Barcelona during the Year of Sports Tourism

21-02-2020 | Turisme de Barcelona

2020 is the year of the Tokyo Olympics and the Year of Sports Tourism in Catalonia, and Barcelona will be hosting some of the most important world athletics and motorsports competitions, which are expected to attract large crowds.

The city will be hosting more than 40 athletics competitions, 50% of them neighbourhood events and 50% citywide, as well as a triathlon. The number of participants from abroad grows year on year and accounted for 89% of competitors at IRONMAN 70.3 Calella and 45% in the case of the half marathon. The eDreams Mitja Marató attracted the highest number of athletes, with the maximum permitted number of 23,000 registered. The event broke the records for the number of women taking part and runners from abroad, with 122 different nationalities taking part. France (1,902) and the United Kingdom (1,591) were the countries with the most participants, although there were runners from countries as different as Japan, Uzbekistan, Canada, Cambodia and Zimbabwe.

In March, Barcelona will be hosting another classic event, the Zurich Marató. 19,000 people have already signed up, 50% of them from outside Catalonia. These three events, along with October’s Barcelona Triathlon, with 20% of its runners coming from abroad, are the most important international running competitions.

The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya will be hosting 19 motorsports events, four of them international competitions, following the inclusion of the Superbikes (WorldSBK) championship in September.