Spanish LaLiga football club FC Barcelona has announced that renovation work at its Palau Blaugrana has been completed.
Palau Blaugrana is home to Barcelona’s basketball and handball teams and has a capacity of 7,500. The arena is part of the wide-ranging Espai Barça project to overhaul the club’s facilities with the ultimate goal of delivering a new venue which, in principle, would largely maintain the current exterior design, but increase the capacity to between 10,000 and 15,000.
With work on the new arena still to begin, Barcelona has been carrying out upgrades on the existing Palau Blaugrana. This process commenced in November 2021 and Barcelona committed to further upgrades in October.
The work has focused on improving the interior of the arena for guests and fans. Catering facilities have also been approved, while a new VIP room has been created with views of the court. Two sales points for Barça Licencing and Merchandising products have also been added.
Other upgrades include improved recycling points, LED lamps on the court and advertising screens, and more Barcelona-branded decorations. The scoreboard was updated last season, with the lighting and PA system also replaced to improve the fan experience.
Palau Blaugrana opened in 1971 and Barcelona announced plans to upgrade the arena in November 2021 to coincide with its 50th anniversary. Last summer, new spot lighting was installed, along with a new court surface.
Barcelona hopes that the new Palau Blaugrana arena will be open in time for the 2025-26 season. The Espai Barça vision also includes an expansion of the Spotify Camp Nou as well as the Campus Barça development. The first part of the project saw the opening of the new Estadi Johan Cruyff in August 2019.
