The definitive resignation of the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) to present its candidacy to host the 2030 Winter Olympics represents yet another failure in Spanish ambitions to host the second Olympic event in history. Exactly 30 years after the first and only successful attempt to date, Barcelona 1992For the first time, Spanish sport has decided to give up its fight to host a Winter Olympics.

On the horizon remains the illusion that Spain will once again host the Olympics in the future. However, when it comes to summer activity, it’s already practically ruled out Madrid’s desire for the 2036 OlympicsThe first has yet to be appointed, and it remains to be seen how the desire to host a winter Olympics in the Pyrenees (if possible) will be restructured with 2034 as the first possible date.

But for now, Spain has been absent from the Olympics… once again. During these thirty years, By adding summer and winter appointments, a total of 12 different projects were discussed.. Some fought to the end for designation from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), while others did not materialize as official nominations, sometimes due to a collision between two Spanish projects for the same event.

Breath… and Pomegranate

The first city that paved the way for the success of Barcelona, ​​which was chosen as the venue in 1986, was Jaca, who was also approved to organize the competition. Winter University Games in 1981 and his 1995 assignment for the same event. The first of four Olympic initiatives in the town of Huesca took place in 1998, with strong political support from both the Felipe González Government and the Aragonese authorities.

Jaca has passed the cut despite the shortcomings the field has to offer. air transport and hotel rooms, but was soon expelled. The five finalists were kicked out of the city in second place, and the rendezvous eventually went to Japan’s Nagano. However, this was the farthest he had reached in his five attempts.

Looking back to 2002, four years later, the town of Huesca once again submitted its candidacy. an even shorter tripwas reluctant after the failure four years ago due to the low budget commitment of public officials.

Jaca returned to the fray eight years later, also in 2010 and 2014. same regression by not passing the first cutThis is a handicap that is difficult to overcome due to the lack of infrastructure, transportation and hotel rooms. a city of only 13,000 inhabitants.

In 2010, there was even an internal strife in Spain. Granada regained the Olympic aspirations he formulated for 1992. Jaca and the city of Andalusia competed to become Spanish trump cards before the IOC and comfortably won the Aragon candidacy in the preliminary ballot.

The last initiative, which was not even presented to the IOC, was the main venue in 2022, where Zaragoza will power the project. Barcelona’s intention to compete for the same appointment, which has not yet been consolidated, led to the project’s withdrawal and the construction of a new project in 2030, which ultimately failed.

Seville

It coincided with the Barcelona Games in 1992. Seville Fair and the Andalusian capital are seeking to leverage both events as a lever to run as an Olympic venue in the future. To this end, it is projecting the construction of an Olympic stadium in Isla de la Cartuja, which will be opened in 1999. World Athletics Championships.

The first Sevillian attempt took place in 2004, and history faced a fateful appointment to be made in Athens. Actually, Sevilla did not even pass the first half. Hotel beds were a handicap that the proposal tried to overcome by including other Andalusian cities, as in the case of Jaca.

Four years later, Sevilla again submitted an Olympic project with the same result. Despite two constant setbacks, before even reaching the final vote, The Andalusian capital made a third consecutive attempt in 2012. Madrid’s debut buried Seville’s Olympic ambitions forever (for now, at least).

Madrid

The most robust Olympic bids presented in Spain in the last 30 years were held in the country’s capital. Actually, Madrid authorities continue their passion to hold a Summer Olympics project In the future, although the closest possible date seems to be 2040, after the COE announced a few weeks ago that the IOC recommended that Spain not bid for 2036.

50 years after the 1972 attempt, Madrid grilled all the meat to host the 2012 Olympics. great consensus among the different political authorities of the moment and with a project that received the second best grade after Paris in the IOC evaluation process.

The problem for Madrid was the level of the competitors. It managed to become the city with the most votes by eliminating it in the second round. Moscow and New Yorkbut fell third against Paris and LondonHe was the one who won that appointment in the end.

Madrid returned to the fray four years later for 2016, despite Olympic tradition recommending against it. It is not unusual for two consecutive raids to be made on the same continent..

Once again, the Spanish capital received the second best mark from the IOC technical committee, in this case behind Tokyo. However, in the final vote who won rio de janeiroClaiming the historical fact that no Olympic event has ever been held in South America and 16 years since Atlanta 1996, the last Olympics held in the Americas.

The last Madrid initiative came in 2020, remembering the then-mayor Ana Botella’s encouraging word of encouragement. “relaxing coffee with milk” in the capital’s Plaza Mayor. Madrid face off Istanbul and Tokyo, the city that finally won was eliminated on the first ballot. After three failures in a row, the Olympic passion has been filed in a closet until further notice.