Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium

The Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium (officially until 2001, Montjuïc Olympic Stadium) is a municipal sports venue located on the Montjuic mountain of the Sants-Montjuïc district, in Barcelona, ​​Spain.

The original stadium was inaugurated on May 20, 1929 by King Alfonso XIII, one day after the inauguration of the International Exhibition. years later as «Olympic Stadium», on September 8, 1989, by also King Juan Carlos

fuente

History

Designed by the Barcelona architect Pere Domènech i Roura, son of the modernist architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, 3 was designed to host future Olympic Games, which after four bid attempts, would arrive in Barcelona 63 years later.4 The configuration of the stands of the enclosure, it was composed of two semicircles that linked two straight lines, following the style of the Roman constructions of circuses and amphitheaters, inside which housed the athletic track and the sports field with north-south orientation, of 208.5 mx 109 m .5 It had a cost at the time of 65 million pesetas6 and had a capacity of 60,000 spectators, the second largest in the world at that time, 7 only surpassed by Wembley Stadium, with capacity for 100,000 spectators.

The works began on April 5, 1927, with the laying of the first stone.8 It was inaugurated on May 20, 1929 by King Alfonso XIII, on the occasion of the International Exhibition of Barcelona, ​​which hosted its sports section.9 The opening events included a friendly football match, played between a team of players from the Barcelona teams and the Bolton Wanderers, in addition to a friendly rugby match, played between the teams of Spain and Italy.

fuente

It hosted during that first year, several matches of the first edition of the National First Division League Championship (1928-29), the three Barcelona clubs of the category, Football Club Barcelona, ​​Club Deportivo Europa and Real Club Deportivo Español.

On July 19, 1936, the Popular Olympiad was scheduled to begin at the stadium, being suspended because of the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.

It was the main venue of the 1955 Mediterranean Games, hosting the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the athletics, horse riding, soccer and field hockey events.

In 1957, the stadium hosted the Generalissimo Cup Final, in the only edition whose final football club Barcelona and Real Spanish Sports Club have faced, the two great clubs of the “Barcelona City”, contesting a Barcelona derby that ended with Barca victory 1-0.

In 1982, it was the setting for two months of rehearsals for the inaugural ceremony of the '82 World Cup held in the Camp Nou, where more than 3,000 students from several Salesian schools in Barcelona intervened.