games

Andorra La Vella and La Seu d’Urgell to organize 2018 Special Olympic Games

May 4, 2017 12:33 PM | ACN / ANA / Adrià Solé

The joint bid between Andorra la Vella, the capital of the Principality of Andorra and the closest Catalan town, La Seu d’Urgell, to organize the 2018 Special Olympics Games has been successful. The Mayor of Andorra la Vella, Marc Pons, and the mayor of La Seu d’Urgell, Albert Batalla, made this public last week. The two mayors said the games would be a challenge and there will promote the two cities as sports centers and towns of solidarity. The event will be held from the 4th to 7th of October and will bring more than 2,400 people from more than seventeen international delegations. This will be the first time that the Special Olympic Games, the most important international sports event for athletes with mental disability, will be held in the Pyrenees.

 

Barcelona drops bid to host 2026 Winter Olympics

March 16, 2017 06:43 PM | ACN

Barcelona – The Pyrenees-based candidacy to host the 2026 Winter Olympics has been rescinded by its own promoters. According to Barcelona’s deputy mayor, Jordi Collboni, the decision responded “to the current social and economic circumstances not only in Barcelona but in the whole country”. Collboni also emphasized Barcelona’s image as an Olympic city, won in 1992, and rejected any eventual “false move” which might affect its good reputation. “If we submit an application, we want it to be the winning option,” he said and admitted that in order for that to be true the candidacy “must have full political and social support”. The conclusions emerged from the committee responsible for analysing the candidacy, backed by the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC), Spanish Unionist ‘Ciutadans’, Left wing pro-independence ERC and the Democratic Group.

 

Tarragona Mediterranean Games will have to wait until 2018

November 7, 2016 06:53 PM | ACN

On the 15th of October 2011 the International Committee of the Mediterranean Games (ICMG) chose Tarragona as the city to host the Games in 2017. In this way Tarragona, in southern Catalonia, culminated its quest for the event, dating back to 2007. An unexpected turn, though, has now obliged the postponement of the Games for a year. The cause of such a measure is, according to the President of the ICMG, Amar Addadi, the “financial implications” deriving from the “10 months of deadlock” over the formation of the Spanish Government, which affected the “sporting activities and the preparation of the Tarragona Games”. The organisation has only received half of the €20 million expected from sponsorship and Spanish Government arrears owed to the project total €12 million. Hence, and in light of the economic climate, the Committee has decided to postpone the event, an unprecedented measure.   

30 years since Barcelona’s Olympic nomination

October 17, 2016 07:26 PM | ACN / Marina Force

On a day like today, 30 years ago, Barcelona achieved its long-time dream to become the venue for the Olympic Games. It was 1.30 pm on Friday the 17th of October 1986 when the President of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch, announced that Barcelona had just won the nomination to host the major sports event in 1992. The proclamation was followed by an outburst of joy in Catalonia and also in the Palais de Beaulie of Lausanne, the venue of the IOC session. Barcelona won the race over five other cities, Paris, Brisbane (Australia), Belgrade, Amsterdam and Birmingham, and by doing so it gained a place on the world map, undertook a major urban transformation and breathed into its citizens a feeling of great pride in their city.  

Catalonia welcomes first edition of Barcelona Games World, previously held in Madrid

October 6, 2016 06:52 PM | ACN

Barcelona Games World has kicked off this Thursday at the Montjuic Exhibition Centre in the Catalan Capital. In its first edition in Barcelona, after the organisers decided to move it from Madrid, the fair expects to surpass the 90,000 visitors that attended Madrid Games Week last year. The event, which will last until the 9th of October, will count on the participation of 155 exhibitors setting up showcases by brands such as Electronic Arts, Nintendo and Badland Games. The fair will serve as a connecting point between businesses, facilitating the market for professionals who work in the field, but there will also be room for amateur and professional video games competitions and conferences by key gurus of the video game industry. 

Barcelona Games World to focus on mobile games

June 24, 2016 05:25 PM | ACN

The Barcelona Games World video game fair, to be held from the 6th to the 9th of October, has released more information about its upcoming event in 2016. Previously held in Madrid, the event will now also focus on mobile games, to “open (the fair) to other forms of interactive digital entertainment”, according to Josep Antoni Llopart, director of the fair. This decision was made in part thanks to Barcelona’s “bond” with the Mobile World Congress event. Still, the gamer will continue to be “the centre of the experience”, with over 90,000 expected to attend, competitions and prizes of up to €15,000, and the giants of the sector present (such as Nintendo, Sony, etc.). What’s more, another novelty is that the fair will be used to connect businesses, offer jobs, and help people who would like to do studies in the field of gaming. Lastly, there will be a ‘space for socialisation’ on the fairground, complete with lectures, concerts, music sessions with DJs, fashion shows and competitions.

The annual video game industry fair moves from Madrid to Barcelona

May 4, 2016 06:56 PM | Violeta Gumà / Sergio Segura

From the 6th until the 9th of October, Barcelona will host the main annual video game fair in Spain, which until now has been held in Madrid. This was announced by the Spanish Video Games Association (AEVI), which will host the event along with Fira de Barcelona. The video game-centred fair is called ‘Barcelona World Games’, which will replace the original name ‘Madrid Games Week’. The event will take place at the Montjuïc exhibition centre, and will gather together the leading companies in the industry, which are to present the new products to be expected for the Christmas season. The general director of AEVI, José María Moreno, released a statement saying that that the fair will be "an opportunity to find new audiences and markets, generate synergy between industry professionals and discover the potential of gaming in the fields of economy, culture and education".

Catalan company manufactures the torch for the Olympic Games in Rio 2016

September 9, 2015 06:53 PM | ACN / Shobha Prabhu-Naik

Catalan company Recam Làser, which specialises in laser cutting, is responsible for making the torch for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The plant has already developed a final prototype and will start making torches this October and the 15,000 units must be delivered early next year. 800 torches will start the tour in Greece and the rest will go directly to Brazil. The torch is made out of recycled aluminium and weighs 1.5 kilos. When lit, it extends by a few centimetres and shows the colours of the flag of Brazil. Each torch will cost around 400 dollars. “This order will project us as the company which manufactured the torch in Rio 2016,” said president and founder of  Recam Làser, Pere Barrios.