Real Madrid president, Florentino Pérez, and Madrid mayor, Manuela Carmena, have unveiled the new project for the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. The works should start in 2017 and finish a year later. The new stadium will have the same capacity, it won’t have a hotel -at least initially- and the cost will be around €400M.
Real Madrid offices will be moved to Valdebebas, close to Madrid airport, and the shopping centre called ‘La Esquina del Bernabéu’ (Bernabéu corner) will be demolished. Therefore, the Town Hall and the club will free space for new green areas around Santiago Bernabéu stadium.
The most important thing is that the new stadium will have a retractable roof, similar to the one in the Allianz Arena, so the stadium could be covered in case of rain. The aspect from the outside will be different as well because it will have a ‘covered skin’, similar to the Bayern Múnich stadium. The VIP area will be refurbished as well.
Florentino Pérez said in press conference that the stadium could have a “last name”: “Sponsorships are the ones funding these infraestructures, so it could have a last name, but the stadium will keep its name Bernabéu”, Florentino Pérez said. Therefore, perhaps some brands want to add their name to the current one for the first time in Real Madrid history.
Real Madrid president was very happy after the deal: “Today it’s a very important day for Real Madrid and our city. My first words are to thank everybody in this table, the Town Hall and all the people who have worked these months in this project”.
According to Florentino Pérez, this is a good deal for both madridistas and people from Madrid: “Bernabéu stadium is a territory of feelings and around 4 million people visit it every year. The neighbours will enjoy a more sustainable area. We’ll have the best stadium, and we are doing this for all the people from Madrid and from the city we were born”, the president said.
