Valencia restarted this Friday. The concrete mass that rises in the Benicalap neighborhood, at the northwest exit of the city, has woken up less lonely than usual. The machines and workers have returned to resume a project that once aspired to be a symbol of modernity and a source of wealth for a club that promised to play in the Champions League every year and field bombastic signings. Today, the construction of the new stadium is seen as a means of salvation for an entity immersed in a serious institutional crisis, bankrupt and with its reference team in the relegation positions of the League.
This new project, which was already in charge, in a Temporary Business Union with the Bertolín Group, of the initial works of the new stadium until the club decided to stop them in February 2009 when it could not meet the payments, includes a roof for its 70,044 seats. It will be, says the note sent by Valencia, “a state-of-the-art stadium” that will be able to host “top category matches from both FIFA and UEFA, as well as major events.”
which was presented last October, is made up of more than 1,500 plans and 4,500 pages of documents. It details the work whose final budget is estimated at 360 million euros, 20 more than initially stated and which included 172 million already spent and another 168—now 188 due to the increase in the cost of construction materials—in what remains pending to be executed. The commitment that was reached with the Valencian council establishes a 30-month license, with which the stadium should be ready in 2028, although Valencia sets the goal of moving to the new stadium in the summer of 2027 to start the 2027 season there. 2028. The deadlines are also key to not lose the opportunity to end up hosting the 2030 World Cup, which Spain will host jointly with Morocco and Portugal.
He granted the construction license – after many meetings and negotiations with his government partners from VOX and the opposition, with the PSPV and Compromís – with a series of conditions that, if not met, will cause the club to lose the urban benefits. With this conditional license, the interest of the city is protected above all and is protected against possible non-compliance by the club owner, while preventing Valencia CF from taking advantage of the urban capital gains – which would be recognized after August 3 – without completing the stadium works. No one forgets that the Nou Mestalla began construction in the summer of 2007 and, after the explosion of the real estate crisis, which brought down the houses of cards on which the club project of then president Juan Soler was based, these were They stopped less than two years later. Soler had entrusted his future and that of the club to two real estate successes that never prospered: one, the sports city in Riba-roja that was never even projected; the other, this stadium that should have been completed in 2010 and that has since mortgaged the club’s accounts, whose debt today amounts to 335 million euros.
More than 15 years later, with another owner, Peter Lim, and another presidency, Layhoon Chan, who also deal every day with the opposition of Valencian society and Valencian fans, Valencia defends that this new project will be “key” for the city development. He assures that it will generate income in it and will have “an important entertainment proposal 365 days a year”, which includes restaurants, shops, an auditorium and also the club museum. According to his calculations, the public urban space will grow by 20,000m² thanks to a sports center and a square around the stadium where the club will organize activities for fans.
Regarding the design of the stadium, he explains that it reflects the spirit of the club. A “translucent” cover will protect all seats “from sun and rain” and will expand “the acoustic effect from the stands to the field.” Designed by Schlaich Bergermann & Partnera photovoltaic installation will be implemented on it. Orange will be the predominant color in the stands and the bat, symbol of the city and the team, will take center stage.
In addition, the Nou Mestalla has a logo, in order to give official status to the stadium and which includes the lines of its design and the club’s characteristic orange tone.
