FC Barcelona's stadium is entering a crucial moment of modernisation and the club is doing everything, so far successfully, to make sure it can return to Camp Nou this year. However, there is no shortage of controversy surrounding the works. Let's take a look at the construction site.

How is work at Camp Nou going?

According to announcements, FC Barcelona is expected to return to Spotify Camp Nou in November 2024. By then, the stadium is expected to be completed in 65% with a similar percentage of seats - around 70,000 seats on the second and third tiers of the stands from the 105 000 planned - will already be available for Cules fans. The entire work is due to be completed in June 2026. Will it be successful?

At the moment, after part of the facility has been demolished, work is underway on the 1st and 2nd levels of the stands, which are approximately 50% complete. At the same time, the foundations of the new third level of stands have already been poured, so work is entering a key moment - the erection of the new structural elements on the skeleton of the 'old' Camp Nou.

© Espai Héctor

Everything is going as planned...

According to the club itself, the work, carried out by the Turkish company Limak, is going ahead as planned and there are no delays so far. To avoid them, the club has obtained permission from the City Council to also work on Saturdays from January 20 to February 17. This arrangement has already been applied in previous months of work, and it is possible that it will be extended.

In its latest update from the construction site, Barcelona reports that 1,000 workers are already on site, and the number is expected to further increase. As well as more workers, four of the six giant cranes needed for the work have also been brought to Camp Nou. The machines, which arrived in parts from Kuwait, have a lifting capacity of 120 tonnes.

© FC Barcelona

An interesting feature is the club's initiative to 'segregate' concrete and steel from demolished sectors of the site so that, by crushing the concrete and melting the metal, they can be reused later on in the construction of the venue, thus reducing waste and carbon footprint. The club has been awarded Biosphere and BREEAM certifications for these and other initiatives.

... but not without controversy

We already reported in a December article about the worrying news coming from the Catalan capital concerning the treatment of workers. They were said to be working 10 hours a day for less than the minimum wage. This was supposed to affect non-Spanish workers, not employed by Limak, but subcontractors.

Meanwhile, El Periódico reported that an inspection by the Catalan Department of Labour found that 20 of the almost 45 companies employed by Limak did not provide workers with the minimum wage set by law and did not pay taxes to the Seguridad Social. The companies have been ordered to pay the fees and pay the workers the overdue hours and overtime.

© Espai Héctor

Dense atmosphere in the offices

These media reports were said to have made bosses nervous about having to pay back wages totalling hundreds of thousands of euros. Meanwhile, FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta protested against the media's use of comparisons to stadium construction that led to the deaths of many workers, claiming that journalists have an ideological bias and want the work not to progress.

These words were badly received in the Catalan administration. The Catalan Information Centre (CIC) felt that, while journalists should care about the accuracy and objectivity of their coverage, killing the messenger and disqualifying without argument media reports was not an adequate response from club officials.

© FC Barcelona

In this situation FC Barcelona and general contractor Limak should ensure that the workers' situation is resolved as soon as possible before the problem becomes bigger. Thus, it will overshadow, or even prevent, the return to Camp Nou and the organisation of such an important event as the Leo Messi tribute, which is, according to media reports, planned precisely for the reinauguration of the Blaugrana venue.