The President of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, expressed his satisfaction with the election of Barcelona as the venue for the 37th edition of the America's Cup yacht race. "We want 2024 to be the best America's Cup ever," he said, "just as the 1992 Olympics were the best in history and represented a before and after."

The chief executive made these statements at a press conference in the Port of Barcelona, accompanied by the Minister of Business and Labor, Roger Torrent, the Mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau; the President of the Port of Barcelona, Damià Calvet; the president of Barcelona Global, Aurora Cata; and Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ) CEO Grant Dalton.

Aragonès stressed that this is the third most followed sporting event worldwide and that "it is undoubtedly an opportunity to showcase Barcelona and project Catalonia around the world".

He also highlighted "the economic impact it will generate throughout the country, estimated at 1 billion euros", especially at a time "when we battling more than ever to achieve opportunities that become shared prosperity for our entire country".

President Aragonès has highlighted "the great assets that our country has: economic, social, cultural, sports and infrastructure, with the collaboration of the Port of Barcelona" and also highlighted "the commitment that civil society of Catalonia has always shown in the face of events like this".

For his part, the Minister of Business and Labor, Roger Torrent, has pointed out that "We are very excited about hosting the America's Cup in the capital of Catalonia, Barcelona. It is an opportunity to show ourselves to the world and we want to live up to it"

Torrent assures that "we will do our best to meet the expectations of the participating teams and visitors, we want them to fall in love with Catalonia."

Collaboration between administrations

The President noted "the meaning of what we have done today: we have aligned ourselves with all public administrations and institutions, with the social initiative of our country and our partners at an international level." He added that "when we align ourselves, we value the assets of the country and we do it with a project that fits the values of sustainability, of positive social impact, of legacy for future generations of the country, things work and work well".

For all these reasons, the head of the Government has called for "collective self-esteem", because "this country knows how to do things right, can do things right, we are doing them well and we will do even better with the help of all". "In the coming weeks and months, it will begin to be felt throughout the country and allows us to look to the future with more hope," he said.