Exterior of the Montjuic Stadium.
by Philip Barker
The Montjuic stadium in Barcelona remains an impressive presence above the city thirty years after the Olympics which opened this week in 1992.
In fact, the facade of the stadium was very much older, the work of architect Pere Domènech i Roura.
It had originally been built in 1927 for an international exhibition to be held in the city in 1929.
The stadium opened in May 1929 with an international rugby union match in which Spain beat Italy 9-0.
Newspaper Mundo Deportivo described it as “a brilliant victory for Spain over Italy in which enthusiasm and will to win had achieved success.”
Then came a football match in which a combined Catalan team also beat Bolton Wanderers 4-0.
“The victory was received with delirious enthusiasm,” the paper said.
Very soon an Olympic bid for 1936 was also tabled with Montjuic intended as its centrepiece.
Barcelona hosted the International Olympic Committee (IOC) session in 1931 but few members attended.
The decision on the host city for 1936 was to have been taken there but the IOC minutes record that “Owing to the very small number present at the 1931 Session and in order to take into account the number of written votes already received, the Committee decided to wait until the answers of the many absent members reached Lausanne.”
Votes were also invited by telegram and a few weeks later, it was announced that Berlin had been chosen by a margin of 43-16.
In Spain, the monarchy was replaced by a republic later in 1931, but it was regime change in Germany which informed the plans for a “Peoples Olympiad” in 1936.
This was to have been held at Montjuic in July as a counterpoint to the Berlin Olympics held under the shadow of the swastika.
It never took place as Spain was plunged into a bitter civil war.
The conflict ended in 1939 with victory for the right wing nationalists led by General Francisco Franco.
Throughout the 1940s and early 1950s, Franco’s regime became well established and Barcelona was awarded the second Mediterranean Games to be held in 1955.
Future IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch was a prominent figure in their organisation.
Instead of an Olympic Flame, there was a relay of water from the Mediterranean from Ampurias to Barcelona.
The water was carried in a silver amphora by runners.
In the renovated stadium, a giant fountain was constructed and at the Opening Ceremony, the arrival of the last relay runner set in motion the fountain.
“Without changing the essential Olympic protocol, the Games brought a new idea, a new symbol to a brilliant realisation,” he said.
“The waters flowed throughout the Games until the Closing Ceremony when the jet extinguished slowly, closing days which had been of the greatest human and sporting interest.”
The Grandeur of Montjuich was never forgotten.
In the mid-1980s when Barcelona mayor Pascal Maragall spearheaded a bid for the 1992 Games, Montjuich was again to be the centrepiece.
Barcelona were convincing winners in a contest which had also attracted bids from Paris, Brisbane, Belgrade, Birmingham, and Amsterdam.
Maragall became President of the Organising Committee and oversaw the complete renovation of the stadium.
The classic facade was retained but inside, the infrastructure and seating were completely modernised.
The new stadium opened in 1989, in time for the Athletics World Cup which was held in the stadium.
It was re-inaugurated by King Juan Carlos, but organisers were also forced to re-arrange some events after torrential rain.
Three years later, a dramatic Opening Ceremony was crowned by the unforgettable moment when Para archer Antonio Rebollo fired an arrow and the cauldron burst into life.
It was the first summer Olympic Opening Ceremony to finish in darkness, which enhanced the theatrical effect as the Flame burst into life.
The Olympics and the Paralympics to follow were considered a great success.
The stadium did not stage football during the Games but in 1997, Espanol made it their home after the closure of the Sarria Stadium.
Andorra also played some international matches at the stadium.
For 2023-24, Barcelona are set to move into the stadium whilst renovations and enlargement of the Nou Camp is completed.
Montjuic has also hosted American football. Barcelona Dragons used it as their home stadium and the 1997 World Bowl was held there.
The 2010 European Athletics Championships were also hosted in the stadium.
The stadium now bears the name Lluis Companys as a memorial to a Catalan politician executed by the Franco regime.
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