Real Madrid's £260M ($396M) plans to redevelop the Santiago Bernabéu have been dealt a "major blow after the city’s supreme court of justice ruled that work on the project should be halted with immediate effect," according to the London GUARDIAN. A statement by the club said, "Madrid’s Supreme Court of Justice has annulled the agreement of November 15, 2012 issued by the Governing Council of the Municipal Community of Madrid, which approved the modification of land-use plan related to the Santiago Bernabéu. Following this ruling, Real Madrid will work with the City Council and the Community of Madrid in resolving those aspects that are necessary to make the redevelopment of the Santiago Bernabéu stadium viable." The redevelopment work included a shopping center being incorporated into the complex "as well as a hotel and a retractable roof on the stadium" (GUARDIAN, 2/10). The EP reported Community of Madrid President Ignacio González "confirmed that there will be no appeal of the court's ruling," but indicated that the government "is open to ways to look for solutions." He said that the ruling "has to be obeyed and fulfilled," but said that the remodeling of the stadium and the area "is important for the city." González: "It is a good project and we are open to Real Madrid and the City Council saying what they are able to or want to do from the point of view of this project and how to adapt it to the regulations" (EP, 2/11). ESPN's Dermot Corrigan reported Real Madrid's project has suffered a "serious blow." The remodelling, announced at the club's 2012 AGM, includes a "futuristic new 'skin' design and a new commercial and hotel complex between the stadium and the nearby tree-lined Paseo de la Castellana." Work had originally been due to begin in '15, with the "revamped stadium intended to be fully completed" by '17. However, the project has been subject to a "number of hitches including a European Commission investigation into potential illegal state aid in the form of a land-swap with the local council." That swap involved the club "exchanging a parcel of land outside the city centre for a smaller piece beside the existing stadium footprint." Nevertheless, in October Real President Florentino Perez announced that the Abu Dhabi-based International Petroleum Investment Company was to "provide funding for the project." But the plans now appear to be "up in the air again after a Madrid court cancelled a 2012 change to the city's urban plan, which is necessary for the Bernabeu redevelopment to take place and has been challenged by local environmentalists." Spanish newspaper AS said it believed the project may now be off, writing, "Goodbye New Bernabeu" (ESPN, 2/11).
PLAN B?: In Madrid, Javier Martín wrote the remodeling of the Santiago Bernabéu "is history, at least in terms of what had been projected." Although the club has announced it will work with the City Council and the Community of Madrid to try to create a plan that satisfies the desires of all parties, "the truth is that the Court's decision will make it nearly impossible to reach a new project that will satisfy the club economically." It is possible the club will activate its "plan B, the construction of a totally new stadium in IFEMA, a fairground some 800 meters" from the team's Valdebebas training facility. It is "true that Real Madrid has only used one fourth of the complex it possesses in Valdebebas." Why not "build its new stadium there?" The reason "is simple: it is totally isolated and cut off, and with no access via public transportation, this part of Madrid is currently a wasteland for an idea of such scale" (EL ECONOMISTA, 2/11).
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Source: AS
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