MADRID: Spanish Olympic Committee president Alejandro Blanco has confirmed that his organization will bid to host the 2030 Winter Olympic Games.
The ‘Pireneus-Barcelona’ bid will be centered on the city of Barcelona and the Pyrenees mountain range in the communities of Catalonia and Aragon in the north of Spain.
In an interview with the ‘El Mundo Deportivo’ newspaper, Blanco explained the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) had letters of support from Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and regional leaders Pere Aragones (Catalonia) and Javier Lamban (Aragon).
“Apart from sending the letters to the IOC headquarters in Switzerland, I will also take a copy of the four letters with me to Tokyo – mine and that of the three presidents – which I will hand over to President Thomas Bach at the IOC Olympic session that takes place in the course of the Tokyo Olympics,” explained Blanco.
“It is very important that we all go hand in hand with the IOC, and when it is considered that the project is finished, it will be time to present it,” he said.
The idea of hosting a Winter Olympics based around Barcelona, which hosted the 1992 Summer Games, has been around for a few years, but the inclusion of Aragon in the project widens its scope.
“The Pyrenees of Aragon offer a broader candidacy with more possibilities, and we cannot forget that in the Aragonese Pyrenees there are many people who live, understand and support winter and ice sports,” said Blanco, who explained that the move meant the plan had to be “expanded” technically.
“The Olympic bid must be sustainable, both on the ecological side and respect for the environment and nature, as well as on the economic side. This is a project to regenerate the territory. An inclusive project, where social support is very important. This is a project that comes out of society and for all this it is an objective that through common work we can achieve the organization of the Winter Olympic Games,” he concluded.

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