Resistance to holding the America’s Cup is growing in Barcelona

 

Two mistakes by the New Zealanders in the starting box gave England their first two wins in the duel for the 37th America’s Cup on Wednesday. The British coped better with the choppy seas. With light winds again, the Kiwis’ boat fell off the foils in the first regatta, meaning the English won a Cup race for the first time in ninety years.

And in the second race, Team New Zealand missed its good starting position shortly after the start with a small mistake; Despite the strong pressure from the New Zealanders, Ineos Britannia did not relinquish its lead until the finish. In the duel for the most important sailing trophy, the score is now only 4:2 for the Kiwis; the next two regattas take place on Friday.

With the final duel between New Zealand and England, the image of the supporters in the port of Barcelona has also changed. Until recently, hundreds of Tifosi dominated the Cup Village and the beach, where large screens are set up.

After the Italian team Luna Rossa was eliminated, there are now many New Zealanders and Brits celebrating the America’s Cup in the port. The live broadcasts are well attended. It is difficult to quantify how many New Zealanders have made the long journey to Europe. What is certain, however, is that 640 supporters came to Barcelona from the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, the sailing club that is officially the cup holder.

The protests from cup opponents are getting louder

On Sunday, however, sailing fans in the harbor district found out that they are not welcome everywhere. Around 2,000 people protested against the America’s Cup; Organized by the “No to the America’s Cup” platform, the protest was under the motto “America’s Cup never again”. He was directed against the impact of the sailing competition on the environment, the rising rents in the city because of the event and the lack of transparency in the allocation of public money for the Cup organization in Barcelona.

Even before the America’s Cup took place, there were demonstrations and criticism in the city about the use of public money for the event. A network of citizens’ initiatives called for an investigation – it is based on a detailed report by the Catalan monthly magazine “Directa”, which wants to “expose abuses and injustices and promote alternatives”.

The report estimates the visitor numbers predicted by the organizer to be far too high. From a Swiss perspective, it is interesting what the report says about Valencia: A city council spokeswoman rejected a request from Grant Dalton, CEO of Defenders New Zealand, to host the Cup in Valencia. She justified the rejection by saying that “public money should not be used to benefit a private company.” The editions of the America’s Cup in 2007 and 2010 (organized by Alinghi) were also “a fiasco for the city”.

Barcelona is said to have transferred around seventy million to New Zealanders to choose their city. Private entrepreneurs also contributed millions to the costs of the infrastructure and organization. Above all, the Puig group, which, among other things, organized the Women’s and Youth America’s Cup. The company’s Daniel Puig told New Zealand media that historic buildings had been restored and Port Olympic had been redesigned. And Mateu Hernández, the CEO of Barcelona’s tourism authority, pointed out that the America’s Cup is a crowd-puller and an opportunity to attract people “who love sailing and the sea.”

However, a large part of Barcelona’s population hardly takes any notice of the Cup. The city is too big and the harbor is too extensive to create an atmosphere like Valencia once had. Especially before the actual America’s Cup, the competition was an insider event. Many of the visitors happened to be in the port and didn’t know anything about the event.

Where will the next America’s Cup take place?

Regardless of the impact of the America’s Cup on the city, Barcelona has suffered from mass tourism for years. The biggest problem is probably not the additional cup visitors, but the thousands of tourists who visit the city every day. This is illustrated by the almost always congested Ramblas promenade and the cruise ships that dock daily at the long quay wall.

At the beginning of July, around 3,000 residents demonstrated against the effects of the influx of tourists and called for certain “limits to tourism”. Last year the Catalan city welcomed over twelve million tourists. The authorities plan to ban all short-term rentals from 2029 and no longer renew the corresponding licenses.

It is questionable whether New Zealand will be able to hold the America’s Cup again in Barcelona under these circumstances if they defend successfully. This corresponds to one of Dalton’s wishes. But the CEO of Team New Zealand also mentioned Middle Eastern countries as possible venues in New Zealand media.