Barcelona to build 1st cricket pitch thanks to women's push
Barcelona’s city hall asked citizens last month to choose an initiative as part of a 30 million euro ($35 million) investment package in new facilities and improvements to public spaces.
The plan to spend 1.2 million euros ($1.4 million) on a cricket pitch finished first in the voting among 184 proposals.
The big win for a sport largely unknown in Spain is thanks to a campaign led by a group of young women, mostly first-generation Spaniards, some of them Indian and Pakistani immigrants living in working-class suburbs of Barcelona.
What started by word of mouth soon generated traction once it caught the attention of the local media.
“It’s a dream come true to have won the vote after all the effort we put in,” said cricket player Nadia Mustafa, an 18-year-old university student.
