Barcelona embroiled in Spotify Camp Nou controversy

Back in June 2023, work begun on developing the new Spotify Camp Nou stadium, and yet, Barcelona are still yet to return to their iconic home stadium. Numerous deadlines have been set in the last couple of years, but so far, none of them have been met.

Turkish construction company Limak are the ones that have been working on the Spotify Camp Nou over the last two years, and this period has seen numerous controversies emerge involving them. And now, another has come to the surface.

As reported by Cadena SER (via MD), details have emerged of the process that led to Limak being awarded the rights to construct the Spotify Camp Nou. Specifically, it has been revealed that they had initially scored one of the lower ranks among those vying for the contract, as per the assessment carried out by the Espai Barca project’s technical team.

The reasons why Limak had initially been ruled out

On the 28th of December 2022, a technical report was produced showing that Limak trailed Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC) and Ferrovial in said assessment. The reasons for this were: their impossibility of justifying the schedule of works (which was for a return to the Spotify Camp Nou in November 2024), and their demanding of €200m as an upfront payment, whereas the rest of the consortiums were only asking for €12m.

Limak had initially scored less than 50 in the technical report, compared to FCC’s 58 and Ferrovial’s 40. But in the final report two days later, they were boosted to 74, which led to them being awarded the rights for the Spotify Camp Nou.

It remains to be seen whether there is any response to his report from Cadena SER, but it is safe to say that the optics do not look good – especially considering that Barcelona’s return to the Spotify Camp Nou could end up being over a year after Limak’s deadline of the 30th of November 2024.