This Is the Saga of Barcelona’s Return to Camp Nou
The long-awaited return of Barcelona to the Spotify Camp Nou has turned into a saga. With delays, licensing issues and broken promises, as of September 2025 the club still hasn’t opened its renovated stadium, leaving fans waiting.
A project that never met deadlines
On April 28, 2022, Barcelona received authorization to begin the works and planned to return to its home in the 2024-25 season with partial capacity, while the full renovation was projected to be finished by 2026. Turkish construction company Limak was chosen in January 2023, promising reduced costs and faster delivery. Even its president, Ebru Özdemir, guaranteed that by November 2024 the team would be back at the stadium.
For months, both Joan Laporta and vice president Maria Elena Fort insisted that the project was on schedule. The goal was to reopen with 60% capacity and coincide with the club’s 125th anniversary. However, deadlines started slipping: first to early 2025, then to February, and later toward the end of the season.
Montjuïc, Johan Cruyff and constant extensions
Unable to return to Camp Nou, Barcelona requested multiple extensions to continue playing at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys. Some matches, like the Joan Gamper Trophy, were even moved to the Johan Cruyff Stadium, which holds just 6,000 fans. Each extension with the city council highlighted how far the project still was from completion.
In June 2025 the club officially announced a return on August 10 to host the Joan Gamper Trophy, but municipal authorities clarified that reopening depended on the license, which was never granted. By July, it was confirmed the match would be played at Johan Cruyff, showing that Camp Nou would not be ready by that date.
An endless wait for the fans
Finally, on September 9, 2025, Barcelona confirmed its first home game in LaLiga against Valencia would take place at Johan Cruyff. The club stated it was working intensively to partially open the Spotify Camp Nou with 27,000 seats, but the reality is there is still no definitive date.
The saga of returning to Camp Nou continues. The fans, who hoped to celebrate the club’s 125th anniversary at their home, must keep waiting. What was supposed to be an ambitious renovation project has instead turned into a drawn-out process, leaving Barcelona away from its historic stadium far longer than expected.
