Through the Ordinary General Assembly, held electronically at Auditori 1899, Joan Laporta's board of directors obtained the support of the delegate members (4,597 were summoned) to expand the financing of Espai Barça and face the next two years without compromising sporting competitiveness. After being approved with large majorities in two votes (they had to get the positive votes of 2/3 of the voters), the club will have an additional 300 million euros to finish the works on the Spotify Camp Nou (562 votes in favor, 45 against and 12 blank) and will be able to issue another 210 million in debt bonds guaranteed with audiovisual rights (486 votes in favor, 55 against and 28 blank), to cover the treasury tensions caused by the delay of the works. The latter will serve to provide liquidity to ordinary activity and maintain a competitive team while the stadium still does not generate all the expected income.
Ferran Olivé, economic vice president of the club, was in charge of defending an operation that raises Barça's aggregate financial debt to 2,660 million euros. The additional 300 million for Espai Barça, which will be returned in 50 years, respond according to the club to "unsurgent contingencies", accumulated delays, the increase in the cost of materials and different improvements to the stadium that were not initially contemplated. With the expansion, the financing linked to Espai Barça will rise to 1.8 billion, which must be returned with the resources generated by the new stadium. To these are added around 700 million in debt linked to audiovisual rights and another 170 million in credits. The new bonds for 210 million will have an initial fixed interest of 5.14% and a repayment period of ten years.
"We have to finish the stadium no matter what and we are going late. Our competitors are ahead of us," defended Olivé, who summarized the objective of the operation: "We need 300 million to finish it and another 200 to keep the club stable." The economic commission, chaired by Oriol Amat, considered both operations necessary, although it warned that the increase in debt requires prudence and systematic controls to be maintained.
The board trusts that the growth of the new Spotify Camp Nou will allow it to absorb this heavy debt. His forecasts involve raising total income from the 1,195 million budgeted this season to 1,450 million in 2030-31, driven by a stadium that should go from generating just over 200 million annually to around 450 million. Olivé assured that the risks of the operation are "moderate and controlled" and was blunt when asked about possible new deviations: "the club will not need more financing."
Barça plans to move to the Lluis Companys stadium at the beginning of next season to complete the works, the installation of the dome, and hopes to return to the Spotify Camp Nou with 95,000 seats available between October and November, although out of caution it does not incorporate that capacity into its economic forecasts until January 2028. The final capacity of 105,000 spectators will be available for 2028/29. In addition, throughout this season the seats in the VIP boxes will be increased by 9,500, which will increase the capacity from the current 62,000 to the 72,000 planned for the month of March.
During the question session, there was criticism from the partners of Limak for the delays and deficiencies detected. “After the project we will have to settle accounts with Limak,” said Olivé, who pointed to a possible mediation process to apply the construction company's guarantees once the works are completed.
The new Palau is excluded from this financing and the club maintains that it will be paid for through other alternatives, such as holding shows with a new multipurpose concept. According to Ferran Olivé, it would have a capacity of 20,000 spectators and a sports capacity of 12,000. The idea of the club is for an investor to build it and operate it for 50 years, while the club maintains its sporting activities. The benefit of that investor would be to have the so-called 'arena' for shows and concerts.
Among the partners, Joan Gaspart also intervened to ask for a “resounding yes” and demand that internal disputes be left out of the vote. "The 200 million are also important because we cannot run out of treasury. It would be very dangerous," defended the former president.
The approval of the new financing completed an Assembly in which the board carried out its main economic proposals. Previously, the delegates had approved the closure of the 2025-26 season, with 609 votes in favor, 32 against and 23 blank, accounts with a record of 1,060 million in income, practically neutral ordinary result and 18 million in extraordinary losses.
The 2026-27 budget also received the green light, with 683 votes in favor, 43 against and 27 blank, which includes 1,195 million in income and a net profit of 19 million. The big bet is once again the Camp Nou. The club expects that the stadium's income will grow this season from 225 to 285 million thanks to the increased capacity and that its full exploitation will be the engine that will allow it to finance Barça's growth and repay the accumulated debt.
The treasurer Ferran Olivé was in charge of presenting figures marked by the record of income, but also by the final losses. Barça reached 1,060 million euros, 15 million less than budgeted, while operating expenses amounted to 1,022 million, three above forecasts. The ordinary result was practically balanced, with a profit of about 150,000 euros, but the extraordinary results brought the final balance to losses. Among them are 14 million linked to a new Barça Productions depreciation and another four million for corporate tax, increased by the costs of the BLM company.
One of the points that generated the most attention was the debt. The club presented an asset of 2,732 million euros and a financial debt of 910 million, to which another 127 million are added linked to the beginning of the payment of interest on the financing of the Spotify Camp Nou. The club's ordinary debt stands at 673 million. The accounts also maintain a negative net worth of 168 million euros, one of the main economic challenges of the entity.
The board defended that the economic situation should also be analyzed from the income generation capacity and the value of the club's assets. The squad currently represents 53% of the budget and is valued at 276 million in Barça's accounting, although its market value according to Transfermarkt reaches 1,260 million. Olivé also highlighted the valuation of 6.5 billion euros that Forbes attributes to the entity and the BBB rating that the club maintains.
The debt starred in a good part of the delegates' turn of interventions. Several members requested explanations about their evolution and also about the increase in expenses associated with the club's labor structure. According to the data presented during the Assembly, Barça currently has around 2,000 employees.
The accounts, audited by Crowe Auditores, thus passed the first examination of the day before the commissioners also gave the green light to the budget for the 2026-27 season. The club plans to increase operating income to 1,195 million euros and expenses to 1,133 million. The financial result will be negative by 67 million, partly because the greater availability of the Camp Nou forces more financial expenses to be allocated to the year, while the expected ordinary result is a positive one million euros. Without the extraordinary losses of the previous year, the forecast is to end the season with 19 million net profit.
The growth is supported by the return to the Camp Nou, where the club plans to have 62,000 seats and play throughout the season. The stadium's income would go from 225 to 285 million, 60 million more, while the commercial area will contribute another additional 50 million thanks to BLM and merchandising. The wage bill will go from 571 to 636 million, 65 million more.
At this point, the delegates' questions focused on the future of Palau Blaugrana, the increase in season ticket prices and the club's financial plan. Olivé acknowledged that there is still no calendar for the Palau, although he assured that it will be built without increasing the debt and that "several alternatives" are being studied. Regarding the economic situation, he once again pointed out the Camp Nou as the key to growth. “We are crossing the desert,” he summarized, and placed the great leap in the 2028-29 season, when the stadium is fully operational and allows us to go from “just over 200 million in annual income to about 450 million.”
