MADRID, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- The City of Barcelona officially launched its campaign to host the 2022 Olympic Games this Wednesday.

    The City aims to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the summer Games, which were a great success and which changed the face of Barcelona forever.

    The Barcelona-Pirineus 2022 bid would see events held in the city and in the ski station in Pyrenees mountains to the north.

    "There is no technical reason that impedes Barcelona from beinga host city for the Winter Olympic Games," explained the Mayor of Barcelona - Jordi Hereu, who used the example of Vancouver, which held events up to 150 km out of town, to back his argument.

    Barcelona competes against another Spanish bid from Zaragoza-Jaca and the Spanish Olympic Committee will decide which of the two progresses to the International Olympic Committee in 2013.

    As well as Zaragoza-Jaca, Barcelona faces competition from bidsfrom Canada, Romania and possibly New Zealand.