white smoke. The Generalitat of Catalonia and the Government of Aragon have reached a technical agreement to go hand in hand for the 2030 Winter Games, according to El País and AS confirmed.
The details, and also the name of the candidacy that was born as Pirineus-Barcelona, will be known next week, in principle on Monday, once an agreement has been reached for the distribution of evidence. Barcelona would host hockey at the Palau Sant Jordi; curling would go to Jaca (Huesca) and speed and figure skating to Zaragoza.
Alpine skiing would be held in La Molina and Masella, snowboarding and freestyle in Baqueira, and cross-country skiing and biathlon would go to Aragón. To reduce costs, and in accordance with the 2020 Agenda of the International Olympic Committee, which now allows events to be taken to other countries or territories, the luge, bobshleig and skeleton circuits would not be built and others existing in Sarajevo, Italy or France could be used. . Ski jumping could also be held outside, since there are no trampolines in Spain.
One of the premises of the Government of Spain to support the attempt was the entry of Aragon and its president, Javier Lambán, threatened twice to break the deck if there was no equality. Alejandro Blanco, president of the Spanish Olympic Committee, has taken the reins of the mediation until reaching an agreement. The IOC recommended Madrid not to appear at the summer games of 2036, but it has extended the carpet to the Pyrenees, a mountain range that has never held a Games.
The idea of a unity candidacy, which overcomes the differences between Catalonia and the rest of Spain, is liked by the IOC and is the philosophy that the central government wants to transmit. But there are still pitfalls to be overcome. The Generalitat announced a popular consultation in the areas of the Pyrenees affected by the Games, something that the Minister of Culture and Sports, Miguel Iceta, considered today that “it is not necessary” and could be “an obstacle”.
