Barcelona
New blow for Barça as Camp Nou capacity is reduced
While stadium capacity for open air events has been increased from 40% to 60% in Spain, Catalunya's government has reduced Camp Nou's capacity to 35%.
FC Barcelona have been dealt a new setback following the decision by the Catalunya Interior Ministry's Civil Protection department not to allow the club to increase capacity at Camp Nou to 60% in line with new measures announced by the Spanish government's Health Department.
Bayern Munich at Camp Nou on 14 September
The Procicat's decision is detrimental to Barça who have already suffered a drop in income from gate receipts during the pandemic. On Tuesday, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced the Health Ministry's decision to “increase the number of spectators in open-air stadiums to 60% and in indoor venues to 40%”. That would mean in Barcelona's next home game, the Champions League Matchday 1 meeting with Bayern Munich, they would have been able to let in 60,000 fans.
However, the new measures are subject to approval by councils in each of Spain's autonomous regions and for the time being, Catalunya's government is not thinking about permitting 60% capacity. At the most, Camp Nou will be able to reach 35% of its capacity, which means that Barça cannot allow in more than 30,000 fans. The decision has irritated Barça, who feel that they will lose out economically as well as in terms of home support.