Due to Spain’s financial situation, a lot of people assume Madrid has little to no shot of hosting the 2020 Olympics when it goes against Tokyo and Istanbul in an IOC committee vote next September.
But Spanish Olympic committee president Alejandro Blanco is asking, if not begging for votes, and arguing that the influx of money and the jobs created to prepare for the Madrid Games could jump start the country’s economy.
“Spain needs the Games more than ever,” Blanco told the AFP. “The Games will attract investors, boost investment, create wealth and promote tourism… Young people see the Games as a vital opportunity for development and progress in these difficult times.”
Blanco adds that a good airport and decent transportation system means Madrid already has 80 percent of infrastructure necessary to host, and that the money awarded to the city will go towards building and improving on what already exists, which he calls “a solid guarantee of stability.”
Now Blanco plans to go on a road show around the world in an attempt to convince more than 100 voting IOC members that Madrid is the perfect host for the 2020 Games. He’ll use London as an example of how the right city can grow its economy when the Olympics are done right.
