This November marks 75 years since a historic moment that proved, even in hostile political times, that participation, openness and democracy are part of FC Barcelona’s DNA. The year was 1950, and Barça had just emerged from the hardships of the post-war period thanks to the unwavering support of a social base that had grown exponentially since 1939.

After the Civil War, Barça bounced back by winning the league titles of 1945, 1948 and 1949. Les Corts, however, was overflowing every weekend. The old stadium, opened in 1922 and expanded several times to a limit of 48,000 seats, was simply too small and could not be enlarged any further. The club needed a bold step: a new stadium worthy of Barça’s growing stature.

Calls for a new ground had begun around 1948, though the board still hoped for one final expansion of Les Corts. Meanwhile, Real Madrid had opened Chamartín in 1947, with a capacity of 75,000. Barça could not afford to fall behind.

President Agustí Montal Galobart took action. On 27 September 1950, the club secured an option to purchase land next to the old country house called Can Planes, close to Les Corts. Locals quickly nicknamed the plot “the whole of a life,” as it lay between the district’s maternity hospital and cemetery, both still there today.

At the time, the area that would eventually become the Spotify Camp Nou looked bleak: barren ground, brick kilns, rubbish heaps, grazing goats and makeshift shacks housing some 250 people. A journalist described abandoned chimneys, ragged children, and elderly women scraping the earth for scraps. It was far from the future home of a grand stadium.

Democracy amid dictatorship

After securing the land, the club sought the opinion of its members, something remarkable in an era of fascist dictatorship, and a clear sign of Barça’s democratic character. From 8 to 12 November 1950, all club members were called to vote on whether to buy the plot for the new stadium. Curiously, just three years later, in the 1953 presidential elections, women would be denied the right to vote, but there was no sexual discrimination here and women were free to vote in the referendum.

On 5 November, Barça published the official announcement. It stressed that Les Corts had “almost exhausted its possibilities” for expansion and warned that the stadium had lost ground to Chamartín and others, posing the risk that Barça could decline to “a sad second-tier club.” Few arguments were more persuasive.

The announcement also set out the cost of the land (10,029,945 pesetas) and detailed a financing plan combining a bank loan with contributions from members, including a pro-stadium stamp and a rise in membership fees. It ended with a telling line: “This board will only do what the members decide.” At a time of authoritarian “command and obey,” this was a striking gesture.

Five days of voting

For five days, members faced a simple choice: vote yes, and support the construction of a new, comfortable and safe home for Barça; or vote no, and remain in cramped, outdated Les Corts, with the ever-present risk of dangerous overcrowding.

Voting took place in the club’s offices on Pasaje Méndez Vigo, from 10am–1pm and 4pm-9pm. The result, after five days of calm and civility, was clear: 7,835 votes in favour, 1,132 against, and six null votes. Turnout was low compared to the club’s 30,084 members, but in a country without democratic habits (Spain had not held free general elections since 1936) many people were simply unused to voting freely or expecting their will to be respected. Even so, the verdict could not have been clearer: Barça needed a new stadium.

Better than Madrid

At 9pm on 12 November, just after polls closed, a journalist asked the final two voters (a woman and a man) how they had voted. The lady answered bluntly: “I voted yes so we can have a better stadium than Real Madrid.” The man's reply was just as firm: “My yes is so Barcelona has the stadium Barça deserves.”

With this overwhelming public backing, Barça held an extraordinary assembly on 14 November, where 159 delegates ratified the referendum result by acclamation. On 19 December 1950, the club, led by President Montal Galobart, completed the purchase of the Can Planes site. During the assembly, Montal had aimed a pointed remark at opponents of the project: “Your opposition has motivated us and pushed us to work harder.”

There was still a long road ahead. After many twists and turns, the stadium (today’s Spotify Camp Nou) finally opened on 24 September 1957 with a capacity of 100,000. Seven years had passed since that groundbreaking referendum. But that is another story.

Força Barça