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Opening date slips for new-look Camp Nou – reports

Spanish LaLiga football club Barcelona has been forced to shift the planned opening date for the new-look Camp Nou, according to reports.

Spanish radio broadcaster Cadena SER said a board of directors meeting held earlier this week outlined a new calendar of works under the Espai Barça redevelopment project. A major renovation of Barcelona’s stadium is at the heart of Espai Barça, which also includes the development of a new Palau Blaugrana arena, the opening of Barça Campus and the 6,000-seat Estadi Johan Cruyff.

Barcelona’s current official information on the Camp Nou plan outlines a projected opening date of May 2022. However, Cadena SER said this has now slipped to the summer of 2023, adding that while the main work will be complete in 2022, the final touches will not be added until a year later.

Initial work on the €360m (£323.5m/$406.4m) Camp Nou renovation, which will see the stadium have a seating capacity of around 105,000 once finished, commenced in the summer. However, the project has been met with two lawsuits, one from municipal group CUP-Capgirem and another from the Federation of Neighbourhood Associations of Barcelona (FAVB).

In October, CUP-Capgirem filed an administrative appeal against the wide-ranging Espai Barça scheme. CUP-Capgirem filed its appeal to the High Court of Justice of Catalonia and is seeking to stop the project from moving forward stating it is not in the interest of local residents.

The group has called for the area that will be left after the demolition of the basketball arena, Palau Blaugrana, be made 100% public.

Image: FC Barcelona