European Union Investigates Real Madrid For Possible €10M Aid In Public Funds

Spanish newspaper El País has "had access to a report" which reveals that Real Madrid received €22.7M for the sale of land (Las Tablas, Madrid) which was worth €12.2M, according to AS. This is the "latest revelation" in an ongoing two-year investigation looking into financial aid that the Spanish club received during the mandate of former Madrid Mayor Alberto Ruiz Gallardón. The land was given over to Real Madrid as the result of a legal agreement in '98 which saw the town hall take over 30,000 square meters of the former Madrid training center in La Castellana, where Madrid's four sky-scraper buildings would be built. The land in Las Tablas, "which was deemed as for public sporting use, ended up under control of the football club." The club later found that it "could not build on this area as it was deemed as public space and should never have ended up in the hands of a private company" (AS, 10/27).