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Video length: 4 mins.
The Olympic Games have several vocations, in particular that of transforming a city. In 1992, the capital of Catalonia, Barcelona, succeeded in boosting the local economy, transforming its town planning and promoting the practice of sport.
A seaside path, and four kilometers of beach. The sports and tourist coastline is so emblematic of Barcelona (Spain) that it seems to have been part of the decor forever. But untilto Olympic Games 1992, the district had a completely different face. “Instead of these buildings in front, there was a series of factories,” testifies a resident. Most of Barcelona’s beaches were built for the Olympics. A few kilometers away, the athletes’ quarter has become a collection of housing estates. It is now one of the most popular in the Catalan capital.
Websites get a second life
The work of the Games extended well beyond the seaside. From the end of the 1980s, the whole of this medium-sized industrial city was became a modern metropolis, with a new ring road in particular to open up to the world, and to foreign tourists. THE Games have everyone in agreement. “They transformed the city 100%”, assures a resident. Even those under 30 evoke Barcelona 92 with a certain emotion. The Olympic stadium still hosts concerts. Almost all Olympic sites have had a second life.
Will Paris be able to benefit as much from the Olympic Games? It is impossible to imagine such a radical transformation of the city. But Erick Truno, a former member of the 1992 Olympic Games organizing committee, is convinced of the French success. “Placing the Olympic Village in Saint-Denis will make it possible to regenerate this city”he notes.