Barcelona Guide
The northern suburbs
Camp Nou
Address: Avinguda Arístides Maillol, Les Corts
Opening time: April– Oct Mon– Sat 10am–8pm, rest of the year until 6.30pm, Sun 10am–3pm
Price: Museum only €8.50, including tour €13
Telephone: 902 189 900
Website: www.fcbarcelona.com
The magnificent Camp Nou football stadium, home to FC (Futbol Club) Barcelona – European champions in 1992, 2006, and 2009 – is high on the visiting list of any sports fan. Football in Barcelona is a genuine obsession. "More than just a club" is the proud boast, and during the dictatorship years the club stood as a Catalan symbol around which people could rally. Arch-rivals, Real Madrid, on the other hand, were always seen as Franco's club. Moreover, unlike any other professional team, the famous "blaugrana" (claret and blue) shirts remained unsullied by sponsors' names for a century – until, in a typically Catalan statement of intent, the Unicef logo was chosen.
The stadium was built in 1957, and enlarged for the 1982 World Cup semi-final to accommodate 98,000 people. It provides one of the best football-watching experiences in the world and the matches can be an invigorating introduction to Catalan passions. The football season runs from August until May, with games usually played on Sundays. The stadium complex also hosts basketball, handball and hockey games with FC Barcelona's other professional teams, and there's also a public ice rink here.
Together, the stadium and the club's Museu del Futbol provide a splendid celebration of Spain's national sport. The all-inclusive ticket allows you on the self-guided tour, winding into the bowels of the stadium, through the changing rooms, out onto the pitch side and up to the press gallery and directors' box for stunning views. The museum is jammed full of silverware, memorabilia, paintings and sculpture, while photograph displays and archive footage trace the history of the club back to 1901. Finally, you're directed into the FC Botiga Megastore, where you can buy anything from a replica shirt down to a branded bottle of wine.