Barcelona target Levante clash to welcome 60,000+ fans to the Spotify Camp Nou | OneFootball

In an important update, Mundo Deportivo reports that FC Barcelona have marked 22 February as the target date to activate phase 1C of the return to the Spotify Camp Nou.

It would allow the reopening of the Gol Nord stand and increase the stadium capacity to 62,657 spectators. This would represent 17,000 more seats than in phase 1B and a capacity higher than that of the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.

The date would coincide with the La Liga match against Levante, corresponding to matchday 25. The infrastructure in that area is already completed, and the only remaining step is administrative.

All seats in the Gol Nord are fully ready, as are the access points, exits, evacuation routes and services. The new setup includes an additional 137 metres of usable perimeter for access and evacuation.

The club initially intended to activate this phase on 7 February, but the deadlines have been extended due to the complexity of the procedures required by the city authorities.

What’s causing the hold-up?

Joan Sentelles, director of operations for Espai Barça, stressed that the delay is not due to any technical or safety shortcomings.

“The Urban Guard and the Fire Brigade have already validated evacuations and simulations. The exits are finished and work correctly. What is missing here is only an administrative decision,” he explained.

Work still being carried out at Camp Nou. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

The principal difficulty lies in the strict application of the ORPIMO regulations, the municipal ordinance governing construction procedures, approved by the City Council to regulate building licences.

According to the club, the regulation is poorly adapted to a project of the scale of the Spotify Camp Nou, which involves 250,000 square metres of works.

“The rule requires everything to be processed online and we accept that, but we have had to divide the documentation into more than 50 packages because the servers cannot handle files of that size,” Sentelles detailed.

“It is not that the City Council does not want to grant the licence, but that it has to comply with the regulation to the letter. We help in every way we can, but it is a handicap that also affects the technicians.”

There is also the need to formally legalise certain structures that are already completed, such as the large evacuation exit on the side facing Maternitat, located above a car park with 1,800 spaces, which is still pending final completion.

Given the situation, Barcelona see the game against Levante on 22 February as the most realistic date for further expansion of the stadium.