Camp Nou

Construction of Camp Nou began on 28 March 1954 due to the lack of expansion space in Barcelona's previous stadium, Camp de Les Corts. Although the stadium was initially planned to be named Estadi del FC Barcelona, it became known as Camp Nou. The acquisition of László Kubala, one of the club's greatest players, in June 1950, further strengthened the need for a larger stadium.

In November 1950, the president Agustí Montal i Galobart obtained the approval of an assembly of members to acquire land for the construction of a new stadium in Hospitalet de Llobregat, which was later exchanged for land in the neighbourhood of Les Corts with the Barcelona City Council. The commission dedicated to the project recommended another location in February 1951, and the official purchase was made two years later.

The appointment of Francesc Miró-Sans as president of FC Barcelona in November 1953 was a turning point for the project. Miró-Sans favoured the land acquired in 1950, and the first stone of the stadium was laid on 28 March 1954. The construction was entrusted to Ingar SA, and it was completed one year later, at a cost of 288 million pesetas, more than four times the original budget. The club borrowed heavily to cover the cost, hoping to sell the land at Les Corts to recover the expenses. However, it took the Barcelona City Council five years to requalify the land, causing economic hardship for the club.

The Camp Nou was inaugurated on 24 September 1957, during the feast of La Mercè, with a solemn mass preceding the Hallelujah from Handel's Messiah. The event was attended by dignitaries of the Franco regime and the city, and around 90,000 people were present in the stands. Football clubs from all over Catalonia and members of different FC Barcelona teams paraded on the field during the opening ceremony. The architects of the stadium were Francesc Mitjans and Josep Soteras, with the collaboration of Lorenzo García-Barbón.

In 1972, Camp Nou held its first European Cup Winners' Cup final between Rangers and Dynamo Moscow, with Rangers emerging as the victors by a score of 3-2. Electronic scoreboards were installed in the stadium in 1975. In anticipation of the 1982 FIFA World Cup, the stadium underwent an expansion in 1980 that included the addition of boxes, VIP lounges, a new press area, and new markers. The construction of a third tier also took place, which was shorter than originally planned by 6 metres. This expansion added 22,150 new seats, bringing the total seating capacity to 71,731, and increased the standing capacity by 16,500 to 49,670, making the total stadium capacity (seated and standing) 121,401.

Camp Nou hosted the opening ceremony of the 1982 World Cup, and more matches were played at this stadium than at any of the other 16 stadiums used throughout Spain. It hosted the opening match, in which Belgium defeated defending champions Argentina 1-0, as well as three round-robin matches between the Soviet Union, Poland, and Belgium. In addition, the stadium was the venue for the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final, which saw Manchester United come from behind to win against Bayern Munich with two injury time goals from Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjær. FC Barcelona's record attendance was achieved on 5 March 1986 during the European Cup quarter-final against Juventus in front of 120,000 spectators, just shy of the stadium's capacity.

Camp Nou, home of the Catalan team Barcelona, has had a fluctuating capacity since its opening at 106,146. It grew to a maximum of 121,401 for the 1982 FIFA World Cup and has since been used for various football events. The 1992 Summer Olympics football competition, including the final, was held at Camp Nou after two additional tiers of seating were installed. The stadium underwent renovation in 1993-94, which included lowering the pitch by 2.5 metres, removing the security gap, and eliminating standing room in favour of individual seating. Additional upgrades were completed in time for the 1998-99 season, resulting in a five-star rating from UEFA. The stadium's name officially remained "Estadi del FC Barcelona" until the 2000-01 season when it was renamed to Camp Nou. Today, Camp Nou also features a memorabilia shop, mini-pitches for training, and a chapel for players, while the FC Barcelona Museum, located in the stadium, attracts over 1.2 million visitors annually. In 2017, Barcelona's league match against Las Palmas was played in an empty Camp Nou due to political unrest.

In celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Camp Nou stadium, the club issued an international tender to remodel the facility and create an integrated, visible urban environment. The goal was to increase seating capacity by 13,500, with at least half under cover, to make it the third-largest stadium in the world in terms of seating capacity. In 2007, British architect Norman Foster and his company were selected to add around 6,000 seats, bringing the maximum capacity to 105,000, at an estimated cost of €250 million. However, the financial crisis postponed the project, and in 2014, the board of directors rejected the option of building a new stadium and instead chose to remodel Camp Nou, with construction planned to begin in 2019 and end in 2024. The City Council of Barcelona finally granted a license for the renovation in April 2022, with a focus on technology aspects of the first and second tiers, and completion expected during the 2025-26 season. During the renovation, FC Barcelona will move to Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Montjuïc.

Aside from football, Camp Nou has also hosted many major concerts and events, including a mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II in 1982, a charity concert organized by Amnesty International in 1988, and concerts by Julio Iglesias, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, and U2. In 2016, the stadium hosted the Top 14 rugby final, which drew a record-breaking crowd of 99,124. Other notable events held at Camp Nou include the first Super League game in Spain in 2019 and the largest known attendances for women's football in 2022, featuring Real Madrid and Wolfsburg.