On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the 1992 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Barcelona City Council and other institutions wanted to remember that historical milestone that changed and transformed the city during Pasqual Margall's term as head of the council.

The event of celebration and official reception, chaired by the mayor, Ada Colau, took place in the Saló de Cent of the City Hall on Friday 21 July and wanted to pay tribute to the people, volunteers, sportsmen and institutions who make possible the success of the Games. With this intention, several authorities and representatives of the Olympic movement attended, such as the president of the Spanish Olympic Committee, Alejandro Blanco; the Minister of Culture and Sports, Miquel Iceta; and the president of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Pere Aragonès, who had words of praise and recognition for the leadership and fundamental role of Pasqual Maragall in the organization of the Olympic Games and the enormous international projection of Barcelona. The event was also attended by his sons Airy and Guillem Maragall Garrigosa, both vice-presidents of the Catalunya Europa Foundation.

The ceremony, led by the journalist Olga Viza, included musical performances and a symbolic act of the sports legacy between Olympic medalists at the 1992 Games. Later, a mapping was done on the facade of the City Hall building, in Plaça Sant Jaume. A show of light and images that revolved around the transformation of the city, from the announcement in 1986 through the historic moment of the opening of the Games, on July 25, 1992, making a journey to present-day Barcelona and the Barcelona of the future. All in all, a show where there was no shortage of musical performances such as the interpretation of the anthem "Amics per semper", or Los Manolos, the legendary Catalan rumba group that participated in the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games.

The Olympic legacy of Pasqual Maragall

"Citizens of the world, fifty-six years ago a popular Olympics was to be held in this Montjuïc stadium. The name of the president of the popular Olympics is engraved up there, on the old gate of the Marathon. His name was Lluís Companions and he was the president of the Generalitat de Catalunya. Today the stadium is redone and so is the city, with everyone's help, which I appreciate."

Thus begins the opening speech of the Olympic Games that Pasqual Maragall, as mayor of Barcelona, ??made in front of the whole world on July 25, 1992. A speech that became one of the most emblematic moments in the history of the Games and which is available in the Pasqual Maragall Digital Archive. He had words of remembrance for the war in the Balkans and proclaimed Barcelona as a city of peace open to the world.

"This city of ours, this open city that is Barcelona, ??is today your city, the city of the whole world."

This summer we are celebrating thirty years since the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which represented a project that transformed the city of Barcelona and Catalonia. A historical milestone that was the result of a collective project, as some of the witnesses of the Pasqual Maragall Legacy program of the Catalunya Europa Foundation remember: Enric Truñó, Javier Mariscal, Lluís Bassat and Manuel Huerga, all prominent protagonists of the preparation and organization of the games that began on October 17, 1986 when the president of the IOC, Joan Antoni Samaranch, announced in Lausanne (Switzerland) the choice of Barcelona as the venue for the 1992 Olympic Games with the legendary phrase "A la ville de... Barcelona!".

"The best recognition we can give to Pasqual Maragall is to keep his legacy alive."

Precisely, the son of Pasqual Maragall, and vice-president of the Fundació Catalunya Europa, Guillem Maragall Garrigosa, recalls in a radio interview with RAC 1 the collective nature of a success in which "a lot of people were involved" and that "we lived intensely and with the pride of having achieved an important milestone for Barcelona and the country", he explains, emphasizing the work of the Catalunya Europa Foundation and the Pasqual Maragall Foundation to keep his legacy alive: "the best tribute and recognition we can give to my father", concludes his son.

Without a doubt, the summer of 1992 represented the culmination of a cross-country race that began many years earlier, as narrated and documented in one of the chapters of the book "Pasqual Maragall. Thought and action", by Jaume Badia, Jaume Bellmunt, Quim Brugué, Joan Fuster and Oriol Nel·lo, coordinated by Jaume Claret.

SI VOLEU VEURE LES ENTREVISTES ALS TESTIMONIS DEL LLEGAT OLÍMPIC DE PASQUAL MARAGALL, PODEU CLICAR SOBRE NOM.

• Enric Truñó. Regidor de l'Ajuntament de Barcelona (1979-1998) responsable dels Jocs Olímpics. 
• Javier Mariscal. Dissenyador de la mascota dels Jocs Olímpics, el Cobi, i dels Jocs Paralímpics, la Petra.
• Lluís Bassat. Publicitari. Va ser un dels organitzadors de les cerimònies d'inauguració i clausura dels Jocs Olímpics.
• Manuel Huerga. Director de cinema i de televisió. Va dirigir les cerimònies d'inauguració i clausura dels Jocs Olímpics.