La Seu d'Urgell and Sort bid to host 2027 ICF Canoe World Championships

La Seu d'Urgell and Sort, two small towns in the Catalan Pyrenees, will put a joint bid to host the 2027 International Canoe Federation (ICF) World Championships, presidency minister Laura Vilagrà announced on Monday.

The competition will be an "opportunity" for the sports tourism industry in the Pyrenees, building on the experience earned hosting various championships over the last 50 years.

The ICF will announce the host city on April 29 in Budapest.

During the announcement of the candidacy, Vilagrà said that the competition would boost and diversify the local economy. 

Authorities believe the candidacy has a lot of potential. Francesc Viaplana, Seu's mayor admitted that "one of the competitors is Paris, which has two million inhabitants. But between Sort and La Seu there are less than 15,000 people, but we won’t let that hold us back."

Sort mayor, Baldó Farré, said: "One of our biggest strengths is that it is a joint candidacy from all of us in the Pyrenees, and they are totally sustainable championships."

The championships will include canoe slalom, kayak cross, canoe freestyle, and wildwater canoeing competitions.

Failed 2030 Winter Olympic Games bid

The bid to host the 2027 ICF Canoe World Championship in the Pyrenees follows a failed 2030 Winter Olympic Games bid after the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) officially ruled out a candidacy in June 2022.

The lack of consensus between the COE and Catalan and Aragonese authorities over the distribution of competitions frustrated the project.

After much deliberation over where each sports event should take place, on March 28, 2022 the COE announced a deal between Catalonia and Aragon.

The Catalan executive then confirmed its support for the agreement, but Aragon failed to do so. The day after the COE announcement, the president of Aragon, Socialist Javier Lambán, openly rejected it and said he would counter with a "fair and more balanced" proposal. 

Some residents did not support the project from the start. Listen to our Filling the Sink podcast episode published on February 2022 to learn more about it.