Well, I finally found the official website for the candidacy of Madrid in 2012 to host the Olympics.
It is at www.madrid2012.es but for some reason it is currently only in Spanish. They must realize that to make an impression they will have to design it in English as well, only time will tell.
Aside from the FLASH intro, I was a bit unimpressed but then again it is still being added to. I have already dropped them an e-wake up call to let them know about multimadrid, no answer as of yet.
They probably passed out when they opened my site and still have not recovered from the amazingness of it all!
I saw you peeking out of your apartment window in the panoramic view of the Plaza... Wow! You have a big nose...
The site is a bit slow. As I waited patiently for it to upload, I had lunch, and took a nap. Then when I got to the panoramas, I went out for a walk, and came back before it was ready...
On a personal note; that back pain? It may be from reaching around and patting yourself on the back over your site.... We can see how good it is, without being reminded.
JP
Posts: 121 | Location: x | Registered: 21 June 2001
Yeah JP, that's the downside to the FLASH intro, it is a slow loader if you are on a regular dial-up connection but at least they give you the option to skip the intro.
Ok, ok, so this is the first time in 6 months online that I got a little cocky but it was all in good fun jejeje.
My shnoz is definitely bigger than average and on a sunnier day you probably would have seen it protruding out the balcony window
�Pat yourself on the back, bro! It took me a while to recover from the amazingness of it all. �Im sure the Madrid2012 people still havent recovered!
As far as Madrid 2012, i dont think it will ever happen. I just dont see this as an Olympic city. To much traffic, the sidewalks are in a bad state, the smog. Dont get me wrong though, I love Madrid. Even for the above reasons. Peace.
I do not see Madrid as an Olympic city either, the main reason being, where on earth would they hold the sailing events?
The International Olympic Committee states that all sailing events must be held in "open sea" so the closest option for Madrid would be Valencia, a whopping 5 hour drive away. Not likely to happen.
Also, a city changes bigtime after it hosts the Olympics, mainly it becomes much more expensive to live in on a day to day basis and I am not sure if the locals here are big on that.
On the other hand, it would be cool to host the games for then maybe Madrid would get the international recognition it deserves
The sailing venues aren't a problem. If you recall, the Atlanta Olympics were spread all over the map. My guess is they would use the Barcelona area for those events, since it proved to work out well in the past.
As for the city of Madrid itself, there wouldn't be any problem because of streets. The biggest problem would be housing, but if you look at some of the other city/nations that have gotten the games, these problems are usually overcome by the organizers basically building a whole new suburb where the bulk of the games would be played, and the athletes housed. That was pretty much the case when it came to Sydney, and has been more typical than relying on existing housing, etc... Even Beijing is using a similar approach.
The biggest concerns that the organizing group will find, will probably come internally. The cost of the games is enormous. Who would pay this bill? The fact that the games themselves would artificially drive prices up, and they would probably never come down again, might be something that the people wouldn't support. Especially if the wages don't rise enough "permanently" to meet this new cost of living they will encounter.
As far as Madrid remaining a fair priced place to visit for the average tourist, it will become pricey, and somewhat out of reach for the budget traveler. From what I gathered, the post-Olympic situation in Barcelona did exactly that, and it is having an effect on tourism.
JP
Posts: 121 | Location: x | Registered: 21 June 2001
Hey JP, some great insight on the games, you are soooo right about the cost of living going up during and after teh Olympics. That is the only thing that scares me about the possiblity of Madrid in 2012
As for Atlanta, I am not too good on that subject but how far was the "Olympic city" from the sailing venues? I guess you are right about Barcelona being the posibility here but Valencia is closer and another good option. Atlanta is about as far from the coast in Georgia as Madrid from the Valencian coast so it could work out I guess.
Maybe you can shed some light on the games of Athens and how they chose that city. Anyone who has been there knows that the city has a horrible public transportation system, the Metro is a nightmare
I think that Madrid's "fuerte" for getting the games will be the public transportation system, best in the world baaaaaaabbbbbbbyyyyy
Athens won the bid for the 2004 Summer Games, after they were able to show they would install a new underground system of transportation, improve, and increase road access to various areas of the city, produce new hotel accomodations of nearly 50,000 rooms, build an "Olympic Village" outside the main city, and build a new airport, and venue areas that were spread around the entire area, that would not be detrimental to the environment.
