Florentino Perez has revealed that “Real Madrid Resort Island project has fallen through”. Los Blancos plans to build a one-billion-dollar resort in Ras al-Khaimah (United Arab Emirates) have been put on hold and might now move to Abu Dhabi.
The resort is a 50-hectare attraction, comprising a hotel, yacht club, amusement park, museum and a stadium. It was planned to be built on the artificial Marjan Island, in Ras al-Khaimah.
Michael Hernandez, the master developer of the resort, told Reuters that the project could be moved 105 kilometres south, to Abu Dhabi. He confirmed it has been “put on hold”.
Florentino later affirmed that the project “has fallen trough” in a mini-assembly with Real Madrid’s representative members. “We had an agreement with an emirate, but they wanted to finance it through some investors and it did not come through for them. Now its promoters want us to do it in Abu Dhabi,” Perez said.
Hernandez admitted that Louis-Armand de Rouge, chief executive of Real Madrid Resort Island, never bought the land upon which the resort was meant to be built.
Real Madrid Resort Island, a luxurious project
Florentino Perez and Zinedine Zidane had attended the project launch in March 2012. De Rouge revealed at that time that the resort would open in January 2015.
At the launch, de Rouge said “there are already heaps of people that want to buy most of it, including individuals, private institutions and some financial institutions”.
Abu Dhabi seems as the ideal location now, as it is establishing itself as a tourist destination. It hosts a Formula One Grand Prix since 2009 and already has a similar complex, Ferrari World.
