Spanish champion Barcelona said on Tuesday that it now plans to return to its renovated Camp Nou home only once it gets permission to have a temporary capacity of 45,000 supporters.
The decision comes less than a week after Barca once again delayed its expected return to its iconic home stadium — which was initially slated for November 2024 before being pushed back several times.
Previously, the Catalan giant was hoping to reopen its stadium once it obtained a licence to host matches in front of 27,000 fans — something that it had hoped to secure last month.
The decision to wait until the temporary capacity is increased to 45,000 is almost certain to cause further delays to the re-opening of one of Europe’s great stadiums after a re-development that has suffered several setbacks.
The club is estimated to be paying 1.5 billion euros ($1.75 billion) for the Camp Nou rebuild, which has been beset by reconstruction chaos.
ALSO READ: Former Barcelona left-back Jordi Alba to retire from professional football at the end of the season
“Although it is expected to soon receive the first occupancy licence for phase 1A… Barcelona will work with the goal of returning to Spotify Camp Nou once the licence for phase 1B is obtained, which will expand the capacity to 45,000 spectators,” the club said in a statement without giving any indication of when that would be.
Barcelona was humiliatingly forced to play two matches at its 6,000-capacity Johan Cruyff training ground stadium in the first weeks of the season after failing to get the permit it needed for Camp Nou.
The city council said in September that it would not allow Barcelona to return to the stadium, which will have a capacity of 105,000 when it is completed, because of safety issues.
Barcelona confirmed on Tuesday that it will host its next La Liga game against Girona on October 18 at the Olympic Stadium on the city’s Montjuic hill.
The club played there for the last two seasons while Camp Nou was closed and had to return there at the end of September following its two games at the tiny Johan Cruyff venue.
Barca had already announced that its next Champions League match against Olympiakos will also take place there on October 21. Its next home games after that are against Elche on November 2 and Athletic Bilbao on November 23.
Published on Oct 07, 2025