As of this past year, they were not on schedule to meet their obligation, and from what I've heard, it's marginal at best, as to whether or not they have gotten back on schedule, to meet the needs of the games. Even the building of hotels with enough accomodations is floundering in a sea of paper work and in-fighting, but with less than three years left, they had better be getting things working right, or they could still lose the games to one of the previous places who already have facilities in place.
You're right about the transportation problems in Athens. That was the biggest draw back from day one. From what I've gathered, they pretty well scrapped the existing subway system and are completing a new one.... complete with pick pockets I'd assume. There always were too many of them there.
Madrid would probably use a similar approach to Athens. Instead of destroying the city itself, most of the venues and buildings would actually be erected outside the city proper, to accomodate the venues. It certainly wouldn't be a problem for Madrid, and extending metro lines would be simple enough. Since the highway system surrounding Madrid is excellent, it wouldn't be too difficult adding the additional capacity.
All in all, Athens won the bid simply because they were the home of the original Olympics back in 1896 or 98?? Can't remember for sure, and they felt they should be given another shot at them.
JP
Posts: 121 | Location: x | Registered: 21 June 2001
I was just wondering because I was in Athens about 2 yrs ago and did not see any decent Metro up and running nor were there signs of them working on it very hard
You're right about Athens dragging their heels on the subway. That was one of the reasons the Olympic Organizing Committee was ready to hand the games to someone else, who didn't need as much preparation.
From what I heard, the Greeks have a tendency to argue about everything, and the subway was one of the big points of disagreement, and the union arguments are unbelievable.
They had to bring the woman back, who originally headed up their committee to get the games (she was "unceremoniously" dumped by the "good old boys" after she convinced the IOC to give them the games.). She was the only one capable of slapping them around, and getting things done.
Now things are on track, but they are still months behind where they are supposed to be, according to the agreement with the IOC. Since she took over, they are slowly creeping back up towards their required schedule. My guess is there's going to be wet paint in lots of areas when the opening ceremonies begin.
Of course none of that would happen in Madrid, would it?
Wolf
Posts: 121 | Location: x | Registered: 21 June 2001
Hey JP, jejejeje, judging by the incredibly slow construction work here in Madrid, I think they would end up shortening the Metro lines instead of extending them
I'm reminded of the fact that the Summer Olympics are about two weeks long. Even with the "pre-Olympics" hoopla, and that following the games, that's a short period of time to make up the costs of the changes made in most cities. Despite the fact that so many have said they actually came out ahead, I really wonder how true that statement is. Especially since one of the key ingredients of any Olympics is the Olympic Village, which actually ends up as low end housing.
If my calculations are correct, that would mean there would be more low end housing than needed in a city.
According to information I have, about the Olympic venue in Australia, the lower level housing is fast becoming an eye sore.
Also, from real figures in regards to income versus costs, the Australians probably lost billions of dollars.
I wonder if winning the Olympics is best for a city with the history and tradition of Madrid. The changes in Barcelona, from what I understand, are not exactly what the people had hoped for. In a way, they say, the city has taken on an aura of being a "Little America." Not exactly what they envisioned in the beginning.
Then there's a question as to what month the Olympics would be held, if in Madrid. If it's anywhere from May through September, it would actually interfere with the regular tourist trade, and that would actually limit the gains that the city would enjoy. Earlier or later than those months could lead to weather problems.
I wonder if the games are worth the cost. I think that Utah is going to find out that the winter games that are coming up in a couple of months will actually hurt them, not help them. I'm rather anxious to see if the state asks the federal government for bail-out help if they lose their arses.
What further disturbs me is the fact that just getting the games means doing things under the table that are illegal, and immoral. It's terrible that the games that are supposed to be so pure, are actually so corrupt, in their issuance.
Anyway! That's just a few more tidbits of information I have available to me...
JP
Posts: 121 | Location: x | Registered: 21 June 2001
An interesting tidbit of information related to the Olympics. The Salt Lake organizers are looking at costs in excess of $2 billion for the Winter Olympics, in about two months. According to organizers, they stand to lose about $1 billion. But they indicated that they will be happy if that's all the worse it gets.
According to sources inside the IOC, the Athens group will lose over $4 billion after all is said and done. The summer games are much more expensive in their requirements.
It takes a lot of VAT to cover that kind of cost, and loss. From what I'm hearing, lots of cities who had considered bidding on the games are changing their minds. It's gotten too costly to prepare for them.
JP
Posts: 121 | Location: x | Registered: 21 June 2001
and still have not recovered from the amazingness of it all! 
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