Hatim Azahri: How Sport Is Transforming Barcelona’s Neighborhoods

Hatim Azahri, 27, began his campaign after seeing police issue fines to teenagers playing football in a schoolyard because they had no alternatives. He arrived in Spain at the age of two and turned this outrage into the driving force behind founding his association, which aims to address the glaring lack of facilities and support services for young people in the working-class neighborhood of Poble-sec, El Pais reports.

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His method relies on effectively “translating” the neighborhood’s needs into administrative language. By providing municipal services with ready-to-use technical dossiers, the activist unlocked major investments, including 380 000 euros to redevelop the Tres Chimeneas gardens. Once underused, the site has become an intergenerational hub featuring basketball courts and calisthenics areas.

The initiative’s success has extended to the Pavelló Italià, a vast space near Montjuïc once reserved for occasional events. At the association’s initiative, the building now hosts regular training sessions for all age groups. For Hatim Azahri, this is not merely about infrastructure, but about “making neighborhood politics” by combating hardship and social isolation through self-managed sports activities.

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The project has gained such legitimacy that a new permanent municipal sports complex is already scheduled for the end of 2026. However, the activist warns that he will continue to “put pressure on” local authorities whenever necessary, refusing to let territorial inequalities and the lack of communal spaces become an accepted norm in his city.