This is what the new Marbella football stadium will look like

A hotel, high performance centre, space for major events and first class facilities are the main features of the new football stadium planned for Marbella, which was created with the aim of being a sub-host of the Spain, Portugal and Morocco 2030 World Cup.

The contract for the project, which has an investment of 114.3 million euros and could reach up to 130 million euros, has already been made public and Marbella FC Foundation will have the land, which has a surface area of 45,000 square metres, for the next 75 years.

The company that wins the contract will be responsible for the demolition of the old Antonio Lorenzo Cuevas stadium, as well as building the new facility in its place. In return, Marbella 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 others) and the estimated impact on GDP will be between 36 and 50 million euros, which is 0.2 per cent of the entire province of Malaga.

The approval of Marbella’s new urban planning regulations has given a boost to this project which has been extended and enlarged from the original idea. This means that the new vision of the initiative has opened up the range of possibilities and uses and the investment has gone from the 15 to 18 million euros originally estimated to an additional one hundred million euros. The capacity has gone from 8,000 to 10,000 people, which responds to the foundation’s own expectations of being able to collaborate and comply with Fifa’s requirements.

This new infrastructure has ambitious objectives. Firstly, as well as striving to be a sub-host of the 2030 World Cup and working with Fifa, it will have a 90-room hotel where elite sports people will be able to stay, as well as encouraging sports tourism. It will have event rooms for up to 140 people as well as an exclusive restaurant in the penthouse and a lobby bar.

The space will also have a 1,000-space car park, a shopping area and a 1,500-square-metre performance centre which will be focused not only on athletes, but also on other users and sports tourists. It will be equipped with specialised facilities for high-performance sport, including specialised massage rooms and other similar services. As for the stadium itself, it is envisaged that it will be able to host concerts and major events.

In a statement Marbella FC said it wanted to “build a stadium that meets all the needs of the citizens of Marbella, the fans of the club and of sport in general.” The foundation pointed out that it “guarantees the public interest of the project, as its profits will be invested into its purposes: to promote grassroots sport in Marbella, to enhance the image of tourism in the town and to develop programmes for young people at risk of social exclusion.”