The CSIO Barcelona reconverts these days in the capital of horse racing
We Spain’s oldest sporting event, we have kept alive over a century and face the centennial edition. But we will make do with that? “. When the organizing committee of the International Jumping CSIO –Competition Officially Barcelona and the board of the Royal Polo Club met five years ago to study the situation and the future of the great event of the Catalan and Spanish equestrian were proposed not to fall complacent and try to revitalize a competition that few would have dared to touch. You had to be very valuable, in fact, to try to turn around as recognized as praise and even envied in the international calendar, for its sports proposal, organizational quality, event facilities where held and, of course, the city that welcomed him. In full celebration of its centenary, the CSIO Barcelona was already an example, which is given to call a model of excellence.
However, neither the organization nor the club hesitated to find a formula to give a new dimension to the contest. If not for revitalization, to open itself more to the city that had been born in 1902 and, in turn, take a leap also in the sporting arena. The new commitment materialized with the start of negotiations with the City Council, then headed by Xavier Trias, so that the institution was the first participant in this new era, and the International Equestrian Federation (FEI), to grant to Barcelona final of the Nations Cup, instead of circuit test equipment coming hosting the contest in its latest editions.
With the support of two bodies, the Polo was his own foundation and decided to request the Government considering event of exceptional public interest, as had been the Barcelona World Race sailing. A measure of promotion with tax incentives for sponsors who marked the final step. Since 2013, Barcelona not only hosts the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup Jumping Final, the trade name of the end of the international circuit of jumps team, but has expanded its activity with a set of sporting, cultural and social events grouped in Barcelona Equestrian Challenge (BEC) and has become in just three editions -this will Fourth- the third major sporting event in the city for business generation.
A report by the auditor PwC notes that in these first three years, BEC has grown from 25 sporting events associated with the grand finale to the 40 that were held during the last edition; It has also surpassed the 150,000 viewers compared to 100,000 in 2013, and accumulates in these three years an economic impact of 145 million euros, which places it as the third sporting event in the city with the highest return after the great footballing events -particularly the Barcelona-Real Madrid and Spain Grand Prix formula 1 Championship in the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
This economic success adds to social recognition -never rise to so many people had come to the facilities of the Polo to a contest in riding and social work also channeled through the Real Club Polo Foundation, a non-profit invests all revenue generated by the organization of events in Barcelona Equestrian Challenge social purposes associated one way or another to promote the world of horses and equestrian sports.
The flagship project is the Pony Park, which since three years ago is celebrated in the park Oreneta in collaboration with the City. The last course passed by about 5,000 children from 90 primary schools in the city. A didactic activities around the horse contact with the animal and adds a contest.
The FEI took into account the social dimension and foster the local public when last year to extend by three years the celebration of the final of the Nations Cup in Barcelona. The city will host well over six consecutive years, from the moment major international event team jumping. This year, the big news will be the Polo Park, a village installed on the polo club with musical and gastronomic offer will be open between now and Saturday, coinciding with the celebration of the sports events of the CSIO.