Olympics-Barcelona's free gym in a tunnel helps to popularise climbing

By Antoine Demaison and Nacho Doce

BARCELONA (Reuters) - The Foixarda tunnel in Barcelona hides a free-to-use climbing treasure trove made up of thousands of holds of all shapes, sizes and colours that have helped to popularise the sport and shape it into an official Olympic event.

"There's a lot of passion here... And the reward is to see how people take up the sport," said Manolo Sanchez, 58, whose dedication transformed the former road tunnel into an urban climbing gym, coveted by locals and tourists alike.

"I find it incredible; incredible that a sport that was practised by so few people is now an Olympic sport," Sanchez said.

Climbing debuted at the Tokyo Olympics and will next month feature in the Paris Games at the Le Bourget climbing venue -- the only sports facility to be built specifically for Paris 2024.

Sanchez started climbing in the tunnel in 1992, the year of the Barcelona Olympics, using rocks and pieces of wood stuck to the walls, before starting to make his own holds in 1995.

Back then, he and his friends could use it only during the night due to road traffic and they referred to themselves as 'vampires', a symbol present on many of Sanchez's homemade holds. He pays for the materials with his earnings from a climbing gym he runs and donations from climbers.

Equipped with more than 9,000 holds, the tunnel is now open 24/7 and is free to use.

"That's a big gift," said Italian climber Martina Detassis, 33. "It's a very expensive sport," she added, citing costly accessories and fees to use climbing facilities elsewhere.

Sanchez's 18-year-old son David Sanchez Carrera, himself a climber, praised his father's work. "I feel that thanks to him, climbing has kind of expanded," he said. "I mean, if this tunnel wasn’t there, many climbers nowadays would not have been who they are."

(Writing by Andrei Khalip; editing by Clare Fallon)