Montjuïc deserves a little more respect

Gun's and Roses will kick off the summer concert season at the Olympic Stadium on June 9th. For three months, a crowd will have the privilege of seeing and hearing their artists in a venue steeped in history: only 25 of the stadiums that have hosted Summer Games are still in operation.

A venue that also has a double advantage: it's isolated while remaining centrally located, as it's accessible on foot from the city center. Cases like this aren't common. Stadiums have either moved to the outskirts or are too centrally located to offer a regular schedule of live music. Read Santiago Bernabéu.

In 2014, during a Rolling Stones concert at Rome's legendary Circus Maximus, Mick Jagger confessed that he was thrilled to "sing for once in a stadium that's older than me." If the Stones extend their career a little further and return to the Lluís Companys stadium one day, Jagger, who is 81, will be able to relive that same excitement, as Montjuïc will celebrate its centenary in 2029.

The stadium is a reflection of the city's very history: a tale of success, but also of precariousness, since, in times of greatest hardship, its depths welcomed those condemned to live in poverty.

Despite the criticism, the Estadi has provided a brilliant service to the city and Barça.

But history holds little value in today's culture of the moment. Despite its status as a venerable facility, the Lluís Companys Stadium has been severely disrespected. Espanyol and Barça have ended up there when they've run out of pitches. And, in both cases, the clubs' entourage—not their boards—has been harsh on the stadium for being inaccessible, freezing, and because the athletics track placed the pitch too far away from the stands, and supposedly less effective crowd pressure on opposing players.

The criticism has been constant, and on the eve of the Camp Nou's reopening, the common feeling is that we're returning home after a painful exile. And that's because many Barcelona residents still believe that everything outside the Eixample, Ciutat Vella, Gràcia, and Sarrià-Sant Gervasi is the inhospitable suburbs.

Montjuïc has been treated unfairly in every way. The drone footage broadcast by television stations before the matches has been exquisitely visual, a magnificent promotion of the city and the stadium itself, with its old marathon gate and cauldron dominating the shots.

But Lluís Companys's performance must also be appreciated on the sporting front. This year, marvelous images of virtuosity and celebration have been etched in the memory of Barcelona fans. Many days of glory await Lamine Yamal at the Camp Nou, it is to be hoped, but his emergence into the elite will always be associated in memory with the Magic Mountain.

The competition Without a team, life is better.

At Montjuïc, work is underway these days to dismantle the Barcelona-inspired stadium and adapt it for the concert season. The fact that the Lluís Companys stadium has stopped hosting Barça's home matches plays heavily into its favor in the competitive world of mega-concerts. Rival city Madrid doesn't have as much leeway after the Bernabéu fiasco—anticipated by some—was confirmed, as the Riyadh Air (formerly the Metropolitano) is occupied by Atlético de Madrid.

With football almost over—a return to matches at Montjuïc isn't ruled out, as the Camp Nou's reopening may not be as imminent as Barça hopes—the stadium is entering musical mode. It will soon once again be the big brother of an Olympic Ring increasingly focused on music.

When the expansion of the Sant Jordi Club to 9,000 spectators is completed, planned for 2029, BSM, the management company, will be able to offer promoters a wide range of capacities, from 3,000 to 60,000. And without neighbors lurking around.

The proposal A world athletics championship

This month, a group called Friends of Track and Field Athletics collected 2,334 signatures to demand that the City Council restore the Estadi Lluís Companys stadium to athletics use. There is a precedent that suggests it wouldn't be unreasonable to attempt to host a European or World Athletics Championship: an unusual exercise in collaboration between public authorities and private sector initiatives made it possible for Barcelona, ​​against all odds, to host the America's Cup.

The sad thing is the absence of athletics in a stadium that was designed for it. The issue is complex. There are many runners in Barcelona, ​​but since 1992, few people have been willing to pay the ticket to watch athletics. Absent from the major meetings circuit, the city has also failed to fully embrace the opportunity to host outdoor World Championships or European Championships.

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But there's still room for hope. Other stadiums that originally had athletics tracks, such as Anoeta in San Sebastián or La Cartuja in Seville, have surrendered to football and mercilessly crushed their tartan. Barcelona is left without competition. Fortunately, the Lluís Companys stadium will keep its old track, even though it hinders other uses of the venue. Montjuïc wouldn't be the same without it.