Barcelona, sun, sea, tapas, design, fashion, football. And skiing. Well not yet, but hopefully you will be able to soon. Barcelona’s claim to be a city with everything will soon be bolstered by the arrival of an indoor ski slope. Dutch firm SnowWorld has announced a plan to build a 300 metre indoor ski slope in Barcelona’s Zona Franca within a sports complex dedicated to winter sports.
Winter sports are of course already possible in Barcelona thanks to the proximity of the Pyrenees and Andorra, which can be reached in no more than a couple of hours by car. Up until now however there have never been any winter sports facilities in the city. The proposal has received full support from the Catalan Federation of Winter Sports.
While the initiative has not yet been given the green light from the city council due to issues surrounding the redefinition of the current land use, it seems highly unlikely that it will be refused as it will stimulate an area that badly needs investment and job creation. The key stumbling block in the proposal is that there is a Food Bank on the proposed site which feeds some 150,000 people. However, Sander Laudy, spokesman for SnowWorld, has stated that the company is willing to give a space in their facilities for the Food Bank to continue operating from.
So watch this space, and who knows, next year you can pack your skis when you come to Barcelona.
