Green light for construction of new stadium in Marbella after land allocation

Marbella town hall has now awarded land covering 45,000 square metres to Marbella FC Foundation for the construction of the new football stadium. Beyond hosting the club's matches, the organisation aims to make its way into the most prestigious sports competitions by offering the space as a sub-venue for the 2030 World Cup in Spain, Portugal and Morocco.

The town hall has awarded the contract to use the land for a period of 75 years. Marbella FC Foundation will be in charge of the construction, as well as the demolition of the old Antonio Lorenzo Cuevas stadium, on top of which the new stadium will be built. In return, the town hall will receive an annual fee of 221,510 euros.

In the project's justification report, the economic section contemplates an income of 9.8 million euros during the first year, which will rise to 17.3 million euros from the fifth year onwards. The town hall estimates that between 1,600 and 2,300 new jobs will be created (800 direct, 700 indirect and 400 induced) and that the GDP impact will be between 36 and 50 million euros, which is 0.2% of the entire province of Malaga.

 Characteristics 

This new high-level sports infrastructure has ambitious objectives. One of them is increasing the capacity to 10,000 people, in order to meet Fifa's requirements. Another one involves the construction of a 90-room hotel, where elite athletes will be able to stay and sports tourism will be available. The accommodation will be equipped with event rooms for up to 140 people as well as a high-end restaurant in the penthouse and a lobby bar.

The stadium will also have a car park with 1,000 spaces, a shopping area and a 1,500-square-metre high-performance centre, which will be focused not only on athletes, but also on users and sports tourists. It will be equipped with specialised devices, such as hyperbaric chambers, massage rooms and other similar services. The stadium itself is planned in a way that will allow the hosting of concerts and other major events as well.

Already last year, Marbella Football Club stated that "it wants to build a stadium that meets all the needs of the citizens of Marbella, the club's fans and sport in general", adding that it "guarantees the public interest of the project", the profits from which will be used "to promote grassroots sport in Marbella, enhance the image of tourism in the town and develop programmes for young people at risk of social exclusion".