Palau Blaugrana · Profile

In October 2007, a refurbishment raised the capacity of the Palau Blaugrana to 7,585 spectators, the latest expansion of an arena that FC Barcelona had opened on 23 October 1971. It stands on Avinguda Arístides Maillol, in the Les Corts district of Barcelona, inside the Camp Nou complex. The club’s first teams in basketball, handball, roller hockey and futsal play their home games there.

A home of their own for the sections

Until 1971 Barça’s non-football sections had no home. They played at the Sol de Baix sports complex, at the club’s old open-air Zona Deportiva, in the former Picadero hall, at the Pista Gran Vía or at the Palau d’Esports on Carrer Lleida. The building was designed by Catalan architects Francesc Cavaller and Josep Soteras. Its most recognisable feature is the large dome of prefabricated reinforced concrete over the court. On opening day it held 5,696 people. According to the club, having an arena of its own gave a strong push to sections that had until then moved from court to court.

Tennis, taekwondo and public events in the 1970s

The Palau soon opened its doors to other sports and to events of every kind. From 28 November to 4 December 1972 it staged the tennis Masters, the season-ending tournament that later became the ATP Finals. In May 1976 it hosted the first European Taekwondo Championships, and on 22 June that year it gathered some ten thousand people for the first democratic political rally since 1939. In 1979 it hosted the men’s handball World Championship Group B between February and March and, in November, the European Roller Hockey Championship, won by Spain.

Finals and championships in the 1980s

On 19 March 1981 the Palau staged the Korać Cup final between Joventut de Badalona and Carrera Venezia. In June 1985 it hosted the basketball Club World Cup, in which FC Barcelona beat Monte Líbano; in July, the World Fencing Championships; and in December, the final stage of the Spanish basketball Copa del Rey. In 1986 came the women’s Ronchetti Cup final and the handball Copa del Rey final between Barça and Tecnisan. The growth of the sections during that decade, both in results and in crowds, eventually left the arena too small.

The Sant Jordi interlude and the 1992 Games

Between 1990 and 1992 the basketball team moved to the Palau Sant Jordi on Montjuïc, which held 17,000 spectators. The experiment lasted two years: the gap in capacity, the distance between the stands and the court and the difficult access to the hill led to the return to Les Corts. In April 1991 the Palau Blaugrana hosted the women’s European Cup basketball Final Four and, in July, the World Judo Championships. At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics it staged judo, taekwondo as a demonstration sport and the closing games of roller hockey, also a demonstration event. Argentina beat Spain in the roller hockey final, and Barça players Josep Benito and Joan Carles took silver.

The expansions of 1994 and 2007

The return of basketball meant more seats were needed. In 1994 the club enlarged the arena at a cost of 157 million pesetas, taking capacity from 5,696 to 7,334. The refurbishment completed in October 2007 brought it to 7,585. Retired shirts of section players hang from the roof; in basketball, those of Andrés Jiménez (4), Nacho Solozábal (7), Juan Carlos Navarro (11), Roberto Dueñas (12) and Juan Antonio San Epifanio, Epi (15). Handball shirts include those of Enric Masip (5) and David Barrufet (16), and in futsal that of Paco Sedano (28).

European finals at home

In June 1997 Barça won the roller hockey European League Final Four at the Palau against Porto. In 1998 the arena hosted the roller hockey Intercontinental Cup and the handball European Super Cup, which the Blaugrana won against Badel Zagreb. In May 2008 it staged another roller hockey Final Four, won against Reus Deportiu, and in December that year the ASOBAL Cup, taken by Ademar León. In December 2013 Barça won the ASOBAL Cup at home against Granollers, and in May 2014 another roller hockey Final Four, again against Porto.

From the 2014 referendum to the 2020 Final Four

On 5 April 2014 FC Barcelona members voted in a referendum on the Espai Barça project, whose question included the construction of a new Palau Blaugrana; the yes vote took more than 72.3% of the ballots. In July 2019 the arena hosted the final stage of the Roller Hockey World Championship at the World Roller Games, won by Portugal against Argentina. From 9 to 11 October 2020 it was the venue of the UEFA Futsal Champions League Final Four, which FC Barcelona won against ElPozo Murcia.