The ‘Espai Barca’ plan also includes spending on other club facilities in addition to the football stadium. It includes 420 million euros for the Palau Blaugrana, which houses the club’s basketball and handball teams, and 20 million euros for the Johan Cruyff stadium, which houses the men’s reserve and women’s football teams.
The Camp Nou project is expected to be completed by 2026, according to the club. The men’s first team will play at the Olympic Stadium on Montjuic before returning to a Camp Nou that is not yet at full capacity in the 2024-25 season.
Barcelona is following in the footsteps of their main Spanish rivals, Real Madrid, who began the latest renovation of their Bernabeu Stadium in 2019. The club is emerging from a financial hole that resulted in losses of 481 million euros in 2020/21, forcing the club’s all-time leading scorer Lionel Messi to leave.
Last summer, the club raised approximately 750 million euros by selling 25% of its La Liga television rights for the next 25 years as well as 49% of its Barca Studios.