In the last two years, Real Madrid has become accustomed to bad judicial news that entailed a loss of scheduled future income. First, the famous Bernabéu noise that led to the ban on organizing concerts. Florentino Pérez, the club president, explained that the earnings were 1% of the budget (about 12 million annually). And, second and last, the ban on the use of the underground parking lot that the City Council granted to the club only in exchange for six million in fees. Madrid would take care of the construction and commercialization, and had already finalized an agreement to earn 326 million in 40 years, triple the investment, according to SER at the time. However, now, thanks to a decision by the Madrid City Council, the white entity can compensate for those losses in a few years by means of the reclassification of the Valdebebas land.
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“It is almost identical to what happened in 2001. Madrid owned some sports-use land (where the four towers now stand) and the City Council changed the use to profitable. That increased the land value, which went from little to a lot. And Madrid sold it. This is the same, only it remains to be seen, as expected, that Madrid will also sell it in the end,” explains Antonio Giraldo, spokesperson for Urbanism, Environment, and Mobility of the PSOE in the Madrid City Council.
“This can be done, and it is interpreted as a balance after the Bernabéu disaster with the parking lots, something we criticized at the time,” adds Giraldo. Madrid conducted a feasibility study on those parking lots in the Bernabéu block that it presented to the City Council and was the only one to submit a bid when they were approved. “This case is now already in the Supreme Court,” he comments, after complaints from neighbors, which so far have halted Real Madrid’s plans. “Everything about the Bernabéu is at a standstill and they have been exploring other ways to obtain financing,” Giraldo points out.
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And there, those Valdebebas lands that Real Madrid has owned for 25 years come into play. The City Council, which at the time gave the 36,000 square meters a sports use, has increased the buildable part and changed the use to profitable. Therefore, its value has increased “exponentially.” “Everything is legal, but the question we ask ourselves is: What does the citizenry get from this? Is this profitable for the city?” he reflects.
“The City Council is always on Madrid’s side,” he details. But not only the white club. Everything surrounding the construction of the Metropolitano followed a parallel path, perhaps as “debt for what happened with the four towers.” “There are four plots granted to Atlético in the surroundings,” he adds. In this special project, the rojiblancos will be able to develop these spaces and also obtain additional benefits.
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