lived that will remain in the memory of many FC Barcelona fans. It is the largest football stadium on the European continent and the fourth largest in the world, with a capacity of almost 100,000 people.
If you are passionate about football and you are planning to visit Barcelona during the next few months, Shuttle2Sun takes you to its gates. We offer shuttles or private transfer services from the airport or train station to Barcelona.
New construction company for the redevelopment
FC Barcelona has already chosen a construction company for the renovation of its stadium and, to everyone’s surprise, it doesn’t have a Spanish origin. The club’s board of directors unanimously approved placing its trust in a Turkish company called Limak Construction, agreeing on a maximum cost of 900 million euros, according to the club’s vice-president of the institutional area, Elena Fort.
Although the work will be mainly aimed at remodelling the stadium, the construction also includes a new multi-purpose pavilion and a new campus. The first part of the work has already begun during the last World Cup, a phase in which part of the third amphitheatre in the south area was demolished, although the most important part of the work is scheduled to begin next summer.
It should be noted that, although it is not a well-known construction company, its most important works are not small. This Turkish family group is present in very different businesses, from a hotel chain to cement factories. Limak Construction already has some major construction experience behind it, such as the Dnipro metro, the world’s highest suspension bridge in Çanakkle or the Istanbul airport, also the largest in the world. Another construction under his name was the Mersin Arena in Ankara in 2013, with a total capacity of 25,000 people. Despite not having built large football or other sports stadiums, how can it be that it has been passed over by the likes of Ferrovial, FCC and other better-known Spanish construction companies?
Elena Fort expressed that “The stadium is nothing more than an engineering work and having previous experience in stadium construction is not always a requirement. Limak guarantees the completion of a complex project, such as the remodelling of the Camp Nou. It has worked and continues to work with major companies”. Below, we explain other possible reasons to justify the award of the work.
The first and foremost is the close financial relationship between Limak Construction and the investment bank Goldman Sachs. This bank was in charge of finding and providing the 1,500 million in financing for the new Espai Barça, an operation that the club expects to close definitively this first quarter of the year.
The second explanation is the deadlines that the construction company promised to meet. Many Spanish companies offered to finish the construction in around 36 months, however, Limak Constructions promised to finish the works, and with guarantees, in 18 months.
The final explanation may lie in the cost of the construction that the Turkish construction company presented, which was 900 million compared to the more than a thousand that other proposals would have cost. Their strategy to achieve this cost reduction is the construction of the stadium in parts and assembling it outside the country, supported by a logistic system strong enough for this difficult renovation.
The FC Barcelona stadium redevelopment assignment will be a litmus test for Limak Construction. Although the construction company has open projects in Russia, Persian Gulf, the Balkans, Africa, Kosovo and Ukraine, success in this refurbishment could be a big step towards its consolidation in Western Europe. In 2011, the Turkish construction company considered going public, but due to the current economic crisis and the devaluation of the lira, its local currency, it decided to take a step back.
This Turkish construction company has a strong business figure in its management, President Ebry Ózdemir, graduated in civil engineering. During her leadership, she has managed to position the company as one of the main business, financial and political sponsors of the Swiss city of Davos. Since the foundation of Limak, Özdemir has positioned herself as a strong advocate of women’s rights and one of her main objectives is to promote Turkish women’s careers in engineering and science.
Thus, under Fort’s assertion, FC Barcelona’s men’s first team will spend the 2023/2024 season at the Olympic Stadium Lluís Companys founded for the Barcelona ‘92 Olympic Games. Thus, a large part of the work can be carried out during this coming season. The intention for the team to return to the Estadi Culé is expected to be before 29 November 2024, according to Fort, coinciding with the one hundred and twenty-fifth birthday of the Spotify Camp Nou.
What will be new in this new remodelling?
The new stadium will be open and integrated into the city of Barcelona, maintaining its mediterranean identity with its large terraces. Another novelty will be the incorporation of a roof to cover the 105,000 fans who will be able to attend the club’s matches. This roof will be photovoltaic with the aim of turning the Espai Barça into a benchmark for sustainability, as it will be covered with 30,000 m² of solar panels to generate energy. On the other hand, a 3rd new grandstand has been proposed for the concentration of VIP areas instead of being distributed throughout the rest of the stadium, improving accessibility and comfort. The future Camp Nou will be a stadium that will have state-of-the-art technology elements and, among them, will allow the installation of a 360º screen inside the stadium to offer a unique and different experience to the spectator.
These new infrastructures are expected to bring in an additional 200 million euros per year for the club, thanks to the increase in spectator capacity. In this way, it is expected to repay the construction cost over the next 35 years.
Now you know something more about the new stadium of Futbol Club Barcelona Shuttle2Sun takes you to the city of Barcelona from Barcelona airport, Barcelona port, Girona airport, Reus airport or AVE Camp de Tarragona train station to the door of your hotel or flat in Barcelona. Book your transfer now and enjoy a few days in Barcelona.
