Olympic bids as catalysts of resistance: the Pyrenees–Barcelona 2030 case

This article examines opposition to the Pyrenees–Barcelona region’s bid to host the 2030 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. It explores the main areas of contention and the interpretative frames through which opposition was articulated, situating the controversy within broader debates on the legitimacy of Olympic bidding processes and territorial development in peripheral regions. Indeed, opposition to this bid illustrates how Winter Olympic candidacies can activate territorially embedded tensions and perceptions of regional neglect in such contexts. Data were gathered through 10 semi-structured interviews with 11 representatives of groups and initiatives involved in opposition to the bid, along with participant observation and documentary analysis. The results highlight the role of the #StopJJOO Platform as a coordinating space that enabled the temporary alignment of heterogeneous groups opposed to the bid. Opposition culminated in a demonstration held in the town of Puigcerdà, which brought together a broad coalition of groups and individuals around shared territorial grievances. Data from interviews conducted both before and after the demonstration point to four main issues at the heart of the protest, namely, governance, climate change, the socio-economic model of the Pyrenees, and the Olympic movement overall. Opposition actors used the bid as a focal point through which to articulate long-standing territorial grievances and to open a public debate on governance, development priorities, and the future of the Catalan Pyrenees. Resistance to the Pyrenees–Barcelona 2030 bid took the form of a conjunctural, and territorially rooted coalition activated by the Olympic candidacy itself.