Pavelló de la Vall d’Hebrón

The Pavelló de la Vall d’Hebron (La Vall d’Hebron Pavilion) is a multi-purpose facility that hosted the preliminary stages of both the men’s and women’s volleyball competitions, and most of the Basque pelota competitions. Basque pelota was a demonstration sport at the Barcelona’92 Olympic Games. Designed by the architects Jordi Garcés and Enric Sòria, the Pavelló de la Vall d’Hebron included the Palau Municipal d’Esports (an indoor sports arena) and the Centre Municipal de Pilota (a pelota centre). While both are connected at ground floor level, they operate independently.

The complex is formed by large rectangular building (122 x 75 metres) and has a total built area of almost 18,000m2. Fully funded by the budget of the Organising Committee for the Barcelona’92 Olympic Games (COOB’92), it was transferred to municipal ownership and its management was outsourced to a private company. For the Barcelona’92 Olympic Games, capacity was increased from 2,500 to 3,300 spectators in the Palau Municipal d’Esports and the Centre Municipal de Pilota, respectively. Today, the facilities are used as training venues for the teams of various indoor sports, for official volleyball, Basque pelota and fronton competitions, and even for a number of contact sports such as boxing. In 2011, the facilities were used for the first Padel Tennis World Championship.