The president of Aragon, Javier Lambán, has once again demanded “good sense” to try to reach an agreement with Catalonia to submit a joint bid for the organization of the 2030 Winter Olympics on equal terms.
“What you have to try is to lower the ball to the ground, try to debate sensibly and the more sensibly you impress on it, the better”, Lambán stressed in statements to the media in Zaragoza before meeting with the Aragonese irrigation organizations to analyze the Ebro Hydrological Plan 2022-2027.
The president of Aragon has assured that his Executive will not stop working “to try to achieve it on an equal footing” and has underlined its willingness to sign an agreement “always on an equal footing in terms of quality and quantity of evidence.”
He also stressed that his dialogue with the Government of Spain on this matter “at all levels” is “permanent, continuous and discreet”.
The Catalan Winter Sports bet on a solo candidacy if there is no agreement
The Catalan Federation of Winter Sports (FCEH, for its acronym in Catalan) has positioned itself in favor of a solo candidacy from Catalonia to opt for the 2030 Winter Olympics, if finally the Generalitat and the government of Aragon do not close an agreement to organize the event.
In a press conference held in Barcelona, the president of the Catalan federal entity, David Samper, has demanded “courage” from the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) and the Catalan government to present the candidacy of the Catalan Pyrenees.
“I ask the Generalitat and the COE that, if Aragon does not validate the agreement we reached, we launch a candidacy for 2030 only from Catalonia, by capacity, because there is will and, above all, because we have no guarantee that the International Olympic Committee will not designate two venues (2030 and 2034),” he asserted.
Next May 20 is the date that the president of the COE, Alejandro Blanco, has established as the limit to close a joint candidacy between both communities, after Aragón distanced itself from the agreement signed by the Olympic Committee, Moncloa and the Generalitat, in disagreement with the distribution of venues for the Olympic disciplines.
Blanco told Efe this Wednesday that the candidacy must be joint or it will not be presented.
Samper, accompanied by the Olympic skier Núria Pau, who has spoken on behalf of the Catalan winter athletes, has pointed out that he continues to believe in the joint candidacy between Aragon and Catalonia, although he has pointed out that the Olympic project in the Catalan Pyrenees has been in the making since 2010.
“Someone decided to join this project to the agenda of the reunion and Aragon was added to the project. We are delighted because we want the Olympic Games to be held, but without Aragon, after it has been taken down, the Catalonia project is done”, added Samper.
The president of the FCEH has recalled that the cross-country skiing, biathlon and ice sports eventswhich was planned to be organized by Aragon in the agreement, could be held in the Catalan Pyrenees, since that was how it appeared in the initial project of the Catalan candidacy.
Besides, Samper has lamented the position of the government of Aragon which, in his opinion, is due exclusively to political issues” since “going against Catalonia sells”.
For its part, the skier Núria Pau, who participated in the last Winter Olympics in Beijing, has defended that Catalonia “can organize” the Olympic event.
“The Olympic Games would be a shock for grassroots sports, modernization and athletes. We want these games not to harm the territory and the mountains. It would mean a propulsion to improve our sport and the Pyrenees”, he added.
The position of the FCEH adds to the position of the Generalitat of Catalonia that, in the event that a joint candidacy with Aragón does not bear fruit, he does not rule out presenting the project alone.
Likewise, the Aragonese president, Javier Lambán, recently said that if the Generalitat presents a candidacy to the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) for the Catalan Pyrenees to host the Winter Olympics alone, Aragón will also present its own proposal.
