Real Madrid has reportedly received "fewer requests from club members looking for Champions League final tickets in Cardiff this year" than for either the '14 final in Milan or the '16 decider in Lisbon, according to Dermot Corrigan of ESPN.com. Real Madrid and Juventus are "both receiving 17,518 tickets from UEFA" for the game at the National Stadium of Wales on June 3, with the Spanish club distributing 3,925 directly and "holding a lottery to decide which socios -- club members -- get the remaining 13,593 seats." A club statement on Tuesday confirmed that 44,755 tickets had been requested for the game by club members, each of whom can ask for up to six. The number of tickets requested is down from the 56,047 requested for last year's final against Atlético Madrid in Milan and the 73,314 supporters who hoped to travel to Lisbon in '14, also against Atlético (ESPN.com, 5/17). The EP reported Spanish tourism agency Globalia "made 2,000 more flights available to Real Madrid fans hoping to attend the Champions League final." Globalia's air division, Air Europa, "will make 16 special flights." Those will take place throughout the morning of June 3, with return flights scheduled for after the game (EP, 5/17). LIBERTAD DIGITAL reported vacation research site Holidu found that the price of a hotel room in Cardiff the weekend of June 2-4 "has increased 915%." Cardiff, the 11th-most populated city in the U.K. with a population of around 350,000, "has reached 90% occupancy in its hotel rooms." The average price for one night in a Cardiff hotel room the weekend of the CL final is £1,036 ($1,342), "which represents a 915% increase from prices any other weekend this year" (LIBERTAD DIGITAL, 5/16).
