The Tarragona City Council faces the sale of the 7% of shares it still holds in the Gimnàstic SAD with majority support from the plenary session. The mayor, Rubén Viñuales, argues that municipal presence in the club's capital no longer fits the role the council should assume.
The paradox is that the operation comes after the local administration entered the company strongly. In 2002, it invested about 960,000 euros to acquire 48% of the capital, a stake that over the years has been reduced to the current 7% and which now almost all groups see as reasonable to liquidate, although they disagree on the price and on who should buy.
Viñuales places the sale in the 2027 to 2031 legislative period
The municipal government maintains that the City Council should concentrate its resources on grassroots sports and on supporting the club in projecting values. Viñuales has also set a five-year horizon to complete the divestment, with a view to the legislative period from June 2027 to 2031.
In his plan, the operation will first require the approval of the municipal plenary session and then a public tender. The mayor also opens the door to the exit not happening all at once and that the sale of the 7% will be executed in phases instead of transferring the entire package in a single block.
"We are clear about it. We understand the origin of the shares. In fact, at that time it was pertinent. But today it no longer makes sense" - Rubén Viñuales, mayor of Tarragona
Viñuales frames this position within a fundamental criterion regarding the relationship between institutions and professional football. The mayor adds that a sports club should not have shares owned by a City Council and defines such a model as an exception.
He also links the municipal exit to the future of Nàstic itself. On this point, he has argued that the entity must be able to remain sustainably in the highest possible category, without depending on formulas that distort the project.
Groups endorse the exit but discuss price and buyer
ERC had already expressed its willingness to sell the municipal shares in 2019. Xavier Puig, deputy spokesperson for the group, argued at the time that Nàstic cannot always live with "artificial respiration" and called for the sale without losing sight of the construction of an ambitious and winning project.
The PP shares the divestment, although it introduces an economic condition. Maria Mercè Martorell, the popular spokesperson, proposes that the council abandon its shareholding when it can recover what the city invested in its day.
Junts per Catalunya also aligns with the City Council's exit from the SAD. Jordi Sendra considers that municipal aid made sense when the club needed it, but that it is no longer necessary now, and demands that before any step is taken, the current value of the shares be analyzed.
En Comú Podem shifts the debate towards the final destination of the shares. Jordi Collado proposes that the sale be directed to citizens and fans to reinforce the weight of the social base, an option that connects with the open discussion about who should assume the municipal holdings.
Now the center of the political debate is no longer so much about whether the City Council should exit, but about the identity of the buyer. This focus coincides with signs of change at the Nou Estadi and with the idea, shared by several groups, that the entity should remain in hands closer to its members and fans.
The initial investment made by the council to enter Gimnàstic's capital amounted to about 960,000 euros in 2002, when it acquired 48% of the company before that presence was reduced to the 7% that is now to be sold.