Olympic Dreams in Times of Austerity
Madrid is planning to bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics. (Photo: Sam/Wikipedia)
For the Geo Quiz, we are looking for a European capital that has bid for both the 2012 and 2020 Summer Olympic Games and lost, first to London and then to Rio de Janeiro. But despite the fact that this city, and the whole nation, is suffering major economic stress right now, it is still bidding for the 2020 Games.
The city in question is a southern European city and is the third largest in the European Union. It has got a good transportation network, fantastic art museums and some truly wonderful spots to sample tapas and sherry.
Madrid is the answer to the Geo Quiz. It lost out to London for 2012 and to Brazil for the 2016 Olympics.
Spain’s recession deepened in the 2nd quarter of 2012 and unemployment jumped to just shy of 25 percent.
The crisis has many major infrastructure projects on hold, but one dream project hasn’t been sidelined: Hosting the summer Olympic games, in 2020.
The story you just read is accessible and free to all because thousands of listeners and readers contribute to our nonprofit newsroom. We go deep to bring you the human-centered international reporting that you know you can trust. To do this work and to do it well, we rely on the support of our listeners. If you appreciated our coverage this year, if there was a story that made you pause or a song that moved you, would you consider making a gift to sustain our work through 2024 and beyond?