New delay in the works of the Spotify Camp Nou: Barça, further away from returning to culé temple

The FC Barcelona board continues to face problems with the remodeling works at the Spotify Camp Nou. Although the club maintains hopes of returning to the culé temple before the end of the year, the truth is that, for now, the early morning shift at work inside and outside the stadium remains suspended for two reasons. The first has to do with the complaint from neighborhood associations about the noise and pollution generated by the works.

After several meetings with representatives of the affected communities in Les Corts, Barça managed to recover permission to resume 24-hour days, only indoors and reducing noise as much as possible. This has allowed the completion of the third tier and the foundations to be brought forward, a key factor in reopening the stadium with a capacity of 64,000 spectators. Outside Camp Nou, however, it is still not possible to work at night. 

In addition, the club faces another major problem in moving forward with the works. At the moment, around 1,800 people work at Camp Nou, along with 350 office technicians. However, there is no crew available for the early morning shift and, in principle, workers would have to be hired outside of Catalonia. This represents a new setback, since it will be necessary to train new workers to adapt to the required tasks and conditions.

Neither January nor December: The month that Barça would set to return to the Camp Nou

This is why, at this point, it seems very difficult for Barça to return to the Camp Nou in December. In principle, the club hoped to play the League duel against Atlético de Madrid, just before Christmas, at the culé temple. At the latest, the board hopes to return to the stadium in the first days of January 2025, but some sources speak of April as a more realistic date, considering the latest delays in the project. Although the fans are responding in Montjuïc, Barça urgently needs to return to Les Corts as soon as possible to improve its income from the box office, museum, shops and other benefits not available at the Olympic Stadium.