The Generalitat will prepare a proposal for a solo Catalan candidacy for the Olympic Games.

The Minister of the Presidency assures that she has already spoken informally with the COE to offer this possibility

BARCELONA, 16 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Minister of the Presidency, Laura Vilagrá, announced this Thursday that she will commission the director of the Technical Office of the bid project for the 2030 Winter Olympics, Mónica Bosch, to prepare a proposal for a bid project for Catalonia alone to present it to the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) due to the disagreement with the Government of Aragon.

At an informative breakfast, he assured that "the Generalitat is going ahead" with the Olympic project and pointed out that this own candidacy must be prepared taking into account the necessary external collaborations because Catalonia does not plan to host the jumping and sliding disciplines because it does not have the facilities to do so.

"With this external collaboration and our own assets that we have in Catalonia we see ourselves as perfectly capable of making a competitive, powerful candidacy with the potential for success", he stressed.

According to her, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has expressed its desire for the 2030 Winter Olympics to be held in Europe, which is why she believes that the central government should not "let this opportunity pass."

"Who would let this opportunity pass? Is the State Government seriously saying that if there is no agreement with Aragon, this is closed?" and believes that Catalonia's own proposal must be considered as an alternative.

Vilagrá has defended that the Government has acted seriously from the beginning in the technical negotiation on the candidacy but has regretted that the debate has become politicized and has accused the Government of Aragon of having an "anti-Catalanist tone" in its latest statements.

Vilagrá has assured that he has already spoken informally with the COE to offer the possibility of presenting a single Catalan candidacy and has maintained that "no one can have the right to veto", after the Government of Aragon said that it would try to avoid an Olympic project only from Catalonia.

Asked if he contemplates the possibility of presenting the candidacy for the Olympic Games. of 2034, she has replied that this is not on the table: "There is no reason to wait for us", she has said at a breakfast organized by the Forum Europe-Tribuna Catalunya.