sports

FC Barcelona to hold presidential elections on 18 July

June 10, 2015 10:06 PM

In order to stand, candidates must collect a minimum of 2,534 support slips from club members. Ramon Adell, president of the Managing Commission that met on Wednesday, has announced that the FC Barcelona presidential elections will take place on Saturday 18 July, pursuant to the dispositions of articles 35 and 43 of the Club Statutes. “We thought that if we did it this way, with a holiday the day after, that would encourage participation”, he said at a specially called conference in the company of the secretary of the Commission, Jordi Calsamiglia.

B-Travel in Barcelona takes over Catalonia's International Tourism Fair after 23 years

April 17, 2015 09:05 PM | ACN

B-Travel is a Barcelona-based tourism show bringing together some 215 exhibitors from across the industry and more than 50 different destinations. The event, one of the most important of its kind in Europe, kicked off on Friday at Fira de Barcelona's Montjuïc venue, taking over Catalonia's International Tourism Fair after 23 years. Conceived as a new meeting point for travellers and tourism companies seeking enriched customer experiences, it aims at tailoring the tourist offering to each visitor's needs. This year, attendees can sign up to the B- Travel Internet Community upon their arrival and receive customised information on the vast array of tourism offers on display, focusing on specific types of tourism such as cultural, gastronomic, shopping, rural, and adventure sports, among others.

Catalonia's road bicycle tour Director: “Our competition is at the highest level of world cycling”

March 23, 2015 05:06 PM | Pau Rodríguez

The Tour of Catalonia, known as ‘La Volta’, was born in 1911 and is the 3rd oldest cycling competition in the world, just behind the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia. Its Director, Rubèn Peris, is proud of the event and says that “‘La Volta’ is something bigger than a race” and is an ambassador for showing Catalonia to the rest of the world, included in the UCI World Tour calendar. From the 23rd to the 29th of March, this competition will hold its 95th edition with the presence of some of the best riders in the world such as Chris Froome, Joaquim ‘Purito’ Rodríguez and Alberto Contador. The CNA interviewed Peris a few days before the start of the race, which "has reached an extremely high level and which is always co-ordinated by amateurs", showing "how strong the associations’ network in Catalonia is".

Pain is only temporary. Jogging becomes a phenomenon in Catalonia

March 20, 2015 08:55 PM | Lydia Abellán

Jogging has, without a doubt, become a phenomenon in Catalonia. The number of marathon runners doubled from 2008 to 2013 and now stands at 57,000. In 2012, the Barcelona Marathon saw record figures with 16,000 finishers, compared to the 138 that completed the first race in 1978. The rise of running is "something spectacular" and "studies show that 10% of the population are runners and this is certainly going to grow," says Eduardo Grimal, who completed a Master’s in Sports Management. You only have to go one day to the seafront of Barcelona, to the Carretera de les Aigües in Collserola or Montjuïc, stand there for ten minutes and count the number of runners that pass in front of your eyes. But what motivates the runners and is it just a passing fad?

Núria Picas, Ultra Trail World Tour Champion: “In long-distance races you are your own main contender”

March 13, 2015 09:47 PM | Marina Force Castells

Núria Picas was born in Manresa, in central Catalonia, 39 years ago. She considers herself a “daughter of the Montserrat mountain”, where her parents brought her climbing as a child. Since she was little she established a strong bond with nature and is now the ‘number 1’ woman in mountain trail running. Last year she won the Ultra Trail World Tour, a competition with ten races (twelve this year), of at least 100 kilometres each. Last season, Picas ran four of these races winning three times and coming runner-up in the fourth. In 2015, however, her “main goal” goes beyond the running world. She is on cloud nine with her new challenge and will soon be literally closer than ever to the clouds: in the spring she is going to attempt to climb an 8,000-metre peak in the Himalayas.

Marc Márquez and Mireia Belmonte, Catalan sport personalities of 2014

February 10, 2015 07:02 PM | Eloy Jorge / Alba Barrionuevo

Catalan motor cycle rider Marc Márquez has received the 2014 Sportsman of the Year award by the Barcelona sports daily ‘Mundo Deportivo’. The youngest rider to win the MotoGP World Championship defended his title last year, winning his second Championship thanks to a record-breaking 13 victories. In the female category, Sportswoman of the Year went to Catalan swimmer Mireia Belmonte, who won four gold medals at the Short Pool World Championship as well as breaking the world record in two different categories. This is the third consecutive year that the Catalan swimmer has been awarded with this prize. The prizes have been given at the 67th edition of the 'Mundo Deportivo' Gala. Apart from rewarding the top sportspeople of the year, the Gala also recognizes the work of some sports organizations as well as people related to sport in the social field.

Catalan riders Marc Coma and Laia Sanz make history at Dakar 2015

January 19, 2015 05:40 PM | Eloy Jorge

Two Catalan drivers made history this weekend at the end of the Dakar Rally 2015. Motorbike rider Marc Coma won his fifth Dakar, equalling the five titles of French drivers Cyril Neveu and Cyril Despres. Coma has become the second driver with the most triumphs in the category, just one victory less than Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel. Rider Laia Sanz finished ninth, the best position for a woman of all time. In addition, Catalonia had a large representation in this edition, with racers in all four categories, especially in motorbikes. Of the 25 Catalan racers that started the Rally on the 4th of January, almost half made it to Buenos Aires last Saturday, after covering 9,000 kilometres in Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.