Barcelona

Camp Nou, the stadium of Barcelona FC

Camp Nou is the stadium of Barcelona FC and one of the most interesting places to visit in the city, especially for football fans.

Camp Nou is the stadium of Barcelona FC, its home since its construction was completed in 1957. With its 99,000 seats, it is the largest football stadium in Europe and the second largest in the world, surpassed only by the Olympic Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea.

In addition to being the home of Barcelona FC, Camp Nou has hosted numerous international matches during its history, including a World Cup semi-final in 1982, two Champions League finals and the football tournament matches at the 1992 Olympics.

Currently under renovation and until the end of 2024, Barcelona has temporarily moved to the Olympic Stadium in Montjuic.

Tour of Camp Nou

Camp Nou has become one of Barcelona’s most important attractions. It is possible to visit the Barcelona FC museum and go inside the trophy area, as well as visiting the visitors’ changing rooms, the tunnel the players go through to enter the pitch, the mixed zone, the press room and even the pitch, in what turns out to be an absolute must for all football fans.

Alternatively, for those who are not interested in museums but want to get inside the glorious stadium, it is also possible to watch Barcelona FC matches live. Tickets are sold almost everywhere in the city, even on Las Ramblas there are several kiosks to buy them.

The estimated duration of the stadium tour is about one and a half hours.

Due to renovations, Camp Nou cannot be visited until 2025. You can, however, take part in the brand new Barça Immersive Tour, which opened in June 2023, in the FC Barcelona museum, located directly opposite Camp Nou.

FC Barcelona Museum Ticket

The ticket for the Barça Immersive Tour in the FC Barcelona Museum can be purchased conveniently online. However, we recommend you visit it at off-peak times, i.e. early in the morning or late in the afternoon.

Tickets for FC Barcelona matches

Camp Nou is the home of FC Barcelona, one of the most successful football teams in Spain and Europe. To see upcoming Barcelona matches and buy tickets, click on the button below.

Barcelona FC tickets

The history of the stadium

The construction of Camp Nou began in 1954, when Camp de Les Corts, the old home of FC Barcelona, was by then too small to hold its ever-growing fan base.

The evolution of seating

The stadium’s capacity in terms of seats has varied considerably over the years. At the opening in 1957 it had 106,000 seats, which became as many as 121,000 for the 1982 World Cup; in 1999 UEFA outlawed standing room inside stadiums, which brought Camp Nou’s capacity to what it is today.

The 50th anniversary renovation

In 2007, to celebrate its 50th anniversary, Barcelona FC expressed the desire to renovate Camp Nou, to integrate it even more into the urban fabric of the city. The intention was to make it the third largest stadium in the world, after the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the United States and the already named Pyongyang Stadium in North Korea.

Architect Norman Foster and his team were chosen to renovate Camp Nou: the plan was to cost $250 million, with an expansion of the seating capacity and numerous additions and improvements. However, the economic crisis of 2008 halted the project, and in 2010 President Sandro Rosell decided to terminate the idea of a renovation altogether.

In January 2014, Barcelona’s board of directors approved a new project to modernise Camp Nou; the cost this time will be €600 million and work will begin at the end of 2017, finishing in 2021.

Some events played at Camp Nou

Besides football, Camp Nou has been used for various purposes:

The Futbol Club Barcelona team

One of the most titled and famous teams in the world, Barcelona FC is the football soul of the city. It plays at Camp Nou, one of the temples of world football.

Camp Nou full of Barcelona FC fans

Futbol Club Barcelona, also known simply as Barcelona FC and informally as Barca, is the city’s premier football club.

The beginnings

On 22 October 1889, the Swiss Hans Gamper placed an advertisement in the sports daily Los Deportes declaring his intention to create a football club. Just 11 candidates answered and gave birth to Barcelona FC.

The team immediately started competing in the Campionat de Catalunya and the Copa del Rey; in 1902, three years after its foundation, it won its first trophy, the Copa Macaya. From there, a continuous escalation led the team to become one of the most important in Spain: in 1909 Barcelona’s headquarters became the Camp de la Industria, a stadium with a capacity of 8,000 seats, while shortly afterwards Gamper decided to start a campaign in search of members: in 1922 Barcelona FC already counted 20,000 members, who were able to help the team finance a new stadium, Les Cortes, with an initial capacity of 20,000 spectators, which doubled in the 1940s.

Key facts

Barcelona was founded in 1899 as a symbol of Catalan culture, hence the motto Mes que un club, which means ‘more than a club’ in Catalan. Unlike almost all football clubs in the world, Barcelona is owned by the fans, who elect the actual board of directors.

According to some estimates, the team and everything that revolves around it is worth around €3 billion, and is the second richest football team in the world in terms of turnover after Real Madrid, having ended 2015 with €560 million.

Barcelona FC is one of three Spanish La Liga teams that have never been relegated, along with Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid. In 2009 it became the first Spanish team to win what is called the Triplete, i.e. the national championship, the national cup and the Champions League. It wears a shirt with vertical blue and garnet stripes, which is why it is colloquially called blaugrana in Catalan, a word that has become commonplace to identify the team among football fans all over the world.

Palmares

Barcelona FC is one of the most successful football clubs in the world, having won the Spanish league, the Copa del Rey, the Spanish Super Cup, the Copa Eva Duarte and the Copa de la Liga several times.

As far as international competitions are concerned, Barcelona FC is always one of the opponents to beat in the Champions League, a trophy they have already won numerous times, not to mention the various Cup Winners’ Cup, European Super Cup and Club World Cup titles.

The enormous number of trophies won makes Barcelona FC one of the most popular teams in the world, along with its historical rival Real Madrid, who face each other at least twice a year in the championship, giving rise to what is colloquially called El Clasico, the most watched match in Spain and among the most important in the world.

The Barcelona derby

Barcelona FC is by far the most famous and followed team in the city, but it is not the only one: its local rival isEspanyol, which plays wearing blue and white uniforms and was founded by Spaniards, in a clearly anti-Barcelona move; the Catalans therefore see it as a provocative representative of the Madrid government, in contrast to the revolutionary spirit of Barcelona FC.

The Barcelona-Espanyol match, known in the city as Derbi Barceloni, is one of the most played derbies in the history of La Liga but is also one of the most unbalanced, given Barca’s strength: Espanyol have only finished above their rivals three times out of 80, despite having the consolation of having won a derby by the widest margin, the 6-0 victory in 1951.

The Catalan national football team

As well as hosting Barcelona FC matches, Camp Nou is also the home of the Catalan national football team. The team, like many others in its category, is not affiliated with either FIFA or UEFA and is therefore not allowed to participate in the World Cup or the European Championships; the players of the Catalan national team are, however, Spanish citizens who have the right and opportunity to play in Spain’s national team.

Useful information

Address

Les Corts, 08028 Barcelona, Spain

Contacts

TEL: +34 902 18 99 00

Timetables

  • Monday: 10:00 - 18:00
  • Tuesday: 10:00 - 18:00
  • Wednesday: 10:00 - 18:00
  • Thursday: 10:00 - 18:00
  • Friday: 10:00 - 18:00
  • Saturday: 10:00 - 18:00
  • Sunday: 10:00 - 15:00

Transports

Bus stops

  • Riera Blanca - Onze de Setembre (420 mt)

Where is located Camp Nou, the stadium of Barcelona FC

Camp Nou is located a few kilometres west of the centre of Barcelona, in the Sants district to the north of L'Hospitalet de Llobregat.

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