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In the bidding stage, the Barcelona’’92 project had 60,000 registered volunteers from all over Spain, a figure that increased to 102,000 in late 1986 after Barcelona had been nominated the host city.

The volunteer training plan, funded by the vehicle manufacturer SEAT (one of the official sponsors of Barcelona’92), was divided into three stages: general training on the Olympic project, Olympism and sport (given through courses, interviews, conferences and film screenings); specific training for the assigned workplace; and finally, training at the respective facilities to learn about the spaces and meet the operations team.

In addition to the training plan, there was a motivational plan that aimed to develop and maintain the volunteers’ enthusiasm and pride in being just that: volunteers. This included merchandising gifts for volunteers, study grants, a weekly radio programme and the magazine Voluntaris’’92, which was distributed free of charge to the 102,000 volunteers.

Finally, the process of selecting and affiliating each volunteer to a work area was done by means of a survey carried out in close collaboration with the functional division of COOB’’92 (Organising Committee for the Barcelona Olympic Games). The final outcome of the process was the recruitment of 35,000 volunteers for the Olympic Games and 15,000 volunteers for the Paralympic Games.

Selected resources

Voluntaris’92

Clapes, Andreu (2002): “Voluntaris’92”, a Barcelona: l’herència dels Jocs (1992-2002). Barcelona: Centre d’Estudis Olímpics (UAB), Ajuntament de Barcelona, Editorial Planeta, pàg. 145-164

La imagen y el papel de los voluntarios en los Juegos Olímpicos de 1992

Montilla, Sylvia (1997): La imagen y el papel de los voluntarios en los Juegos Olímpicos de 1992. Barcelona: Centre d’Estudis Olímpics (CEO-UAB)

Programa para la formación de voluntarios de Barcelona'92

COOB’92 (1987): Programa para la formación de voluntarios de Barcelona’92. Barcelona: COOB’92.

Voluntaris'92 (revista)

COOB’92 (1988-1992): Voluntaris’92 [Publicació en sèrie]. Barcelona: COOB’92.

Manual de formació del voluntari olímpic

COOB’92 (1989). Manual de formació del voluntari olímpic.. [Barcelona]: COOB’92. ISBN 847868008X.

In the repository

In the Municipal Contemporary Archive, you can consult the administrative and management documentation generated on this topic by the Organising Committee Barcelona’92, SA (COOB’92), Holding Olímpic SA (HOLSA), Anella Olímpica de Montjuïc SA (AOMSA) (Olympic ring), Vila Olímpica SA (VOSA) (Olympic village) and the Institut Municipal de Promoció Urbanística SA (IMPUSA) (municipal Institute of urban development).

If you need further information on the collection, read the collection guide.

In the library

In the libraries of the study centres of the Barcelona Olympic Foundation (FBO) and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) you can find the selection of listed documents and other bibliographic materials on the subject.

If you are interested in knowing more about our Olympic collection, you can consult the Union Catalogue of Catalan Universities (UAB collection) or contact us by e-mail (FBO collection).

Sports in pictures

If you are interested in images of the Olympic and Paralympic Games of Barcelona’92, the Image Service of the Olympic Foundation of Barcelona will help you identify the images that satisfy your needs.

The Foundation manages the official image archive of the Barcelona’92 Games. You can contact them by email to request more information about the services provided and the collection of images. In this page, we offer a selection of images on the event.