Zaragoza new venue plans on the drawing board

Article posted by Coliseum, November 9^th, 2023

Image: IDOM

The Zaragoza City Council (Spain), the Government of Aragon and the Segunda División club Real Zaragoza struck a deal recently for constructing the new Romareda stadium (Nuevo Romareda) in the current site where the present home of the club sits – the Estadio La Romareda in Zaragoza, Spain.

‘Zaragoza News’ stated that the above three entities agreed to establish a limited commercial company with a singular purpose before December 31^st, 2023 with the objective of providing funds for the construction of the new stadium.

The Zaragoza City Council is the governing body of the Municipality of Zaragoza, Spain. The Council comprises the Mayor, the Government Council and the elected plenary Assembly.

The Government of Aragon is the executive power of the autonomous community of Aragon in Spain.

The Real Zaragoza, S.A.D., commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at the La Romareda.

The Estadio La Romareda is the home stadium of Real Zaragoza in Zaragoza, Spain. It was inaugurated on September 8^th, 1957. The official capacity of the arena is 33,608, with an average attendance of around 20,000 for Real Zaragoza matches.

The new Romareda stadium would have a capacity of 42,500. The construction is expected to take place between 2024 and 2028 and will be carried out in stages so that Real Zaragoza can play their matches at the stadium at all times and do not have to temporarily relocate.

The project would cost €140m (£121.8m/$152.5m). The construction is to be financed exclusively with private funds.

‘Zaragoza News’ further stated that the President of the Government of Aragon, Jorge Azcón, the Mayor of Zaragoza, Natalia Chueca, and the General Director of Real Zaragoza, Raúl Sanllehí, have struck the above deal which paves the way for Zaragoza to build a new home venue which will be able to stage big-ticket national and international events including the 2030 World Cup which will be hosted by Spain along with Morocco and Portugal.

The share capital, which will amount to 120 million euros once all contributions pour in, will be distributed between the City Council (33.34 percent), the Regional Government (33.33 percent) and the club (33.33 percent). The above three entities will make contributions worth 50,500,000 euros.

The City Council undertakes to contribute the value of the surface right corresponding to the ownership of the land of the municipal stadium valued at 24.5 million euros.

The Government of Aragon undertakes to provide capital of 20 million euros.

And the Real Zaragoza SAD undertakes to contribute to the share capital the amount of six million euros as a counterpart to the cost of carrying out the project (construction, demolition or earthworks) and, the rest, through a monetary contribution.

Before the end of 2028, the signatories undertake to attend to the successive capital increases up to the limit of 15.5 million euros in the case of the Zaragoza City Council, 20 million in case of the Government of Aragon and 34 million euros in the case of Real Zaragoza.

The partners are also committed to facilitating the entry into the share capital of other public and private entities in order to further boost the financial position and facilitating them to join the project. It is estimated that the construction costs of the new stadium will come to 140 million euros.

As regards the deadlines, the above deal indicates that the tender for carrying out the demolition works of the current stadium will be floated around the first quarter of 2024 and the tender for the construction works of the new football field will be floated around the second half of 2024.

The above entities are hopeful that the new Romareda Stadium will be completed on time to host 2030 World Cup fixtures.

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