Barcelona’s 1936 People’s Olympics

Not many people know that 1992 was actually the 5th time Barcelona had tried to win the Olympic bid; 1936 was the only other time that Barcelona actually planned to host the Olympic Games. In 1936 Barcelona came in second to Berlin, and those Games that went over to be known as the Hitler Games were marred with social injustice. Ahead of these Games, Barcelona decided to host what they called the Popular Olympics, right here in Montjüic. Using the stadium that had been created for the 1929 Universal Exposition Barcelona was going to host a boycott for those Hitler Games. Unfortunately, the Games were canceled ahead of the Civil War that broke out just two days before the Games were set to begin.