Solidarity with Sarajevo
The Olympic Games Barcelona 1992 coincided with the devastating Yugoslavian war. The city of Barcelona, the Organising Committee of the Olympic Games Barcelona 1992 and the citizens of Barcelona provided humanitarian aid to the people of Sarajevo, host of the Olympic Winter Games in 1984, which was badly affected during the hostilities.
In line with the traditions of the ancient Olympic Games in Greece, the IOC officially reintroduced the Olympic Truce for the duration of the Games, during which all military action was to be halted. Although this did not bring about a ceasefire in Yugoslavia, it allowed athletes from Serbia and Montenegro to participate in the Olympic Games, while athletes from Yugoslavia were banned.
Acts of solidarity with Sarajevo did not end with the Closing Ceremony of the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games. Once the war was over in 1995, the city of Barcelona and its people provided help with the rebuilding of the city. Through numerous associations, Spaniards financed more than 450 projects adding up to a total of EUR 2.3 million of reconstruction aid. Following the war, Barcelona opened the Local Democracy Embassy in Sarajevo, which to this day serves as Barcelona’s representative office in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Barcelona also took charge of rebuilding the Sarajevo Olympic Pavilion and the Olympic Village.
Since 2000, Barcelona and Sarajevo have been twin cities.