IOC visits Madrid as part of 2020 Olympic bid process

Tuesday, March 19, 2013 File:Merchandising Madrid2020.JPG

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Evaluation Commission is in Madrid, Spain this week as part of the city’s bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Sir Craig Reedie of Great Britain is leading the IOC delegation, whom Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy greeted at the start of their inspection process. Of the fourteen-member bid delegation, five have been through this process before as part of the city’s failed bids for the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2016 Summer Olympics bids.

On a cold but sunny day yesterday, the IOC visited four sites on their first inspection date including Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Buen Retiro park and bullfighting ring Las Ventas. Today, the IOC is scheduled to visit the proposed venues for the Olympic village and stadium. The inspection is scheduled to last four days.

While at Santiago Bernabéu, IOC members met the Spanish national football team captain Iker Casillas and were given Real Madrid jerseys with their names on them.

As Spain is currently undergoing severe economic problems at the moment, with 26% unemployment currently and public debt in 2012 at 84% of the country’s gross domestic product, the €1.5bn (US$1.9bn, £1.3bn) costs of the Games have been a highly visible aspect of the city’s bid process. Security costs are estimated to add another €149m (US$192m, £127m) to organizing costs. Proponents of the bid including Madrid’s mayor Ana Botella believe the Games would provide an economic boost to the city and the country. IOC President Jacques Rogge is also on the record as stating that he does not believe Spanish economic problems will play a part in the IOC’s decision-making process. Spanish newspaper El Mundo quoted Rogge saying, “The crisis does not affect it, because substantial facilities have in most cases already been built. No major investment is needed”.

Botella outlined some of the costs, quoted by the Associated Press during the IOC visit saying, “The budget that remains for the construction of infrastructure, some 1.5 billion [euros] divided between the three administrations responsible and over a period of seven years, is a perfectly affordable amount.”

Local organizers have promised to follow the legacy of London, using historical landmarks and existing venues with 80% of proposed venues, 28 of 35, already in place, and providing a roadmap for future development of Olympic sites to avoid any “white elephants” that are unused after the Games, a situation that happened with a number of Athens Olympic venues. Madrid’s bid Chief Executive Victor Sánchez, quoted by Agence France-Presse, explained they avoided “[p]rojects that have no real use for citizens after the Games have finished. That is why we have given priority to existing infrastructures and then to other infrastructures that the city has a direct need for. Finally, where a future use cannot be guaranteed, we have opted for temporary solutions. Only three such temporary solutions will be used, while a mere four permanent facilities remain to be built. The result is lower costs, reduced environmental impact and less disruption to the everyday lives of the people of Madrid, all with government backing at central, regional and municipal level.”

Local organizers are preparing to cope with protesters trying to draw attention to Spain’s labor situation who planned to picket outside the Hotel Eurostars Madrid Tower where IOC members are staying. The planned protest is over cuts to the Municipal Government budget. Protesters did not picket yesterday, which was a holiday in Madrid. Bid organizers and the government feared potential strikes by people working for the public transport system. Botella explained to the media that protests and work stoppages should not be seen as evidence that Spaniards would not welcome the Games, but rather unhappiness with local economic issues, which Botella said the Games should help fix. Spain’s current unemployment level is the highest of any European country and the worst the country has faced since the 1970s. Botella’s view is supported by an IOC survey, which found 81% of Spaniards supported Madrid’s bid for the Games.

Madrid is one of three cities currently competing for the 2020 Games. The IOC visited Tokyo, Japan earlier this month and is scheduled to visit Istanbul, Turkey later this month. The host city is to be formally selected at a meeting of the IOC on September 7 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Shortly after that, Rogge is scheduled to step down from his position as IOC President.