The comprehensive reform of the Port Olímpic in Barcelona will be ready for the America's Sailing Cup, to which the Catalan capital aspires in the summer of 2024. of the sporting event.
This was explained by the deputy mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, in a meeting with the general director of Barcelona de Serveis Municipals (B:SM), Marta Labata, and the president of the Gremi de Restauració, Roger Pallarols. The municipal official has announced that 15,9 million euros will be invested in the comprehensive rehabilitation of Moll de Gregal, so that the current rehabilitation area will be reviewed.
After the works, the 'Balcó Gastronòmic del Port Olímpic' (the name given to the project), will be a 'gastronomic hub' with 11 restaurants and three 'gourmet spaces' that offer –unlike what can be found today– a Mediterranean and quality cuisine that, according to Collboni, "reconciles citizens" with this area of the city that was built 30 years ago for the Olympic Games, but that since then has been filled with nightlife venues that "repel the neighbors".
Rendered image of one of the 11 restaurants of the Moll by Gregal B:SM
A new port against three axes
In total, an area of more than 24.000 square meters is expected to operate (8.000 of them dedicated to restaurants and the promenade restaurant). From the City Council they brand the work as "the most important operation of the decade in terms of gastronomic offer".
Regarding the structural reform of the Port, Labata explained that the works will begin in 2020 and that the new facility will focus on three areas: the 'blue economy', nautical activity and gastronomy. "We want there to be a major change in the concept of Port Olímpic", said the director of B:SM, who explained that the restaurant area will be covered by a large solar pergola that will bring light to the shops.
Rendering of the new accesses from the Nova Icària B:SM beach
The promenade of the pier will be a sober cantilever over the water that will give onto the Nova Icària beach, so that diners feel that they are eating in the middle of the sea. Collboni has commented that, as far as the new buildings are concerned, “I hope that soon the port will be unrecognizable”. The restaurants will be minimalist in style, with an architecture adapted to the post-pandemic that is characterized by its open-plan interiors and loose spaces brimming with light and ventilation.
From the City Council, however, they seek that the remodeling of the Olympic Port is not only structural but of character. That is why, apart from the definitive union between the citizens of Barcelona and the sea, they hope to be able to save the jobs of current workers in the area. For this reason, it is expected that the choice of the future restaurants will take place in the middle of a public contest that will begin last this summer and the Consistory has promised to maintain all the jobs through a subrogation of the templates.
