Alejandro Blanco, head of the Spanish Olympic Committee, arrived in Madrid on Tuesday as talks around the Catalan-Aragonese bid for the 2030 Winter Games continued to unfold.
He spoke with unmistakable resolve on the role of political actors in the process. Deliberations at the table have moved forward thanks to technical commissions, yet progress stalls when political figures step in. Blanco emphasized that there is no unified application yet and that any district wishing to submit a nomination would be given a fair chance to present it before the COE and the IOC, provided it gains the COE assembly’s support. He urged accountability, noting that respect and dialogue are essential, but political rifts threaten the bid’s future.
As a candidate, the speaker noted certain constraints. The project cannot rely on large national investments in Spain, which means some key jumps in the schedule might need to be hosted abroad. Nonetheless, he highlighted two strong pillars: a focus on renewing a region and a project built on broad consensus across parties. That inclusive approach, he argued, gave the bid real strength. The effort began with society and was not driven by any single political faction. If this becomes a clash between constitutionalists and supporters of independence, it signals a misunderstanding of what the Olympic movement stands for.
Lambán broke the deal
Lambán, sharing the same political party as Pedro Sánchez, stated that no one in government or economics has framed this candidacy as a confrontation. He views the bid as a political meeting point, yet acknowledged a moment when the discussion ventured beyond sports. It is a decision for which, he said, one must bear the consequences. The leader added that the nomination was undermined at home by disagreements, doubts, and misinformation, a sequence he found particularly painful.
Blanco detailed the process, outlining how the COE signaled the proposal’s submission and the argument for hosting the Winter Games in the Pyrenees spanning Catalonia and Aragon. He proposed a twelve-member technical commission—three representatives from the national government, three from Catalonia, three from Aragon, and three from the COE. This body met six times between late December and late March, resulting in a technical agreement that delineated venue distribution, competition tests, and corporate governance matters. Aragon would host 54 events and Catalonia 42, with Catalonia lighting up the count of athletes and Aragon contributing the most events. A scheduled meeting on April 28 was followed by a letter from Javier Lambán three days later expressing disagreement. Aragon was not represented at that meeting, and there was no consensus to adjust the distribution.
Deal with alpha
The statement also recalled Catalonia’s efforts to find common ground. At a certain meeting, Catalonia proposed a swap: five freestyle tests from Aran Valley to Cerler in exchange for five skating tests going to Catalonia. That offer was not accepted, and a subsequent session proposed a distribution by lot to separate men’s alpine skiing from women’s alpine events, a plan Catalonia declined. Crucially, this alpine distribution was never formally introduced in the technical commissions.
The outcome was the cancellation of two IOC expert visits and two telematics meetings because the project lacked a shared platform among Aragon and Catalonia’s representatives. It was later stated that the bid was not currently poised to present a full project.