Barcelona's long-awaited return to the Camp Nou has been confirmed, with the club's clash with Athletic Bilbao on Saturday, 22 November set to be played at the revamped version of the stadium.
Although the project is still far from complete, Barcelona have confirmed that they have obtained a Phase 1B first occupancy license from the City Council, which means they are able to invite up to 45,401 fans into the Camp Nou going forward.
Barcelona secure Camp Nou return
Securing the phase 1B license has been a sticking point for several months now, with the club declining to open the doors to the Camp Nou while they only had 1A clearance.
This initial license, which was given to them in October, granted them permission to welcome up to 27,000 fans back to the Camp Nou; however, officials felt that this wasn't enough given the sheer size of the stadium. As a result, they chose to wait until the Phase 1B license was secured.
Phase 1A covered the Tribune and South Goal and the stadium, while Phase 1B covers the entire lateral area. Work now begins on securing a Phase 1C license, which will allow fans to sit behind the North Goal in the Camp Nou once obtained.
Although the match against Athletic Bilbao will be the first competitive match played at the Camp Nou since May 2023, some fans have already sampled the new-look stadium via an open training session, which was held on Friday, 7 November.
We’ve dreamed about the return. Now, it's here.
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) November 17, 2025
We’re back home. Back at Spotify Camp Nou 🏟️💙❤️ pic.twitter.com/sMTEuPbUvX
A long time coming
When Barcelona first announced that they were going to undertake significant renovation work at the Camp Nou, the original plan was for the club to partially return to the stadium in November 2024 and for the full project to be completed by the beginning of the 2025-26 season.
Due to a series of delays, a string of deadlines have already been missed and the club are now preparing to move back home a year later than initially planned. In terms of full project completion, the hope is that everything will be finalised by the end of the current season, although that is now considered unrealistic by many in Catalonia.
FGG says: Goodbye, Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys
Amid the excitement of Barcelona returning to the Camp Nou, it's worth pointing out how good a job the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys has done since becoming the club's temporary home in the summer of 2023.
While it was never going to capture the magic of the Camp Nou, without it, Barcelona fans wouldn't have been able to watch their team in the flesh for more than two years.