The revolution of the Spanish stadiums: a modernization of 1,700 million

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July 6, 1966 is one of the most important dates in the history of Spanish football. That day, the FIFA Congress decided to choose Spain as the headquarters of the 1982 World Cup, a designation that served to make the country's main football stadiums, mostly outdated, reformed and modernized to host the biggest football event world. Five decades later, without the need for a World Cup or a European Championship as an incentive, Spanish football is experiencing a similar process. The data is overwhelming: in the last six years, since the inauguration of the new San Mamés, clubs currently competing in Primera have invested or committed around 1.7 billion euros in the reform of their stadiums or, in the case of Athletic, In building a new one.

There are only three clubs in Primera that have not undertaken draft investments and all three for good reasons: Espanyol opened its new stadium in 2009, Valencia has paralyzed the New Mestalla for years and Mallorca maintains a dispute over the grounds of the former Lluís Sitjar that prevents him from facing the necessary reform of Son Moix. All others, to a greater or lesser extent - from the 475 million euros that the Bernabéu reform will cost to the million spent this summer by Granada - have undertaken reforms to modernize their facilities.

Many reasons of different nature are mixed to explain this phenomenon, but the main one, of course, is the economic one. The new distribution of television rights , approved by Royal Decree Law 5/2015 has provided an unprecedented economic situation in Spanish football. A decade ago it was unthinkable that clubs such as Levante, Valladolid or Eibar could spend more than 20 million euros to improve their stadiums. Or that Real Madrid and Barcelona plan comprehensive renovations of more than 400 million. «The time to invest in our house was now. We do not know what will happen in the future, the manna of television can end, but now we know that we can pay a reform for several decades and that is why we do it, ”explains a director of a modest LaLiga club.

Television rights distribution criteria have also encouraged clubs to expand their capacity. Part of the money is divided between the 20 clubs based on their collection by tickets and ticket office, so the more seats the stadium has, the more chances the club has to take a larger piece of the cake . In these last six years, the 20 stadiums of LaLiga have increased - or plan to do so - their capacity by some 81,000 spectators, 16.2% more. Villarreal is the only club that has reduced its capacity. Eibar, Leganés, Athletic, Real Sociedad, Alavés, Atlético and Osasuna, on the other hand, have increased or will increase their capacity considerably, between 25% and 63%

Also as a result of the Royal Decree Law, LaLiga approved a television broadcasting regulation that sets a series of requirements that the stadiums must meet, forcing them to make certain reforms . “Some are of a significant size and affect many types: construction of new camera positions, increase of levels and improvement of lighting infrastructures, improvement of playing field conditions, improvement of press facilities ... », Explains Sergio Sánchez, head of Audiovisual Production at LaLiga. The obligation to comply with these requirements - added to some in terms of security - encourages clubs to face more ambitious reforms. Osasuna, for example, decided this year to carry out a comprehensive reform of 16 million euros instead of allocating 7.5 to meet these minimum requirements.

But if something catches the attention of this investment boom in stadiums, it is its typology. With the exception of San Mamés and the particular case of the Metropolitan, all clubs have chosen to reform their old stadiums instead of building a new one without necessarily being cheaper. "The new stadium allows you to start from scratch, but you have to look for a new land, which is very difficult to find in cities currently with these size requirements and thinking about having good connections with public transport," explains Mark Fenwick, from the Fenwick Iribarren studio, architect, among others, of the New Mestalla, Cornellà-El Prat and three of the World Cup stadiums in Qatar.

The sentimental factor also joins the sentimental one: it is difficult to think that Madrid plays away from Chamartín or that Sevilla does so outside Nervión, to give two examples. «Madrid could have made a more powerful stadium in Valdebebas, but they have made the decision to reform the Bernabéu because it is in a historical and emotional place. A stadium is practically a cathedral of the city, and cathedrals are made within cities, not outside, ”adds Fenwick, who also emphasizes the new conception of stadiums as commercial, social and leisure spaces that transcend their Original assignment, host a football match every two weeks.

Madrid could have made in Valdebebas a more powerful stadium, but they have made the decision to reform the Bernabéu because it is in a historical and emotional place

And all this has only just begun. In addition to the reforms already budgeted but not executed (Bernabéu, Camp Nou, Mendizorroza ...), there are clubs with more ambitious projects under study than those carried out so far. Sevilla plans to raise its investment in Sánchez-Pizjuán to 100 million euros, Betis wants to reform the Villamarín preference tier by 25 million and Mallorca intends to give a full face wash to Son Moix whenever possible. This will continue for the duration of the television's mana. And, on the horizon, the option of Spain hosting the 2030 World Cup and this process is closed as it did in 1982.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

• sports
• soccer
• Real Madrid
• Athletic Bilbao
• First division

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