MADRID -- Inspectors weighing Madrid's bid to host the 2012 Olympics say they have been impressed by overwhelming public enthusiasm for the Games, with polls showing around nine in 10 Spaniards backing the offer.
The 13-strong group wound up a four-day visit to the Spanish
capital on Sunday, having been greeted by signs right across the
city bearing the words: "Ready for you."
"We were very happy to see there is very strong support from
the government, from the population, and this is something the
IOC really appreciates," said Nawal El Moutawakel, chairwoman of the evaluation committee.
"The poll that was given to us by the bid city shows a high
support from the city of Madrid, 91 percent," she added.
Outside the hotel where the inspectors stayed, around 40
protestors braved driving rain with whistles and megaphones to
express their opposition to the bid.
El Moutawakel, however, said no groups had sought a meeting
with the team.
"We of course received some protests, letters from certain
organizations but none of them asked to meet for dialogue," she
said.
Speaking at the only news conference during their visit, the
inspectors were not prepared to give their own impressions of
the bid.
They are due to visit all five candidate cities and said, in
the interests of fairness, they would only divulge their
conclusions in reports to be published in May.
The other bidding cities besides London are Paris, Moscow
and New York. The winner will be announced on July 6.
El Moutawakel did say, though, that talks on key aspects of
the bid -- ranging from finances to environmental and legal
issues -- had impressed them.
"The bid committee must be congratulated on the quality of
its candidature file, and the quality of the presentations," she
said.
The bid committee made a strong effort to address possible
security concerns following the March 2004 Madrid train bombings
that killed 191 people.
"We had a very high quality presentation from the interior
minister and other departments, nowadays security is top of our
agenda," said El Moutawakel.
The former Olympic gold medalist also praised Spain's wider
commitment to international sport, which might help ease concern
over Madrid's lack of experience in this area compared with
candidate cities like Paris.
"The commission has noted the very, very positive programme
of international sporting events that have been held in Madrid
or in Spain," she said.
"We have seen much progress in the development of Spanish
sports," she added, barely an hour before Spain claimed its
first world handball championship by beating Croatia in Tunisia.