According to a study published this week, the 37th America’s Cup sailing competition held in Barcelona from 22 August until 19 October 2024 generated an economic impact for Catalonia of over €1 billion.
The study, carried out jointly by the University of Barcelona and the Barcelona Capital Nàutica Foundation (FBCN) said that the event created a positive economic benefit of €1.034 billion to the local economy and created the equivalent of 12,872 jobs in Barcelona. It also claimed that the America’s Cup generated €208.5 million in tax revenue.
A big sector of positive economic contribution came from the 244 superyachts that attended the event in Barcelona, the study said, injecting a spend of €35 million into the local economy.
‘With the Race Village at the foot of Las Ramblas, one of the most visited streets in the world,’ the study said, ‘and fan zones along the famous Barcelona beachfront which hosts millions of visitors each year, the opportunity to expose and engage new audiences was taken with 1.8 million visitors scanned and counted over 59 event days across 3 free event sites’.
It said that his number included 460,819 unique attendees to Barcelona who came specifically to watch the America’s Cup between August and October.
The America’s Cup in Barcelona also had 2,300 volunteers, with 78% of them being local residents of Barcelona, the report said.
In late October 2024, Barcelona City Council confirmed that it would not be hosting the next America’s Cup. The decision coincided with growing public concern about ‘overtourism’ in the city and rising rents. While some 60,000 people turned out for the opening ceremony of the America’s Cup, there was a public protest of a few thousand who rallied against it. ALSO READ: Barcelona will not host the next America’s Cup.
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