Emirates Team New Zealand celebrates winning the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona, Spain. Photo: Georgia Schofield / www.photosport.nz
The Catalan News says both Team New Zealand and the Barcelona city council have ruled out the Catalan capital hosting the 2026 edition.
"It would be difficult to expand the number of teams based on the available infrastructure in Barcelona," the newspaper quoted Team New Zealand chief executive Grant Dalton as saying.
The city council confirmed it won't be involved in 2026.
"A new edition make no sense. The event was unique for 2024, it was successful, and the split with the America's Cup organizer was amicable," councillor Jordi Valls argued.
He stressed that the sailing event had a positive impact on the city, strengthening its international projection and accelerating investment in the city.
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The split between the city council and Team New Zealand came after the local government told Dalton that it would not repeat the investment in the competition, according to La Vanguardia newspaper.
The event has cost Catalan taxpayers almost $100 million, of which $55 million came from the Catalan government, $18 million from the city council, and $9 million from the Diputació de Barcelona, among others.
Grant Dalton Photo: © Chris Cameron 2013
In a statement, Dalton said that the competition has experienced "significant growth on many fronts" in Barcelona.
"As a result of these successes, we have a number of valuable properties that we wish to continue building," he continued.
"From initial discussions with teams, there is a collective desire to see continued commercial growth of the America's Cup, in line with what is seen in other leading global sports."
Dalton emphasised that the team is keeping an "open mind" on how to increase the "global footprint" of the competition.
The Catalan News said the 'No to the America's Cup' group welcomed the departure of the competition from Barcelona.
"This elitist competition, which has not attracted the interest of locals and has required enormous public expenditure justified by false figures, will not be held in Barcelona again," they said in a statement.
The campaign, which included 140 organizations, recently filed a complaint with the Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia, requesting it investigates the public funds allocated to the event.
-RNZ
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