Workers put finishing touches with days until Mediterranean Games begin

With just eight days left until the start of the 18th Mediterranean Games in Tarragona, workers are laboring against the clock to ensure that the main venues for the multi-sports event are ready. On Thursday, workers installed the stand for the pool, where the swimming and water polo events will take place. Meanwhile, the 28 hectares of the Mediterranean Ring, the name for the main sporting complex, are currently closed to the public while final touches to the facilities are made.       

The Mediterranean Ring, which is the epicenter of the international sporting event, contains an athletics stadium, a velodrome and a 50-meter pool, and boasts a brand new Sports Palace, an indoor stadium with a capacity for 5,000 spectators. With the Games due to start on June 22 (until July 1), workers have just over a week left to finish the final preparations. Once the Games have finished, much of the Ring’s facilities will remain, providing the city with a major sporting venue.

The Mediterranean Games, which takes place every four years, will in this edition feature 33 different sporting competitions. Over the 10 days the Games last, Catalonia’s southern city of Tarragona will welcome some 4,000 athletes from 26 different countries and a thousand reporters from all over the world. Some 150,000 spectators are expected to attend. The Games have also had a positive effect on the city, indirectly employing some 3,000 local people.