Barcelona insiders fear Spotify Camp Nou will not be fully operational until 2027 – report | OneFootball

According to a recent report from CuleMania, the construction of the new Spotify Camp Nou stadium is facing serious delays, pushing back the club’s return and raising new concerns at the highest level of management.

Initially slated for significant progress by mid-2025, the massive redevelopment project is now roughly six months behind schedule.

As a result, insiders at the club are beginning to fear that the fully finished stadium may not be ready until sometime in 2027.

What’s the problem?

At the heart of the delay is the sluggish pace of construction on the third tier, which remains in its early stages. Despite renovations having started in 2023, much of the work on the first and second tiers is still incomplete.

Key features like seating, restrooms, updated corridors, and new press facilities are yet to be finalized. As things stand, the project is far from where it was supposed to be.

Joan Laporta, the club president, is growing increasingly anxious over the stadium’s timeline. His concern is justified—Barcelona are currently losing an estimated €100 million per season playing away at Montjuic.

Given Barça’s delicate financial state, those losses are difficult to absorb.

Barcelona are facing significant delay in the reconstruction of the Spotify Camp Nou. (Photo by Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images)

Several reasons have been cited for the delay. The Barcelona City Council’s time restrictions, delays in granting essential municipal permits, and the global economic climate have all contributed to slowing down the project.

Additionally, Limak, the Turkish construction company in charge of the redevelopment, has expressed frustration over Spain’s stricter labor laws and worker safety regulations.

Provisional return in 2025—but not at full capacity

Barça remains hopeful of returning to Camp Nou by September 2025, albeit not to a fully completed stadium.

To manage the transition, the club plans to ask the Spanish Football Federation for permission to play the first three matchdays of the 2025–26 La Liga season away from home, buying extra time to wrap up the work on the lower tiers.

Once the first and second tiers are ready, the stadium will operate at a temporary capacity of 63,000 seats, far below its planned full capacity but enough to accommodate a partial return.

Construction on the third tier will then continue throughout the 2025–26 season.

Meanwhile, the political clock is also ticking. Barcelona must hold new presidential elections by June 2026, and the delay in the stadium project threatens to become a key issue in Laporta’s re-election bid, should he decide to run again.

Originally, the goal was for the 2026–27 season to mark the grand re-opening of the fully revamped Spotify Camp Nou.

Now, that timeline is in doubt. The club is quietly preparing for a scenario where the stadium may not be completely finished until midway or even the end of that campaign.