The Spanish city which hosted the 1992 Games is widely regarded as one of the event's success stories.

 

The London 2012 party will meet Barcelona's mayor Jordi Hereuwant and see the legacy and economic impact of hosting an Olympics.

 

London 2012 has pledged that the Games, staged in London's East End, will help regenerate one of Britain's poorest areas.

 

Coe, the chairman of LOCOG, told a public planning inquiry in May that this regeneration boom could be similar to that sparked by the Olympics in Barcelona and Sydney.

 

The 1992 Barcelona Games triggered £4 billion in investment and an infrastructure that was put in place in eight years that otherwise would have taken 50 to complete, Coe claimed.

 

The 2000 Sydney Games triggered an extra £2 billion in tourist revenue between 1997 and 2001.