The Community of Madrid withdrew the concession for the Vallecas Stadium in Madrid, Spain, from the LaLiga team Rayo Vallecano on July 28th after detecting serious safety deficiencies.
The regional Government will carry out urgent repairs and the football club will have to find another stadium, at least for the first few matches of LaLiga, which begins in mid-August.
Health Risk
‘THE Sun’ stated that the Madrid Government has deemed the Vallecas ground to be a health risk.
The fans could contract Legionnaires’ disease (a severe form of pneumonia) at their 14,708-capacity home, a safety audit concluded.
The 14,708-seat Vallecas Stadium is a football stadium in the Madrid district of Puente de Vallecas, Spain. Up until 2026, it has hosted the football matches as the home of the LaLiga team Rayo Vallecano.
Rayo Vallecano is a Spanish professional football club based in the Puente de Vallecas district of Madrid (Spain). The club competes in LaLiga, the top flight of Spanish football.
Rogue Debris
‘THE Sun’ further stated that there was also a chance of fire at the 50-year-old arena due to rogue debris (human-made waste) and electrical faults.
No new venue has been confirmed yet with Rayo Vallecano’s first home game of the LaLiga campaign in less than a month.
‘Point of No Return’
Maintained Mariano de Paco, Madrid’s Regional Head of Sport, Culture and Tourism, “We’ve tried to get this back on track but we’ve reached a point of no return – the lack of maintenance has been certified. The club wasn’t complying so the authorities had to take action. What has happened is intolerable.”
Pathetic Condition
The videos and pictures taken from within the smallest stadium in the division show leaks and serious water build-up in the stands.
The white and red seats are already worn down with insects rife.
The mould and rubbish can be seen throughout with a shopping trolley and bird poo taking up space outside.
The bags of trash have been piled up in the concourse and the canteen.
Defiant Behavior
The club did not comply with requests from the local authorities to test the water quality.
Work on cleaning things up could take between two and six months with the Rayo Vallecano President Raúl Martín Presa going AWOL (being absent without leave).
de Paco revealed he has been unable to contact the Rayo Vallecano chief who last season was slammed by the fans for not looking after the facilities.
Pitch ‘Unplayable’
The players and the Royal Spanish Football Federation wrote a joint letter after calling the pitch “unplayable” with no hot waters in the showers and poor hygiene.
Twelve months ago Rayo Vallecano could not use their own training center because of mould.
In 2018, the stadium was closed down temporarily after it was deemed unsafe by the Community of Madrid.
Only in February they were forced to play against their peer team Atlético Madrid at the 14,500-capacity Butarque Stadium in Leganés, Spain, instead due to the pitch conditions.
No Online Ticketing Website
There are plans for a new stand and a capacity increase but the fans have no online ticketing website so they face long queues.
And their season ticket prices went up for the new season – although it came with the caveat that if the games couldn’t be played at the Vallecas Stadium then the fans would be rehoused in similar seats at another ground.
Now that clause is set to become an active one.
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