Inside Barcelona’s Camp Nou — and the chaos that surrounds it

Barcelona are almost a year behind schedule on their original plan to return to the Camp Nou — and we still don’t have a date for when they can finally play there.

When works started on the €1.5billion (£1.3bn; $1.7bn) stadium refurbishment back in June 2023, Barca said they would re-open the iconic ground at a reduced capacity, while works continued, in time for their 125th anniversary in November 2024. The target has been moved back several times since.

Before each of their three home fixtures so far this season, Barca said they were planning for the games to be played at the Camp Nou.

But in each case, last-minute announcements have informed fans that they would instead be held elsewhere. Barca have hosted two La Liga matches at the 6,000-capacity Estadi Johan Cruyff by their training ground this term, and on Sunday they will face Real Sociedad at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, where they have spent the previous two seasons.

The decision to host the Real Sociedad game at the Estadi Olimpic was revealed on Tuesday evening. That morning, Barcelona invited members of the media to a guided tour of the Camp Nou and called on local authorities to issue the permits they require to open the ground.

“Just because the stadium isn’t finished doesn’t mean it isn’t safe,” vice-president Elena Fort said. “The Spotify Camp Nou is the safest stadium in all of Spain. You can play in the stadium.

“The club’s wish is for the city council to issue the First Occupancy Certificate for Sunday’s match. All the documentation has been submitted so that this can be issued.”

Just a few hours later, Barcelona’s city council called a press event of their own in response, and their take on the situation was very different.

The Athletic was at both events. This is what we learned.

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What’s the Camp Nou like on the inside?

Several things seem clear now after the opportunity to visit the stadium. The first is that, whenever it opens, it is going to be spectacular. Many necessary and positive changes have been made already. For an absolute non-expert in these matters, there was definitely an attraction in allowing yourself to imagine matches being played here soon.

During our time there, announcements were made over the loudspeakers simulating line-ups being called. The sun was out, and while the Camp Nou used to feel a bit gloomy at times, there was an impression of space, of renewal. The stadium now looks much more modern, in the lower stands we were allowed to access, and that impression intensified down by the pitch, which looked in perfect condition. The ground is more open and feels brighter.

However, we were unable to see any of the fan entrances, while the visitors’ changing rooms clearly looked unfinished. Fort insisted that they were usable though, even if they were not aesthetically pleasing.

“Now it only depends on the city council,” she added on when the stadium could re-open.

“We have presented all the legally required documentation with all the deficiencies corrected. Barca have the obligation to ask for the Camp Nou to be reopened. We expect maximum complicity. Today we should have received the First Occupancy License and here we are.”

What did the city council say?

The Barcelona city council is the authority that has to approve Barca’s request to re-open the Camp Nou. Their message was very different to what we heard from the Spanish champions, and the decision to hold a media event of their own at such short notice suggests they wanted to remove themselves from any suggestion that they were causing delays.

Senior officials spoke about several important safety issues that still needed to be addressed, including access routes for fans and space for emergency vehicles to move around the site. That matched with the personal observations made by many of the other journalists in the room who had also been present at the stadium visit earlier that day.

Officials were most of all keen to stress that nothing would be rushed, and that everything would follow proper processes.

“We share the same will with the club, which is for Barca to return to the stadium as soon as possible,” said Barcelona deputy mayor Laia Bonet.

“But the city council needs to guarantee the safety of every fan. This is our priority. We have to make sure all the professionals and technicians can work as rigorously as possible.”

Sebastia Massague, director of civil protection, also spoke at the event.

“We have spotted different elements that need to be fixed and that have an impact on the safety and security of the stadium,” he said.

“When all those issues are fixed and resolved, the city council would have to check and validate it, to finally grant the partial occupational license to host 27,000 people.”

Officials also confirmed that no test event would need to be held before Barcelona invited fans to return to the ground.

So when do we think Barca will finally get back there?

The honest answer is: nobody really knows, and it is very difficult to predict. The city council gave no indication of expected timeframe. Their message was clear: it ultimately depends on Barcelona fixing the issues that have been highlighted, and that was not something that should be rushed.

We currently only know where Barca will play their next two home matches. The Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys on Montjuic will host Real Sociedad in La Liga this Sunday and Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on October 1.

Barca’s next home match after that is against Girona in La Liga on Saturday, October 18. That is technically a possibility, but again, as the city council explained yesterday, the deciding factor will be whether their safety concerns have been addressed.

What do the players think about all this?

First-team sources consulted by The Athletic in recent weeks did not seem to be too worried. They recognised the absurdity of the situation — players at a club of Barca’s standing not knowing for sure where future home matches would be played — but said the team would be ready to perform wherever was required and seemed resigned to what was happening.

However, they also spoke about the excitement over the idea of returning to the Camp Nou, giving a sense of the players wanting to be back there as soon as possible.

How damaging is this for Barca?

It is possible to imagine all this uncertainty and drama being avoided at another club.

A call could have been taken in the summer to wait another six months before returning to the Camp Nou, allowing more time to proceed with work at the stadium, and more certainty for all involved in planning and preparation. In mid-August, Barcelona deputy mayor Albert Batlle publicly called for exactly that.

Such calm and considered decision-making is not often seen these days at Barcelona. Joan Laporta’s presidency has been characterised by improvisation and short-term calls, which often just kick problems further down the road. The biggest example is the ‘levers’ policy, which has raised short-term money for transfers, but has yet to resolve the long-term financial issues he and his team inherited.

Laporta has repeatedly said that returning to the Camp Nou, which will have a capacity of 105,000 when finished, as soon as possible is crucial to boosting their troubled finances.

Back in 2023, the club estimated that playing one season at Montjuic would cost them about €90m in lost matchday and related revenues. They have so far played two seasons away from their home, but €180m would perhaps be a conservative estimate given the at times disappointing attendances at their temporary home.

Additional reporting: Dermot Corrigan

(Top photo: Javier Borrego/Europa Press via Getty Images)