Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper · Profile

The Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper is FC Barcelona’s training ground, located on Avinguda del Sol in Sant Joan Despí, in the Baix Llobregat area. It was officially opened on 1 June 2006, and the men’s first team has trained there on a regular basis since January 2009. Designed by architects Enric Batlle and Joan Roig, the complex brings together football pitches, indoor arenas for the club’s other sections, the La Masia residence and the Estadi Johan Cruyff.

A search for land that lasted decades

Barcelona spent many years looking for a training base of its own. In 1973 the club acquired 37 hectares at Can Feliu and Els Reguerons, in Viladecans, but the plan fell through because the area was protected land. In the early 1980s the board led by Josep Lluís Núñez began planning a sports complex, and the club bought farmland in Sant Joan Despí, where the project then stalled for years. In July 1997 Barcelona also bought the Can Rigal estate, covering 60,750 square metres in L'Hospitalet, although work there was blocked a few months later.

A name, a first stone and a pause

In November 2000, with Joan Gaspart as president, the club decided to name the complex after Joan Gamper, who founded FC Barcelona in 1899. The first stone was laid on 11 December 2000, and the Catalan government granted planning permission in July 2001. To fund the project, parts of the land were sold: one plot on 21 June 2002 for €29.7 million, and another on 20 February 2003, under president Enric Reyna, for €15.9 million. Joan Laporta became president in July 2003 and halted construction so the money could go to the first team. Work resumed in July 2004.

Opening in 2006 and the first team’s arrival

The youth teams began training in Sant Joan Despí in May 2006, and the first phase, the sports area, was officially opened on 1 June that year. The initial site covered 136,839 square metres, with eight full-size pitches, one seven-a-side pitch and a natural-grass area for goalkeeper training. Several pitches have their own stands: 1,750 seats at pitch 7, 1,400 at pitch 1 and 950 at pitch 8. The first team moved in on a regular basis in January 2009, during Pep Guardiola’s first season as head coach.

La Masia and the indoor arenas

In 2011 the Oriol Tort Training Centre, the new La Masia, opened inside the complex as the residence for the club’s young players. It began operating in July and was officially inaugurated in October. In October 2013 Barcelona bought an adjoining plot of 26,811 square metres, the former Tennis el Forn site, for €8,270,000 plus VAT, bringing the total area to around 163,650 square metres. On 23 January 2015 the handball and futsal building was opened, with two stacked courts seating 251 and 245 spectators. The basketball arena has stands for 472.

The Estadi Johan Cruyff

On 26 May 2015 the club awarded the Batlle i Roig studio the project for a new stadium, built on the former tennis club grounds to replace the Miniestadi. The Estadi Johan Cruyff opened on 27 August 2019 with a match between Barcelona’s Under-19 side and Ajax, which the Dutch team won 2-0; Jordi Cruyff took the ceremonial kick-off. It holds 6,000 spectators under a covered stand. The women’s team made its debut there with a 9-1 win over CD Tacón, with Jennifer Hermoso scoring a hat-trick. Barça B played its first competitive match at the ground on 1 September 2019, a 2-2 draw with Gimnàstic de Tarragona.