The UGT and the Memorial Democràtic present an exhibition about the 1936 People's Olympiad at the UGT headquarters
July 26th. 2026
UGT, the Memorial Democràtic (Department of Justice and Democratic Quality), and the Department of Sports present the exhibition Barcelona 1936. The Olympics that never happened. 90th Anniversary. The inauguration will take place on July 16th at 12 noon at the UGT of Catalonia headquarters (Rambla, Barcelona).
The event is organized with the collaboration of the Catalan Association of Former Political Prisoners under Francoism, and revives an exhibition initially presented in 2016, now revised and updated.
The exhibition will be set up in the building's lobby. It will feature highlights such as a reproduction of an information booth from the People's Olympiad and, on the façade, life-size advertising banners reproducing-with slight variations-those that were put up in 1936.
The initiative emphasizes the value of the relationship between democratic memory, sports practice, and social mobilization, and recovers a key episode in the contemporary history of Barcelona.
The inauguration will take place on Thursday, July 16th, at 4 pm. Taking part will be the Minister of Justice and Democratic Quality, Ramon Espadaler, the Minister of Sports, Berni Álvarez, the Secretary General of UGT of Catalonia, Camil Ros, the President of the Catalan Association of Former Political Prisoners under Francoism, Carles Vallejo, and the historian Carles Santacana.
A historic site linked to the People's Olympiad
The current headquarters of UGT holds notable symbolic value. In 1936, the building was home to the CADCI, a union organization that also became the main center organizing the People's Olympiad.
During the days leading up to the start of the games, this space was a nerve center for the preparation of an event aiming to project a sporting and political alternative to the international context of the period.
The People's Olympiad of 1936
The People's Olympiad of Barcelona was to be held between July 19 and 26, 1936, as an alternative to the Berlin Olympic Games organized by the Nazi regime.
Driven by a clear anti-fascist and internationalist vocation, it sought to defend values of peace, solidarity, and popular participation, with thousands of athletes from all over the world expected to attend. The outbreak of the military coup on July 18, 1936, prevented the event from taking place and turned the Olympiad into a broken symbol of that historical moment.
